English language remains an important learning component of all university students in Hong Kong. Regardless of their academic interests, all pre-service teachers whose specialisms are not English are also compulsorily required to study English during their first year of university years. Does it mean these non-English subject trained pre-service teachers will be de-motivated to learn English? How do they respond to English learning even if they do not expect to teach English in the future? What learning strategies do they adopt during English lessons? In this paper, we attempt to look at a group of non-English major pre-service teachers' motivation to learn English. Through the research instruments of questionnaire and in-depth interviews with teachers and students, data are to be collected to analyse their motivation and attitudes to learn English.

Within the region, a number of countries have viewed the importation of native speakers of English as a means of enhancing English language teaching in schools and promoting internationalization or cultural exchange. Adherents of such programmes anticipate benefits in exposing learners to authentic input, the use of English for genuine communication, and opportunities for mutual staff development or fruitful cross-fertilisation of ideas. Critics, on the other hand, point to a perceived lack of value for money, the difficulties of foreigners integrating into local systems, and conflicts between local and expatriate personnel. This paper will make some comparative observations about three schemes, EPIK (English Program in Korea), JET (Japan exchange and teaching program) and NET (Native-speaking English teacher), including their characteristics, successes and ongoing challenges. I will argue that both native and non0native speakers have their particular strengths and will propose some ways in which native-speakers might best be utilized in supporting enhanced standards of English in schools.

Recent research indicates that English medium education in Hong Kong, even in schools with very able students, is not helping students to achieve the level of second language proficiency that both theory and the experience of other countries suggest is possible. The study reported in this paper aimed to identify the contribution that teacher education can make to improving the quality of English medium education in Hong Kong. The paper takes into account the recent developments in the Hong Kong Government's medium of instruction policy. The study investigated the specialised language oriented teacher education needs of English medium secondary teachers of content subjects in Hong Kong in connection with the further development of a teacher education programme in the Hong Kong Institute of Education. The study is based within immersion education theory of which English medium education in Hong Kong is seen as a variant. This proposes that students can acquire a very high level of proficiency in the second language through the use of the language as the medium of learning for content subjects across the curriculum. Research in other educational contexts suggests a variety of qualities which teachers may need but none relate to the specific context of Hong Kong. The unusual characteristics of immersion education in Hong Kong area very high proportion of students undertaking English medium education by international standards (even with the recent changes in government policy), teachers with varying levels of second language proficiency and students with very varying levels of motivation to learn in this way. Although some research exists within Hong Kong on this topic it is incomplete and inconclusive. It was, therefore, necessary to bring together research from overseas and Hong Kong within this one study. In addition, questionnaires were administered to teachers, interviews were held with teachers and lessons observed in schools. The analysis produced a framework consisting

Bringing a coach or coaches into a school to provide support is not entirely a new idea in Hong Kong. In local schools there is increased emphasis on coaching – a process whereby teacher trainers provide instructional support, professional development opportunities, feedback, and materials to classroom teachers – as a means to improve instruction and strengthen the competence of teachers. This paper reports on a pilot study which involved two academic staff from the Hong Kong Institute of Education and teachers of English in a local primary school to work together to enable teacher professional development. The paper reports a sub-set of the findings of a study which aims at identifying a coaching model for English teachers' professional development, and at developing a school-based language teaching curriculum development framework pilot school using a school-based language teaching curriculum development framework piloted in earlier research projects by the investigators. Data were collected through pre-, while- and post-questionnaire surveys, focus groups interviews, and lesson observations. The findings echo earlier research that modeling instruction in individual classrooms, rather than just the provision of group-focused activities, is most likely to result in modifications in instructional practices. It is also argued that in addition to teachers' exposure to new teaching materials, continuous joint professional discourse between coaches and teachers about how to use the materials would also lead to changes in teachers' instructional goals and practices. Implications for incorporating the use of coaches into school improvement plans for optimum results will also be discussed.

Whilst institute-school partnerships have been investigated extensively as potentially valuable routes for the professional preparations of student teachers (Booth, Furling and Wilkin, 1990; McCullough and Fidler, 1994), considerably less is known as to how co-operating teachers/ teaching advisers process their roles and the nature of effect of their dynamic relationships with student teachers on their own professional lives. This paper attempts to present the voices of four teaching advisers who participated in the Honorary Teaching Adviser Scheme of an initial teacher education programme in Hong Kong. Data collected through semi-structured interviews, lesson observations, and post-observation conferences present a general picture of the challenges and promises of the Scheme as perceived by the teaching advisers on their own professional growth. Findings point to the need for re- envisioning the full potential of mentoring in teacher preparation and continuing professional development. Data from a previous study will also be contrasted to illustrate teachers' progression from resistance to readiness to assume an expanding role in teacher preparation. The paper will conclude with suggestions for fostering an effective and productive professional learning experience for both student teachers and teaching advisers.