The present study reports on the effects of a self-regulated (SRL) writing strategy-based intervention supported with e-learning tools on SRL strategy use in English writing with 468 Hong Kong primary school students. The changes to the students’ motivation in English writing, and their e-learning acceptance were also measured. The study adopted a pretest and posttest design and the data was collected through a questionnaire, which consisted of three measures, i.e. SRL writing strategy use, motivation in English writing, and e-learning acceptance. The SRL writing strategy use measure included four types of strategies, i.e. planning, text-generating, monitoring, and revising. The motivation measure had two scales, i.e. interest and self-efficacy, and the e-learning acceptance measure included four scales, i.e. perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude and continuance intention. The intervention saw significant improvements on the students’ use of all four types of SRL writing strategies. Positive changes also took place to one scale of motivation, i.e. interest, and three scales of e-learning acceptance, i.e. perceived usefulness, attitude and continuance intention. There was no significant improvement to self-efficacy and perceived ease of use. Additionally, the correlations between all the scales became stronger after the intervention. Important implications for teaching ESL/EFL writing through e-learning are drawn. Copyright © 2022 Taylor & Francis.

Today, many countries ensure that student teachers get into the real classrooms, practice in there, spend more time and translate theoretical knowledge into practice in schools during Initial Teacher Education. So that they can receive stronger support in the practicum process, and they can develop themselves. However, schools have been closed in so many countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic preventions. Therefore, countries have rearranged the teaching practicum process. The aim of this study, which was carried out with a systematic review, is to comparatively examine the teaching practicum processes of different countries during the Covid-19 pandemic. With a systematic review made according to certain criteria, teaching practicum in the Covid-19 in the countries of Australia, Canada (Ontario State), England, Greece, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey, the United States of America (New York State) and Zimbabwe were examined. According to the findings, it has been seen that some countries have removed or stretched the teaching practicum requirement during the Covid-19, while some countries have carried out online teaching practicum (i) in K-12 schools, (ii) with peer learning, or (iii) using VR technology, and one country re-opened the schools after a short closure. Copyright © 2022 International Association of Educators.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness for L2 English learners of a new direct approach to segmental pronunciation instruction that combined articulatory instruction with abdominal enhancement techniques. The participants were Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong, where the school curriculum relies chiefly on indirect instruction within a task-based language teaching (TBLT) framework. Thus a second purpose of the study was to examine whether the direct approach may be a useful addition to the Hong Kong curriculum. Randomly-assigned experimental and comparison groups of recent school graduates completed pronunciation tasks embedded within a TBLT framework. However, the experimental group had direct attention drawn to the segmental sounds, including advice and feedback on how to produce them, while the comparison group did not. Both groups completed a pretest/posttest reading-aloud task. The segments targeted in this test (and in the instruction) involved selected long vowel/diphthong sounds, voiced fricative consonants, and /t/ and /d/ in syllable-final consonant clusters. Results showed the experimental group significantly outperformed the comparison group overall and in each of these segmental categories, highlighting the importance of the direct articulatory–abdominal instruction. The results also suggested such instruction should be given greater attention in the Hong Kong curriculum. Copyright © 2022 Routledge.

Since the early days of COVID-19, university teaching has changed from face-to-face format to online mode. With the gradual containment of the pandemic, there is no need for school lockdown. As a result, the teaching format has changed to HyFlex mode integrating both face-to-face and online modes. Obviously, it is necessary to understand the academic quality of life among students under the Hyflex teaching mode. In this paper, we report an evaluation study on a leadership subject in Hong Kong delivered via HyFlex teaching using a post-lecture evaluation strategy. In one of the lectures, we covered law-abiding leadership in university students, including abiding by the Hong Kong National Security Law. The post-lecture evaluation showed that students generally held positive views toward the HyFlex teaching and they perceived that the subject promoted their well-being indexed by psychosocial competence. Regarding the lecture on law-abiding leadership, students agreed that the lecture promoted their psychosocial competence, personal development, knowledge about law-abiding behavior and national security (including the Hong Kong National Security Law), and readiness to serve as socially responsible leaders. Positive perceptions of the lecture design, teacher performance, lecture content of law-abiding leadership and national security, and benefits positively predicted students’ overall satisfaction with the lecture on law-abiding leadership and national security. Copyright © 2022 Springer.

Background: The use of mediated learning in cognitive training has been shown to be effective in enhancing students’ cognitive development. Nonetheless, its effects on language development are less explored. Aims: This study examined the effects of an early cognitive intervention (Think Bright program) in enhancing the cognitive and language development of Hong Kong preschoolers with developmental delay. Method: Sixty‐eight children (48 boys and 20 girls; mean age = 58 months) with developmental delay were recruited from preschool rehabilitation centres and randomized to two groups (Think Bright training vs. active control). Each child in the Think Bright group received 12 sessions of 1‐hr individual training on thinking skills over 6 months. The control group received the same amount of training based on the regular training regimen adopted at the rehabilitation centres. Results: After a 6‐month intervention, the Think Bright group significantly outperformed the control group in language, general cognition, analogical thinking, sequential thinking, and logical reasoning. The Think Bright teachers’ mediation skills significantly improved during the course of intervention and correlated moderately with the improvement in students’ language abilities. Conclusion: This study has shown promising results on the effectiveness of using mediated learning in early cognitive intervention in enhancing both the cognitive and language development of preschoolers with developmental delay. Copyright © 2022 Wiley.

With the poverty rate of Hong Kong reaching 23.6%, the development and well-being of children from economically disadvantaged families becomes a concern for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Children with lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds tend to have poorer development in early language and literacy skills, which may then adversely affect their later academic achievement and school success. This development gap between low- and middle-SES children may begin in kindergarten and persist throughout their formal education and beyond. This may be particularly true for ethnic minority groups, which often have to deal with not only economic pressure but also other stressors, including prejudice, discrimination, and cultural adaption. Composed of mostly Southeast Asians, ethnic minority groups constitute about 8% of the Hong Kong population. Importantly, the number of ethnic minority children continues to rise, underscoring the importance of increasing teachers’ multicultural competence and promoting the cultural integration among students in school. In this talk, the speaker will provide an overview about the language and literacy development among children from low-SES and ethnic minority families. The speaker will also explain how we may support these children by promoting culturally responsive teaching in kindergartens, providing professional training for early childhood educators and multicultural teaching assistants, and developing culturally responsive education benchmarks. Copyright © 2022 PECERA-HK.

BACKGROUND: The potential of natural language processing tools such as chatbots in learning a second or foreign language has not yet been fully realised (Dale, 2016; Fryer et al., 2019). Language learning occurs through interaction with classmates and teachers, which provides comprehensible input, feedback on output and the opportunity to modify output (Mackey, 2012). Chatbots can serve as an always-on source of interaction. In this study, a chatbot was designed and deployed using Dialog flow Messenger. It acts as a conversational interface for English learners and is available on our website or as a mobile application (app). Language learning is most effective when it is immediate and contextual, so this chatbot not only ‘chats’ but also guides learners to appropriate language study resources. It puts students in control of their learning by answering specific questions (e.g., How do I refer to sources in written texts and oral presentations?, Where can I find IELTS materials?, What is the present perfect?); providing customised learning options; and allowing students to learn at their own level, pace, and at a time of their choosing. This study investigates English language students’ attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions towards using a customised chatbot to enhance language learning.METHODS: Participants consisted of students and teachers (n=4) from a compulsory English for Academic Purposes course at the largest public university in Hong Kong. In this study, the students (n=76) had access to the chatbot for two months. Data on attitudes, beliefs and perceptions regarding the chatbot were collected using a questionnaire and focus groups; transcripts were collected to identify questions put to the chatbot. This mix of methods was chosen to provide rich, detailed, and complex accounts of users’ experiences.RESULTS: Findings from the questionnaire and focus groups are consistent with previous research that reported positive learning experiences with chatbots (Fryer & Carpenter

BACKGROUND: This study introduces the English Language Centre’s Personal Learning Assistant, namely chatbot, an innovative language teaching and study tool for independent and effective language learning. This relatively new and under-researched area of study will, through the use of chatbots, open new and exciting teaching opportunities (Kessler, 2018). Chatbots necessitate communicative exchange, thus enhancing dialogue-based learning (Fryer et al., 2017; Thompson, Gallacher, & Howarth, 2018). In English language acquisition, teachers traditionally adopt a facilitator role. In contrast, chatbots, as conversational agents, provide students with a natural language interface. In many contexts, including English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL), technology has been developed to assist language learners. However, there is still a need to practice the language with an on-demand ‘conversational partner’ (Kim, 2017), and chatbots can address this requirement (Shawar, 2017; Wang & Petrina, 2013). This study investigates how students perceive the Personal Learning Assistant as a supplement to direct teacher input in language learning.METHODS: Participants consisted of students from a general English course at the largest public university in Hong Kong. The study adopted an exploratory qualitative approach, collecting two types of data in two phases. The first phase, a questionnaire (n=47), provided an overall picture of the research problem and informed the second phase of data collection, which comprised semi structured interviews (n=12) (Ivankova, Creswell, & Stick, 2006). Thematic analysis of the interviews allowed the researcher to interpret participants’ voices and gain a holistic understanding of their views.RESULTS: The questionnaires and semi-structured interviews revealed that participants preferred the chatbot to traditional study methods such as visiting a library or asking a teacher. They benefited from unlimited opportunities to

The proliferation of screen-free programmable robotics allows teachers to implement age-appropriate integrated activities that can promote child learning and development. However, very scarce is known about the challenges of using programmable robots as a tool to empower children in minority communities. This mixed-methods case study examined a Free Quality Kindergarten situated in a low-income public housing estate in Hong Kong to explore the affordances and challenges of robot programming (RP) in early childhood education (ECE). Both quantitative and qualitative data were generated through videotaped observations, child assessments and teacher interviews to journey with the teaching team as they managed to implement the newly introduced RP curriculum. Child assessment evidence revealed that there was a statistically significant improvement in CT scores over 6 weeks of RP activities, while the pretest–posttest change of child self-regulation scores was nonsignificant. Video analysis results further revealed that children's interaction level with the robot kit significantly predicted the change of self-regulation over time. Qualitative results are presented to explicate the micro, meso and macro conditions that constrain the implementation of RP curriculum, including the following: (a) teachers' limited TPACK in RP education, (b) a disconnect between the RP curriculum and the school-based curriculum, (c) limited resources and (d) the Confucian tradition and cultural barriers. These illustrate the intricacies involved in the implementation of RP education to empower marginalized children in under-resourced ECE settings. This study will help bring systemic change to the ECE field by uncovering ecological difficulties in integrating new technologies to promote inclusiveness and sustainability for the future. Copyright © 2022 British Educational Research Association.