This paper highlights the crucial role of phonological instruction in early second language English learning. Although older learners can acquire grammar and vocabulary efficiently, younger learners appear to have a greater facility with the learning of sounds. Thus, it makes good sense to focus on articulatory skills for these early learners. By comparing the developmental norms in phonology between an L1 (Cantonese in this study) and an L2, detailed predictions can be provided to guide the process of early phonological instruction. It is important that the teaching of articulation should not be reduced to non-engaging lessons that can be characterised as 'drill and kill'. Instead, a framework for improving the articulation of children learning English as a second language is proposed. What is unique about this proposal is that it represents the first attempt in Hong Kong to specify and integrate research findings concerning developmental speech norms with existing teaching practice.
[Copyright of International Journal of Early Years Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669760802699860]

All in all, the thesis tries to fill the research gap in the study of English pronunciation in a Hong Kong context. It exhausts the pronunciation of all types of English consonant clusters by native Cantonese learners of English, provides experimental studies to investigate the most effective approach to the acquisition of English consonant clusters, and applies Optimality Theory to elucidate the pronunciation phenomena found among Cantonese learners of English.
Apart from the inquiry into language pedagogy, this thesis also analyses and expounds the language phenomena of consonant cluster production through the application of Optimality Theory. From the data of the pre-test and post-tests, the pronunciation modification phenomena of subjects were summarised and analysed. It is found that subjects produced pronunciation forms that resembled that of native English speakers, but at the same time they produced forms that deviated from that of native English speakers. The most frequent pronunciation modifications are substitution and deletion.
Optimality Theory argues that phonological differences between languages are the results of the differences in the ranking of universal constraints; therefore, the preference towards certain modification phenomena and the production of certain pronunciation forms by Cantonese speakers can be viewed as the differences in the ranking of constraints between English and Cantonese. In the interlanguage phonology of Cantonese speakers, words like pray /pre I/ and find /faInd/ could become [pe I] and [faIn] phonetically. This can be explained by assuming that the English words are input to a phonology in which *COMPLEX (complex onset or coda is not permissible) is highly ranked, and that in order to observe this constraint, Cantonese learners of English might apply deletion to delete a consonant in syllables with consonant clusters.

Due to their logographic nature, Chinese characters are traditionally learned with a whole-word approach. Starting from kindergarten, students in Hong Kong learn Chinese and English words and attain bilingual literacy in this way. However, this type of learning results in low levels of both Cantonese (L1) and English (L2) phonological awareness (PA). Phonological awareness is not only significant for emergent literacy in an alphabetic language but also for decoding unfamiliar words. For this reason, Hong Kong students have difficulty learning to read English (especially sounding out and spelling unfamiliar words). Meanwhile, Chinese readers in mainland China and other places who learn to read Chinese with a phonetic script are found to have higher phonological awareness of Chinese (Bertelson, Chen & de Gelder, 1997; H. Cheung et al., 2001; Holm & Dodd, 1996; Huang & Hanley, 1995; Read et al., 1986).
In light of the advantage brought about by a native phonetic script, the present research aims to investigate the effect of Cantonese phonological awareness on English learning by comparing the performances of an Experimental Group with phonological awareness training and a Control Group without training, both before and after training.
Two experiments were conducted from 2003 to 2004. In the pilot experiment, the Experimental Group (n = 8) which had received 10 hours of Cantonese Romanisation instruction had no immediate advantage over the control group (n = 9) concerning their post-training English phonological awareness test. However, after the two groups had received 10 hours of English phonics instruction, the Experimental Group a made significantly bigger mean progress than the Control Group (p = 0.035) in their post-training English phonological awareness test. In the main experiment, the Experimental Group (n = 19) which had received 20 hours of Cantonese Romanisation instruction made a bigger mean progress than Control Group 1 (n = 20) and Control Group

This paper aims to explore rater behaviour in assessing oral presentations using verifiable quantitative measures (VQM) as an external validity check on ratings. Twelve raters from a range of backgrounds were recruited to rate 115 Secondary 3 student oral performances in 'individual presentations'. These performances were drawn from a sample of 10 schools participating in a pretest conducted for the commencement of the oral component of Hong Kong's Territory-wide System Assessment in 2006. About 20 students were drawn from each school in three ability categories: low, medium and high. Students were selected based on their internal examination results. Fifty-eight of the 115 student performances were transcribed and assessed on VQM for 'ideas and organisation', 'vocabulary and language patterns' and 'pronunciation and delivery'. VQM results were correlated (Spearman's and Pearson's 'r') against fair average scores derived from Rasch analysis of ratings. The resultant correlations ranged from 0.6 to 0.9. It was concluded that raters were estimating values for constructs highly similar to those measured in VQM.
本研究是以可驗證的量化量度方法，探究英文科說話評審員在說話評估「個人短講」中的評審表現。是次研究，邀請了12位具有不同學歷及經驗的人士擔任說話評審員，對115位中學三年級學生進行說話能力測試，評審學生的說話能力。這些學生是來自於參加2006 年「全港性系統評估」預試的學校。參加預試的學校共有10所，其中包括不同能力組別的學生。每所學校都是根據校內的英文科成績(高、中、低)，挑選20位學生參加說話能力測試。是次研究是從115位參加測試的學生中，抽取了58位學生進行研究，以文字紀錄了這些學生在個人短講中的內容，再以可驗證的量化量度方法(VQM)，評估學生在「內容和組織」、「詞彙和句式」和「發音和表達」三方面的表現。本研究亦利用史比爾曼「」及皮爾遜「r」計算VQM 數據和羅許平均值的相關系數。是次研究所獲得的相關系數為0.6 至0.9 。總而言之，說話評審員給予評級的建構值和VQM 所得的結果甚為相近。
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

This paper aims to show that the implementation of school-based assessment (SBA) has proved to have positive impact on the performance of students in the public oral examination. An SBA component was introduced to the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination English Language Examination in 2007. This consists of a reading / viewing programme where students need to read / view texts, write up some comments and personal reflections, and then take part in a discussion with classmates on the texts they have read / viewed, or make an individual presentation and respond to questions. The assessment is based on the student’s oral performance. The 2007 experience has shown that the speaking ability of students can be reliably assessed in school by their own teachers. Statistically, the SBA component has proved to be as reliable as the speaking examination. The beneficial washback of SBA can be seen in the results of the speaking examination. Candidates from schools that submitted SBA marks had a lower absentee rate than candidates from schools not submitting SBA marks. They also performed better in the speaking examination.
本文旨在顯示推行校本評核證實對學生在公開考試的口試表現有正面影響。香港中學會考英國語文科在2007年引進校本評核，學生須閱讀或閱覽各種文本，包括小說類及非小說類的書籍及影片，並寫下評論及個人感想，然後與同學進行小組討論，或作個人短講並回答提問。旨在評核學生的說話能力。根據2007年的體驗，老師能可靠地評核學生的說話能力。統計資料亦顯示校本評核和口試的信度相若。校本評核的正面影響可見於公開口試的成績 ，於進行校本評核的學校就讀的考生缺席率較低，成績也較佳。
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

本研究以行動研究方式，探討英文科說話教學的設計與實施對提升學生學習的動機和說話能力的影響。過程中，教師亦反思如何可以透過調整教學策略和選材， 提升學生英語說話能力和自信心。研究對象來自其中一位研究員所任教的四年級學生，資料收集方式包括︰學生填答問卷、深入訪談、課堂錄影、研究日誌、諍友的觀課和分析學生習作。研究發現教師若能夠在教學的過程中不斷反思，因應畢生的特性和掌握程度，調節教學的設訓，有助提升學生說英語的信心和動機。要提高學生講英語的信心，有以下四個重要因素：選取教學活動要切合學生的能力、學生要有自主性、良好的師生的關係和教師對教學工作的投入。研究亦發現適應學生的個別差異，教師要提供多元化的教學設計和給予學生自由繼擇的空問。此外，研究結果亦指出，透過行動研究有助教師的專業成長。
This action research project investigated the effects of a teacher's instructional design and implementation on students' motivation and development in the teaching and learning of English Language speaking skills, as well as the teacher's reflection on the whole process. The subjects of the study were Primary Four students taught by one of the investigators. Data was collected from student questionnaires, in-depth interviews, lesson video recordings, research logs, lesson observations by critical friends, and students' work. The study found that sustained teacher reflection for ongoing instructional adaptations in light of learners' characteristics and progress is conducive to raising students' motivation and self-confidence. Four crucial factors for raising students' confidence in speaking English were identified: instructional activities that match learners' ability; promotion of learner initiatives; a good teacher-student relationship; and teacher commitment. The study has also confirmed the need for flexible and open instructional design in catering for individual differences, and the positive contributions of action research to teachers' professional development.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

In recent years, the emphasis in second language (L2) oral proficiency assessment has shifted from linguistic accuracy to discourse strategies such as the ability to initiate, respond, and negotiate meaning. This has resulted in a growing interest in the discourse analysis of students' performance in different oral proficiency assessment formats. The study reported in this article represents an attempt to investigate students' discourse performance in L2 oral proficiency assessments conducted in the form of peer group interactions in Hong Kong. Forty-three female Hong Kong secondary students were involved. Findings from a qualitative discourse analysis of the students' interaction data supplemented with data from interviews and a questionnaire reveal the emergence of a test-task specific genre featuring recurrent frames of talk for task management, content delivery, and response giving. These frames were characterized by discourse features that seem to be ritualized, contrived, and colluded. Such interaction practices suggest a strong desire on the part of the students to maintain the impression of being effective interlocutors for scoring purposes rather than for authentic communication. Implications for test construct validity and the impact on the students' L2 oral proficiency development are discussed.
[Copyright of Language Assessment Quarterly is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15434300903473997]