This paper presents a small-scale study examining the effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on English language learners' reading comprehension in a Hong Kong international school. Twenty-five primary school (Grade 5) students who learn English as a second language participated in this study. Metacognitive instruction was incorporated into 10 process-based reading lessons. Data were collected from notes learners took during reading, post-reading reflection reports, teacher-facilitated group discussions and two types of reading tests. Results revealed that the young learners could articulate several knowledge factors that influenced their reading. In addition, learners reported a better understanding of the nature and demands of reading, a deeper awareness of metacognitive knowledge in improving reading comprehension and increased confidence in handling reading exercises. The learners also showed enhanced reading performance compared to those in a control group without metacognitive intervention. This study highlights the potential of metacognitive instruction to enhance primary school English learners' reading literacy.
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This study investigated the associations among reading strategy instruction, student motivational factors (i.e., attitudes toward reading, reading self-concept, and motivation to read), gender, and reading achievement. The analyses were conducted using the Hong Kong sample (students at Level 1, n=3,875 and teachers at Level 2, n=133) from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2011 through multilevel structural equation modeling. The results showed that, first, the relation between the frequency of reading strategy instruction and student reading achievement was mediated by student attitudes toward reading. Second, the frequency of reading strategy instruction was significantly related to student attitudes toward reading and motivation to read and student attitudes toward reading was significantly associated with reading achievement. Finally, girls had more positive attitudes toward reading, more positive reading self-concept, higher motivation to read, and higher reading achievement than boys. These findings may shed light on how teachers should arrange their reading strategy instruction to interplay with student attitudes toward reading and motivation to read and to help improve reading achievement.
[Copyright of Psychology in the Schools is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.]

Based on the data of Program for International Student Assessment 2009, this paper examines how various aspects of home literacy environment, school climate and students' reading engagement related to their reading performance. A profile of Hong Kong students' three indices of reading engagement - namely, reading enjoyment, reading diversity and online reading - relative to other East Asian societies is first presented. The relative contributions of different family-level and classroom-level factors on Hong Kong students' reading engagement are then examined by using hierarchical linear modelling. Assessment of the relative impact of the three engagement indices on reading performance shows that reading enjoyment is the strongest predictor. That home-school cooperation in cultivating a positive reading climate, nurturing a good reading habit for all students and enhancing the classroom and teaching climate appear to be promising avenues for improving students' reading engagement and performance may be of importance for shaping future policy and practice.
[Copyright of Journal of Research in Reading is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.]

Reading is the basis of most learning but is regarded by students as a boring activity in Hong Kong. Therefore, schools in Hong Kong have launched different reading programs to promote reading. One of the successful examples is Reading Battle which gamifies the reading comprehension assessments with points, levels, e-badges and leaderboard on an interactive learning platform. This study looked into how gamification affected the flow experience of students and discussed to what extent the nine flow dimensions were experienced by them, especially the heavy users of the gamified learning platform. This case study chose nine students from four different elementary schools in Hong Kong and adopted a mixed method such as questionnaires and interviews. While many students first did it for external motivation such as getting more points and ranking high on the leaderboard, the study found that the heavy users of Reading Battle became committed to reading and many enjoyed the flow experiences where they seemed to forget about time and discomfort and truly enjoyed the reading process.
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The present study re-examines the reading experiences of eight primary school students in Hong Kong. Framed around theories of gamification and self-determination, the study looks at how these students developed as readers on an online gamified reader known as RB. An electronic extension to a reading database that contains more than 15,000 comprehension questions made from around 500 popular children's books, RB is found to enable the students feel competent, autonomous and connected with their family and friends during their game play. These feelings can be explained away by the three psychological needs of self -determination literature. For instance, after a period of time playing on RB, the students displayed competence in that they did well on their academics, increased their reading speed, expanded their vocabulary, and further developed their learning and problem-solving skills in school. They also showed autonomy in their learning, manifested in the expansion of the scope of their reading choices, a diversity of their reading methods, an increase in their reading frequency, and a boost to their drive in picking up a book for leisure read. Finally, they felt more connected now with their family and friends than before they used RB, for the bondage they formed over RB lasted well beyond their game play. Based on a re-evaluation of their success stories from gamification and self-determination perspectives, the study concludes that RB is an effective early English learners' tool in Hong Kong.
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The contribution of teacher knowledge to learning outcomes at the beginning stages of literacy acquisition is of growing concern because the ability to provide quality instruction is central to successful literacy acquisition, particularly for pupils with dyslexia. To date, the majority of research has focused on teachers of English as a first language. Yet, English is the most widely taught foreign language today. The present study extends the exploration of teacher knowledge by probing two heretofore unexamined groups of teachers who are responsible for teaching beginning stages of literacy in English as a foreign language: regular class teachers who are non-native English-speaking (N = 96) and native English-speaking teachers (N = 24) working in the kindergarten setting in Hong Kong. As these two teacher groups serve as gatekeepers of beginning English as a foreign language literacy for kindergarten children in Hong Kong, it is crucial to gather information about the depth and quality of their teacher knowledge. This information can be instrumental to improving the quality of beginning literacy instruction in English and assisting early identification of dyslexia. Both groups completed the basic language constructs survey (Binks-Cantrell, Joshi, & Washburn, Annals of Dyslexia, 62, 153–171, 2012a). Results showed while native English teachers performed significantly better than non-native English teachers, total percentage correct scores were below 50%, except for phonological awareness tasks. All teachers scored higher in items requiring syllable as opposed to phoneme manipulation. Only teacher type predicted teachers’ performance on the survey. The need for quality instruction, particularly for children at-risk for dyslexia or those struggling at the beginning stages of literacy acquisition, is addressed. Copyright © 2020 The International Dyslexia Association.

隨著國際交往的日益密切,英語成為重要的交流工具,各地也越來越關注英語教育。小學階段作為基礎教育的重要階段,是學生語言學習的黃金期。小學英語教材作為小學英語教育的重要媒介,不僅是學生獲取知識的主要來源,也是教師進行教育教學的重要依據。香港的英語教學一直走在亞洲前列,其特殊的歷史背景使香港教材在立足於本民族特點的基礎上吸收了西方許多成功的經驗。教材中的詞匯是構成英語語言的基礎,也是學習者語言學習的前提,對學生的英語學習具有重要意義。本文以詞匯選編為切入點,對香港朗文版小學英語教材進行研究,以期能夠發現該套教材的特色,為內地小學英語教材的編寫和使用提供借鑒,為小學英語教師進行詞匯教學提供參考,從而進一步提高內地的英語教學。本研究基於教育學、語言學、心理學等相關理論,運用文獻法、文本分析法等研究方法,從詞匯的數量與分佈、詞匯的選編分析兩個方面著手,對香港朗文小學英語教材的詞匯選編進行深入分析。研究發現,在詞匯的數量及分佈方面,該套教材的總詞匯量和重點詞匯量均多於內地《課程標準》的規定,其分佈總體上呈遞增趨勢。在詞匯的選編方面,筆者主要就該套教材的重點詞匯在類型、復現率、呈現方式、與語篇的相關性、拼讀設計、詞法等方面展開探討。在類型方面,該套教材的詞匯設置遵從學生的發展、類型廣泛、注重分類,並通過一系列的編排和活動合理轉化消極詞匯。在復現率方面,該套教材高復現率的詞匯絕大多數分佈較為合理,與日常生活緊密相關。在呈現方式方面,該套教材的附錄部分裝幀精致、紙質較好、頁面清爽、排版合理,主要通過圖片字典的方式呈現詞匯;課文主要通過圖片、立體圖片、海報、圖表、真實照片和物品、語篇、游戲等六大方式呈現詞匯,其呈現方式可視化、多樣化、立體化,並注重真實情境的創設。在與語篇的相關性方面,該套教材通過詞匯的重復、詞匯的關聯、詞匯的搭配等詞匯銜接手段以及語境促進語篇的連貫。在拼讀設計方面,該套教材加入Phonics元素,其拼讀詞匯與章節主題相互關聯,並根據學生的語言學習順序進行編排。在詞法方面,該套教材涉及名詞、代詞、數詞、介詞、形容詞、副詞、動詞等豐富的詞性及其用法,主要運用合成法和派生法構成新詞匯。該套教材的優勢與不足,對內地小學英語教材的編寫和教學有諸多啟示。對教材編寫者來說,應提高詞匯的復現率,科學分布詞匯;注重詞匯的分類,合理編排詞匯;多樣化呈現詞匯,促進可視化學習;合理標注注解,提高自學能力;展現更多貼近現實生活、體現時代性的詞匯;創設真實的情境,增強教材的可學性;重視自然拼讀,提升語音意識。同時,小學英語教師可以設計多樣化的教學活動,定期復習鞏固;渲染真實的語境,觸發學生主動投入;從“單詞”教學到“詞群”教學轉變;恰當地運用直觀教學法;建立適合學生實際情況的詞匯手冊等,提高詞匯教學能力,促進學生的詞匯學習。

This experimental study examined the effectiveness of adopting the VARK (visual, aural, read/write and kinesthetic) sensory approach to teach EEL primary students English vocabulary and compared the relative effectiveness of each sensory approach. Forty primary students in Hong Kong participated in this study. They were divided into four random groups. Each group received one type of vocabulary instruction favoring one sensory preference. All students received a pretest two weeks before receiving the instruction, a posttest right after the teaching and a delayed posttest conducted two weeks later. Test scores were analyzed both within and between groups. The study found that the aural modality group showed better performance on vocabulary pronunciation while the visual and the kinesthetic modality groups demonstrated better understanding of vocabulary meaning. Findings of the study indicated that multiple modalities should be adopted in classroom and teaching strategies should be adjusted based on students' preferences and abilities. Copyright © 2016 GSTF.

The presented research discusses students’ perceptions, attitudes and expectations of a game-mediated vocabulary app. Throughout the development of the mobile app, continuous focus group interviews with students were held. The collected data were coded and analysed to identify common features or points mentioned by the students. The results showed that students highly value features like the story plot, graphic, vocabulary list and types of definitions for the design of vocabulary learning APPs. Based on these findings, the APP was further improved by adding synonyms, sentence contexts and extended definitions of the words. Our followed-up interviews indicated that students rated the improved version of the APP higher than the preliminary one. Such findings are consistent with Zou’s (2016, 2017) arguments that the availability of various aspects of word knowledge are conducive to effective word learning as it promotes greater degree of elaboration on the target vocabulary. Copyright © 2018 individual authors.

Adequate reading literacy skills are essential for receiving formal education and subsequently gaining full participation in society. Research into L2 reading demonstrates that L2 vocabulary knowledge is key for developing learners’ L2 reading comprehension. This chapter looks into the vocabulary knowledge measured by word associations and sheds some light on the implication of developing vocabulary knowledge to facilitate young learners’ L2 reading literacy for Hong Kong primary schools. The results show that word knowledge and word class have an important influence on young L2 learners’ word association patterns. A number of implications are proposed, including enlarging children’s vocabulary size to reach a threshold level for L2 reading, utilizing graded readers to control vocabulary and teaching words of different word classes with their preferred collocates. Copyright © 2019 The Author(s).