This paper examines the issue of social structure and individual agency in language learning through the life histories of three young engineering graduates in Hong Kong. English is identified as an important form of cultural capital, which to a considerable extent determines the development of the three individuals, each of whom comes from a modest family background. In spite of the undeniable role of cultural capital (a product of social structure), examples of individual agency, in the form of the degrees of "investment" made in their language learning, and the application of "creative discursive agency" (which is to a large extent not a result of the official school curriculum) can be seen as influential on the development of the three young men. The discussion section of the paper considers the relative importance of social structure and individual agency in language education in a post-colonial society such as Hong Kong and the roles of "investment" and "creative discursive agency". It argues that in order to tilt the balance in favor of agency over structure and to encourage more 'investment" on the part of learners, more attention needs to be given to creating opportunities for "creative discursive agency" in and outside the classroom.
[Copyright of Critical Inquiry in Language Studies is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15427580802286173]

This study examines the processes adult students use to integrate part-time study with existing family, work and social commitments. Evidence is drawn from interviews with students in three countries. A causal network is proposed with a positive category where social obligations are accommodated with study demands. The alternative category results in external attribution of the failure to accommodate demands. For each category the three environments of work, family and social lives are examined. Three mechanisms are discussed for facilitating integration, namely support, sacrifice and negotiating arrangements. Negotiating sanctuaries of time or space for study are seen as important. The three mechanisms for accommodating part-time study mean that students with adverse circumstances are not pre-destined to fail and that there is a role for universities in counselling and assisting students in adapting to part-time study.
[Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079912331380178]

This study examined relationships between the economic, human, social, and cultural capital of families and adolescents' academic achievement. Data were collected from 387 14-yr.-old Hong Kong students (187 girls, 200 boys), who completed questionnaires to assess their perceptions of the various dimensions of family capital. Academic achievement was measured by performance in Chinese language, English language, and mathematics. The findings indicated that different combinations of the dimensions of family capital combined to contribute to moderate amounts of variance in adolescent girls' academic performance, whereas social capital was the only family measure to have a meaningful and significant modest association with adolescent boys' academic achievement.
[Reproduced with permission of author(s) and publisher from: Majoribanks, Kevin, & Kwok, Yanny. Family capital and Hong Kong adolescents' academic achievement. Psychological Reports, 1998, 83, 99-105. © Psychological Reports 1998 Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://ammonsscientific.com/link.php?N=10332]

Transition from home to kindergarten is the first and major ecological transition in children's educational lives in Hong Kong. In this transition, children cross a cultural boundary from home to kindergarten and start to learn about 'school' as a place to learn and about themselves as 'pupils' in kindergarten. The conceptual framework of this paper is developed from sociocultural theory and select literature on rites of passage and pupil career. Descriptive data were mainly collected from participant observations, semi-structured interviews, photovoice and review of documents. Utilising the conceptual framework, this paper describes and analyses the story of a three-year-old girl's playing and learning experiences, strategic actions and adaptation outcomes during the transition from home to kindergarten in Hong Kong. Her pattern of strategic actions fell into the dimensions of non-conformity, redefinition and adaptation, but most often fell into the dimension of non-conformity, that is, being independent with respect to formal school expectations. Her preferred strategic actions included watching, being slow to respond, ignoring, withdrawal, gentle refusal, operating in alternative ways, negotiating and following the practice and expectation of the class.
[Copyright of European Early Childhood Education Research Journal is the property of Routledge . Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13502930802689095]

文章主要為一問卷調查研究報告，探討教師和家長對香港小學生寫作情況的理解，從而找出此兩個群體對教師的教學策略和課程安排的看法。並探討他們對較新的寫作方法如「自訂題目」、「符號或圖畫代寫字」的意見。

The contribution of parental involvement and investment to children's education has been a major topic in current educational reform around the world. The purpose of this study is to identify the parental involvement and investment factors which make the greatest contribution to children's self-esteem in Hong Kong. Data for this study was obtained from questionnaires collected from a sample of about 2100 middle grade students (Grades 6-9) and their parents, as well as parents of first grade students, from 18 schools. The study employed factor analysis and Hierarchical Linear Modeling. First, the different dimensions of parental involvement and investment manifest in Hong Kong were clarified. Secondly, the association between parental involvement and investment and family socioeconomic status was estimated. Finally, whether student self-esteem is related to different types of investment and involvement after controlling the background factors was examined.
[Copyright of School Community Journal is the property of Academic Development Institute.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.adi.org/journal/]

Thinking skills are critically important for later success in school. However, teachers and parents may have different perceptions of what constitutes thinking skills and the extent to which thinking skills should be taught in the classroom. Their views on their respective roles in fostering thinking skills may also differ. Such disagreements about both pedagogy and curriculum reflect differences in beliefs concerning the value of thinking skills. A survey questionnaire was administered to forty teachers and forty parents of Hong Kong preschoolers. Teachers and parents revealed their ideas about: (1) what constitutes thinking skills; (2) their perceptions on the importance of thinking skills in the lives of children, within and outside the classroom, for the present and in the future; (3) what strategies they employ to foster thinking skills in young children; and (4) their perceived roles in facilitating thinking skills. Whether from teachers or parents, the responses revealed the need for more adult understanding and support for children's thinking as a process. Responses were analyzed according to the coding system developed by Leah Adams. Implications for teacher and parent education are discussed.
[Copyright of Early Child Development and Care is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0300443022000022495]

This study examines how the language used at home, Putonghua or Cantonese, has influenced the Chinese reading attainment of 4335 primary school students in Hong Kong. Also examined was the influence of the birthplace and home background socioeconomic status (SES) of the reader. Although the indigenous Hong Kong population uses Cantonese, a dialect of Chinese, for everyday communications, the Chinese written in school is Modern Standard Written Chinese (MSWC), the written equivalent of Putonghua, the spoken language of the people of China. Many of the numerous families migrating from China to Hong Kong in recent years have brought with them children educated in Putonghua in China and with extensive experience of MSWC. It was hypothesised that the reading attainment of these students would be superior to that of classmates born in Hong Kong and using Cantonese habitually. This would apply particularly to students from advantaged SES homes. The children born in China indeed had superior reading attainment. But children speaking Cantonese at home and Putonghua 'sometimes' had the highest reading scores, regardless of their birthplace or SES. The writers reflect on assumptions about the influence of the language used at home on language attainment and the implications for educational planning.
[Copyright of Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.2167/jmmd529.1 ]