In a world with increasing numbers of older adults and a worldwide emphasis placed on lifelong learning, it is crucial to examine and formulate appropriate policy for learning in later life (LLL). Hong Kong has a rapidly aging population, which is projected to double within the next 25 years. However, lifelong learning for the elderly has yet to be fully developed. This article reports the findings of 2 surveys: one on the LLL experience among 190 Chinese elderly in Hong Kong and another on the experiences of 9 center directors in running courses for the elderly. We found that Chinese older persons generally learn for expressive motivation rather than instrumental motivation, although those with higher educational attainment take LLL for both instrumental and expressive motivation. This finding is consistent with those obtained with American populations. Practical courses such as languages and health-related topics were found to be the most popular; and nearly a quarter (27%) of the respondents (in particular those who are well educated) expressed interest in peer teaching. The findings are important to understand LLL in the Chinese population and assist in the formulation of an appropriate LLL policy in Hong Kong. These findings also serve as a comparison for other countries trying to provide continuing education opportunities for its older citizens.
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This paper reports a small-scale study conducted with 34 primary-school teachers in Hong Kong to determine how they meet the personal and academic learning needs of students officially identified with specific learning disability (SpLD) in their classes. Information was collected from the teachers via a structured questionnaire listing possible strategies for classroom use, and via an open-ended request for additional information from the teachers concerning their current practices. Results indicated that the teachers make relatively few adaptations to meet the SpLD students' needs, and rely mainly on other students in the class to provide peer assistance They sometimes also allow extra time for the students to complete work, and provide some individual help when possible during the lesson. Teachers rarely (if ever) adapt curriculum content, modify instructional resources, or design special learning activities for the students with SpLD. The paper also discusses briefly the contemporary theoretical perspectives on inclusion for SpLD students, differentiated teaching as a possible solution, and the difficulties encountered in implementing such a model.
[Copyright of International Journal of Special Education is the property of Hindawi Publishing Corporation.
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A word, even when considered monosemic, generally has a cluster of meanings, depending on the mental representation of the referent by the speaker/writer or listener/reader. The variation is even more noticeable across cultures. This paper investigates the different ways in which cultural knowledge helps in the interpretation of English lexical items. After a brief review of the traditional World Englishes structural perspective, the paper analyses the various ways in which the schema helps in the construction of lexical meaning: it helps to decode the denotative meaning of some words with possible multiple interpretations; to perceive the referential boundaries; to understand the connotative meaning; to modulate meaning, demoting some features and promoting others; to understand the physical elements which contribute to the mental representation of some words; to perceive the bodily movements and other paralinguistic elements which contribute to the construction of the meaning of some words; to perceive the salience of a word within a cultural community; to perceive and predict collocates; to perceive cultural assumptions; to perceive political politeness and taboos; to distinguish transactional language from interactional language, and so on. The study is shown to have implications for lexicography and for English Language teaching.
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Despite the imperatives of policy and rhetoric about their integration in formal education, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are often used as an "add-on" in many classrooms and in many lesson plans. Nevertheless, many teachers find that interesting and well-planned tasks, projects, and resources provide a key to harnessing the educational potential of digital resources, Internet communications, and interactive multimedia to engage the interest, interaction, and knowledge construction of young learners. To the extent that such approaches go beyond and transform traditional "transmission" models of teaching and formal lesson planning, this paper investigates the changing requirements and new possibilities represented by the challenge of integrating ICTs in education in a way which at the same time connects more effectively with both the specific contents of the curriculum and the various stages and elements of the learning process. Case studies from teacher education foundation courses provide an exemplary focus of inquiry in order to better link relevant new theories or models of learning with practice, to build upon related learner-centered strategies for integrating ICT resources and tools, and to incorporate interdependent functions of learning as information access, communication, and applied interactions. As one possible strategy in this direction, the concept of an "ICT-supported learning activity" suggests the need for teachers to approach this increasing challenge more as "designers" of effective and integrated learning rather than mere "transmitters" of skills or information through an add-on use of ICTs.
[Copyright of Language Learning & Technology is the property of Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf.
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