An overview is presented of a three-year project aimed at helping Chinese language teachers in Taiwan refine ways that Chinese, an ideographic language that differs markedly from alphabetic English, is taught in primary schools. Guided by university staff in Taiwan, Hong Kong University and a Taiwanese non-government social enterprise, 20 experienced Taiwanese Chinese language teachers visited Hong Kong, observed literacy lessons, held in-depth discussions with principals and teachers, and engaged in seminars that helped them reflect on ways to modify practice in Taiwan. Back in Taiwan, they tried out techniques witnessed in Hong Kong, shared their experiences with colleagues in and beyond their own school, and evaluated their relevance for language teaching in Taiwan. Experiences were exchanged via practical demonstrations of techniques, video-recordings of lessons, accounts of new ways to teach Chinese, interviews and progress reports on an Internet forum. The outcomes are an example of positive teacher change.
[Copyright of Teacher Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2012.722439]

Lynch and Purnawarman (2004:50) point out that "a solid electronic portfolio can show reflection, evolution of thought and overall professional development". Research shows that electronic portfolio assessment, if implemented thoughtfully, can successfully engage learners in critical thinking and problem solving, promote lifelong education, encourage self evaluation and allow learners to have a higher degree of control over the learning process (Pierson and Kumari, 2000; Mason, Pegler, and Weller, 2004). Given the value of electronic portfolios, there has been growing interest in using electronic portfolio assessment to support teacher education (Lynch and Purnawarman, 2004). In this paper, we discuss on-going efforts at the University of Hong Kong to design assessment tasks for a language awareness course entitled "Pedagogical Content Knowledge". The final-year student teachers taking the course are required to compile an electronic portfolio based on their reflections on the relevance and applicability of the issues relating to dealing with the content of learning in pedagogical practice discussed in the course. This paper sets out to describe and analyze issues relating to the design and implementation of the assessment, focusing specifically on the challenges that the research team faces. In our paper, we draw on a range of data, including student teachers' feedback on the assessment and in-depth reflections of two student teachers after the assessment to critically evaluate the extent to which the assessment has achieved the intended learning outcomes. The reflective study shows that apart from technical support, methodological and psychological preparation designed to help students to take on a more active role in the learning and assessment process are also needed to help students to perform effectively in the computer-supported assessment. Implications are drawn for those who plan to conduct electronic portfolio assessment in higher education.
[Copyright

The present study explored motivation and engagement among Chinese and Australian school students. Based on a sample of 528 Hong Kong Chinese 12-13 year olds and an archive sample of 6,366 Australian 12-13 year olds, achievement motivation was assessed using the Motivation and Engagement Scale-High School (MES-HS). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling using LISREL found that, across Chinese and Australian students, there was similar factor structure, reliability, correlations with educational outcomes, and gender and age effects—suggesting there are no fundamental differences of kind between the two cultures. There were, however, differences of degree in that Australian students reported significantly higher levels of adaptive achievement motivation and significantly lower levels of maladaptive achievement motivation. It is concluded that although Australian students have higher levels of reported achievement motivation than Chinese students on a number of dimensions, the two groups' fundamental orientation does not appear to be markedly different in terms of motivation structure, profile, and relationships. This holds implications for cross-cultural motivation assessment, data analysis, and programmatic intervention aimed at enhancing (and sustaining) students' achievement motivation in different cultural and national contexts.
[Copyright of International Journal of Testing is the property of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15305058.2010.482220]

This study examines the extent to which South Asian students in Hong Kong are gaining fluency in Chinese and the impact of this on their educational outcomes in the postcolonial context of an official shift to a trilingual (Cantonese, English, and Putonghua) and biliterate (Chinese and English) society. It focuses on the teaching and learning of Chinese in secondary schools 'designated' for minority background students. Data are drawn from student language proficiency testing and teacher interviews. The study found low proficiency in Chinese due, in part, to teaching methodologies based on approaches to learning Chinese as a first language. There was evidence of inadequate teacher preparation, inappropriate curriculum, structural issues, and a cycle of low student motivation and performance. The study concludes that educational outcomes for these students will not improve without a seismic shift in policy thinking and improvement of educational provision for minority students.
[Copyright of Diaspora Indigenous and Minority Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15595690903442256 ]