After the “National Education” issue arose in Hong Kong in 2012, the Hong Kong Government “shelved” the Moral and National Education Curriculum Guide. However, the government still claimed that national education would be implemented via different formats. One of the main objectives of national education would be to promote a sense of patriotism regarding (Communist) China, and to teach students about their Chinese “national identities”. However, some of the students in the public schools in Hong Kong are members of ethnic minorities: Pakistanis, Nepalese, Filipinos, etc. The Education Bureau of Hong Kong has designated certain schools which should cater to these students' educational needs, and the students are being taught the official curriculum, the same as the local students. This paper will examine the national education curriculum of these “designated schools”, in order to analyze the ways in which, and the extent to which, this curriculum will promote the establishment of a “national identity” for these ethnic minority students. Copyright © 2018 APNME.

This presentation focuses on an innovative approach to writing instruction, exemplar-based writing instruction and is divided into two parts: (1) a systematic review of recent literature on the use of exemplar in higher education contexts using a text-mining software called Leximancer and (2) an introduction of an ongoing teaching development grant project being conducted in a Hong Kong university which aims to develop an exemplar-based textbook and online platform to be used by university English instructors to teach IELTS writing. In the first session, the speakers will present a systematic review of current literature on exemplar use in univesity writing classrooms to highlight its affordances and limitations. Different from traditional systematic review which is criticized as lack of ‘methodological rigor’ (Major & Savin-Baden, 2011, p. 647) and ‘subjectivity in data analysis and the interpretation of findings’ (Thomas, 2014, p. 236), this review of literature is done using a text-mining software named Leximancer. Leximancer was selected as the tool because it has been used in educational research (e.g. distance education, physical education, general education) (Hyndman & Pill, 2017; Zawacki-Richter & Naidu, 2016). Additionally, Leximancer is chosen over other similar tools (e.g. Rapidminer) because of its user-friendliness. Leximancer can automatically generate a list of most frequently-appeared word-level concepts that appear in the selected documents and a concept map which shows the relationship between those concepts after completing a few simple steps. In the second session, an ongoing grant project will be introduced which focuses on the development of curriculum materials for university English instructors to implement exemplarbased instruction in their academic writing classrooms. Focusing on IELTS writing, sample materials developed by the presenters will be shared. Copyright © 2018 ICBLT.

This presentation will address the Conference Theme by sharing the findings of an empirical study of a values education programme, one using Circle Time (CT) as the major classroom strategy. Existing studies reveal the positive impact of CT on students’ personal development, social skills and peer relationships, especially in the contexts of personal, social and health education. However, CT’s applicability to the teaching/learning of values is still being examined. The presentation focuses on the programme's implementation and the role of CT in teaching values education, particularly with regard to how teachers design the curriculum and teach the lessons by using CT, and how the students become engaged in the circle. Data were collected in two primary schools through multiple methods, including observations during meetings and classes, students’ portfolios, programme evaluations and interviews, and teachers’ programme evaluations and reflections. The study found that teachers and students appreciated the use of CT, as sitting in a circle clearly “opened up” teacher-student interactions as we find them in traditional classrooms, thus facilitating student-student dialogues. The students learned from sharing their daily activities, listening to their peers’ conversations and asking question. Copyright © 2018 APNME.

Language textbooks are written to help students develop language proficiency as well as have a better understanding of the culture of the target group. English instructional materials are usually arranged in the form of linguistic structures and communicative functions, with culture being presented through how native people eat, play, work, dress and live. According to Pfister and Borzilleri (1977), five major cultural themes can be distinguished in foreign language textbooks: the social sphere, family unit and the personal sphere, religion and the arts, political systems and institutions, and the environment sphere. On the other hand, Cortazzi and Jin (1999) suggested another three categories to evaluate English language textbooks: the source culture (the learner’s native culture), the target culture (British or American culture), and the international target culture (other English and non-English speaking cultures). In the present study, a series of popular English language textbooks for primary students, recommended by the Education Bureau in Hong Kong, was compared with the authorized English language textbooks used in mainland China. The aim was to examine how culture is presented in the two regions so as to heighten students’ awareness of being Chinese citizens in a global community and foster international understanding. The research findings could also raise the consciousness of textbook writers and publishers on the need to remove biases in textbooks, and to promote a multicultural environment in the classroom. Copyright © 2018 ACLL.

This paper reports on an investigation into a group of student teachers’ reflective learning through a series of integrated and interactive tasks (i.e., collaborative lesson planning, micro-teaching, group consultation and videoed reflections) in a pre-service language teacher education course in Hong Kong. Relying on data gathered from interviews and reflection videos and informed by integrated perspective on teacher identity in practice and activity, the study revealed how the student teachers engaged in reflective practice and identity construction in the course. The facilitating and constraining factors underlying the student teachers’ reflective learning and identity development are also uncovered. The paper concludes with practical implications on how to design and implement effective reflective tasks in preparing and developing competent language teachers. Copyright © 2019 All Academic, Inc.

有關中文二語的教學研究，世界各地在教材和教法方面都有卓越的成就。無論開發教材或探索有效的教學途徑，都必需一個目標清晰的課程，做為教與學的規範，以致評量學習成果及教育資歷的依據。過去十多年，中文二語教學在香港漸趨多元化，外籍學生有學習讀寫繁體字而聽說粵語者，也有學習讀寫繁體字而聽說普通話者，甚或學習讀寫簡化字而聽說普通話者，學習中文的媒介語言完全視乎入讀學校的取向而定。對只是過境香港的外籍學生而言，學習中文與升學和就業的關係或許不大；但對在香港出生和打算在香港長期生活的外籍學生來說，能否學好中文，影響則極其深遠。按 2016 年中期人口統計報告，香港的外籍少數族裔主要包括菲律賓人、印尼人、白人、印度人、尼泊爾人、巴基斯坦人、泰國人和日本人等，各佔總人口 2.5% 至0.1%不等，這些家庭語言並非中文的少數族裔學生為數一萬多人，就讀於不同的本地學校。除了應付日常生活外，中文還是這些學生在香港升學和就業必須跨越的門檻。隨著少數族裔的人口逐步增加，如何處理非華語學生的中文教育問題越趨迫切。要徹底解決非華語學生的中文教育問題，社會輿論對設置中文二語課程有強烈的呼聲，因為學校難以在非華語學生身上實以中文為母語的語文課程原則、策和建議。本來非華語學生學習一些基本的中文口語，已經可以用中文與人溝通，掌握「基本人際溝通能」，但要運用中文學習其他知，卻要增加大量語彙，並培養和心智發展相應的讀寫能，才能達致「認知學術語言水平」。本文關注的是，如何在中文二語課程闕如的情況下，提高學生發展認知學術語言的效能。雖然輿論沸沸揚揚，直接面對教學考驗的始終是前線教師。為此，通過訪問教師所得的啟示，本文建議在非華語學生中文課程中結合小學常科的相關學習內容（例如：個人、家庭、學校、社會事物等），為調適非華語學生中文課程作嶄新嘗試。 Copyright © 2018 國立臺灣師範大學.

香港教育大學中國語文教育專業的學生，未來大多於香港中、小學擔任中文科、普通話科的教學工作。須參加香港考試評核局主辦的教師語文能力評核（普通話科），其中一場考試是「拼音」，因此本校面向中文教育主修學生的普通話課程非常重視訓練學生的漢語拼音認記、拼讀能力。本研究報告以近年香港教育大學「中國語文教育」專業一年級學生在「把拼音寫成漢字」練習中出現的偏誤為課題，聚焦於學生對含有音位「e」的漢語拼音韻母的識認偏誤，從語音及社會文化等方面分析偏誤成因，並提出相應的教學策略。 Copyright © 2018 國立臺灣師範大學.