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).

This study examined the relation between the performance in a visual search task and reading ability in 92 third-grade Hong Kong Chinese children. The visual search task, which is considered a measure of visual-spatial attention, accounted for unique variance in Chinese character reading after controlling for age, nonverbal intelligence, vocabulary knowledge, morphological awareness, phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and rapid automatized naming. Visual search skill also explained unique variance in reading comprehension after further controlling for Chinese character reading. The findings of the present study underscore the importance of visual-spatial attention for Chinese reading, at both the character and text levels.
[Copyright of Scientific Studies of Reading is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2015.1030749]

Empirical Research Background: In constructing a reading ability scale for English, it was necessary to take the constituent testlets, items grouped within a single reading passage, seriously. That posed interesting and challenging problems for the calibration process. Empirical Research Aims: This paper attempts to show how to use the testlets as the main units for the construction of the reading ability scale. The exercise highlighted issues relating to item level and testlet level invariance, which would be interesting and informative for Rasch model applications. Empirical Research Sample: The sample in the study is around 5000 primary and secondary students in Hong Kong. Empirical Research Method: The scale calibration uses a series of linked reading comprehension tests acorss the full spectrum of the Hong Kong primary and secondary education. A three-facet Rasch model was used with testlets as an intermediate levels between items and students. The main issue to be considered is the selection of linking items across levels, giving due consideration to possible variance between levels and to the need to maintain invariance across the scale. The achievement of the latter will be the use of the anchoring of the testlets, while allowing some linking items to vary within the context of the testlet. Empirical Research RASCH: Multi-faceted Rasch models were used in the scale calibration. The exercise raises interesting issues on the definition of what constitutes a facet versus item grouping. Empirical Research Results: The exercise enabled the construction of a reading ability scale for English in Hong Kong. Empirical Research Conclusions: The reading ability scale provides the basis for tracking student reading ability in English across the full spectrum of education in Hong Kong. It has already been used in Macau and will be used in Taiwan.

Hong Kong teachers anecdotally refer to the setback in students' abilities over the summer holidays. Numerous studies in America reported that many students experienced learning setback when they did not engage in educational activities during the summer holidays. This project aims to apply the Rasch measurement model from data collected as part of research and development activities of the Centre for Assessment Research and Development (CARD) to develop an English reading achievement scale. The scale is derived from linked testlets, which were administered to students in eighteen primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. These linked items will serve as the benchmark for students, and will be used to measure the growth of students in English reading achievement after periods of four months of learning, one school year of learning and the effect of the summer holidays away from school.