When multilingual learners traverse across cross-border and study-abroad contexts, they enter different sociocultural spaces, negotiate conflicting identities, and may or may not invest in these identities. Addressing the lacuna, this longitudinal case study draws upon the model of investment to conduct a long-term, systematic investigation of the identities and investment of Miranda, a multilingual learner, and a pre-service teacher—as she studied, over seven years, as a university student (B.A.) in mainland China, a taught postgraduate student (M.Ed.) in Hong Kong, and a research student (M.Phil. and Ph.D.) in New Zealand. Findings reveal how Miranda negotiated, constructed, and performed multiple identities in shifting contexts and how the way her capital was valued shaped the way she positioned herself and was positioned by others. Attending to the fluidity and complexity of identities, this study provides educational authorities and teachers with implications for helping to chart the path for empowering students across contexts. Copyright © 2024 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Background: The school is one of the most salient developmental contexts for children. However, little is known about the associations linking the school environment to child adjustment in a non-Western context, not to mention the potential processes that may mediate these associations. Aims: This study examined the associations of school- and classroom-level characteristics with child adjustment and tested whether these associations were mediated by teacher–child relationship qualities. Sample: Cross-sectional data were collected on a representative sample of 1777 children (mean age = 55.14 months; 50% of them were girls) from 100 kindergartens in Hong Kong, China. Methods: Using self-reported questionnaires, teachers rated their school-level environments, their classroom chaos, their closeness and conflict with children and children's socioemotional competence and academic ability. Meanwhile, parents rated children's behavioural problems. Results: Multilevel structural equation modelling revealed that the school-level environment and classroom chaos were uniquely associated with children's socioemotional, behavioural and academic adjustment. Moreover, the associations of the school-level environment and classroom chaos with child socioemotional and academic adjustment were mediated by teacher–child closeness and conflict, whereas the associations of the school-level environment and classroom chaos with child behavioural problems were mediated by teacher–child conflict only. Conclusions: Findings indicated how school- and classroom-level characteristics may be uniquely associated with child adjustment and how teacher–child relationships may be implicated in the underlying mechanism, highlighting the potential utility of targeting school- and classroom-level environments and teacher–child relationships in promoting child development. Copyright © 2024 British Psychological Society.

Background: The concept of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) capital can serve as a framework for understanding how various resources contribute to aspiration formation in STEM fields. However, to date, it remains unclear what factors should be included in STEM capital and how they may help explain why students do or do not aspire to STEM careers. Purpose: This study aimed to validate the instruments and explore the predictive effect of various factors, including STEM capital and other non-STEM specific cultural capital factors, on students’ STEM aspirations while comparing these variables among primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary levels. Sample: A stratified sample of students (N = 3,991) from the upper-primary to senior-secondary level in Hong Kong participated in the study. Design and methods: An online survey investigation was conducted for data collection. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to validate the instruments before ANOVA, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were performed. Results: The elementary students had significantly greater scores on the STEM capital variables than did the students at the junior and senior secondary levels. Gender, age, parental school involvement and expectations, informal STEM participation, positive views of professionals, and self-concept in mathematics positively predicted STEM aspirations, while having a parent/guardian with a STEM career negatively predicted students’ aspirations. In addition, the results showed that having STEM books at home and self-concept in information technology were additional predictors at some educational levels. The explored factors can explain approximately 30% of the variance in students’ STEM aspirations. Conclusion: Senior students’ STEM capital factors exhibit lower levels compared to their younger peers. The developed, adapted, and translated instruments are valid for measuring the factors composing STEM capital, where some

English as a foreign language (EFL) education has become increasingly ubiquitous in Eastern Asian early childhood education (ECE) settings, but the studies on this phenomenon have not been thoroughly reviewed. This scoping review investigates the scope and findings of the current literature regarding this under-researched phenomenon. Through a five-step protocol, 17 empirical studies published during 2012–2022 are included. Findings indicate that: (1) there are four major research areas: education policy, education technology, teacher and teacher education, and curriculum and pedagogy; (2) Hong Kong receives the most research attention; (3) teachers’ knowledge and beliefs, implementing early EFL education, and effects of interventions constitute three prominent research themes. This review also identified research gaps and highlighted the need for more quantitative research on early EFL education in other parts of Asia, the planning and implementation of EFL policies in micro-level contexts, and in-service educators’ beliefs and practises. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

This article reports on a study exploring primary students’ after-class social interactions in English vocabulary acquisition using a mobile learner-generated-content (m-LGC) tool. A total number of 29 grade 4 students from an elementary school in Hong Kong were involved. A case study approach was adopted. Data collection included log data on the m-LGC tool and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis included content analysis, visualisation using Gephi, and thematic analysis. The results show two types of students’ social interactions in a m-LGC learning environment. The interview results indicate that students held different perceptions of social interactions using the m-LGC tool. The implications are discussed. Copyright © 2022 Yin Yang, Yanjie Song.

A techno-reflective narrative interview (TRNI) aims to elicit learners' investment in the language practices in a course — their stories, participation, and ways of participation (Zhang, 2023). This presentation elaborates on the notion of TRNI and how it can be adopted to investigate EFL and ESL learners' L2 investment in a given course. Drawing from Darvin and Norton's (2015) investment model, two examples are provided as two cases: 1) how a Mainland Chinese EFL learner invested in her EFL learner, gender, and role identities (Zhang, forthcoming), and 2) how a Hong Kong undergraduate ESL student invested in her Hong Kong English, multilingual, and Hongkonger identities (Zhang & Gonzales, forthcoming).The study highlights how TRNI helps to provide a reflective account of L2 learners' investing trajectories and empowers them by amplifying their own voices and self-positioning. Overall, the findings reveal the 1) concomitant effects of participants' English learning experiences and life histories on their investing patterns; 2) the interconnectedness of identities, capital, and ideologies; and 3) their combined effects in shaping Chinese English learners' investment in two courses. It provides specific guidelines for lecturers to adapt TRNI in their own courses and pedagogical implications for L2 practitioners and universities. Copyright © 2023 HAAL.

Multicultural awareness is crucial for teachers to promote equity in culturally diverse classrooms (Cherng & Davis, 2019). Positive attitude towards diversity predicts stronger cultural sensitivity in teaching (Abacioglu et al., 2020). In Hong Kong where it lacks any policy towards multiculturalism, despite the growing number of non-Chinese multicultural learners, empirical support as to how pre-service teachers develop multicultural awareness and beliefs remains scant. This study analysed preservice teachers' perception of multicultural classrooms qualitatively to elucidate their multicultural awareness. It addressed two questions: 1) how do pre-service teachers understand cultural diversity in classrooms?; and 2) How do they perceive teachers' roles in responding to culturally diverse learners' needs? Nine ethnic Chinese pre-service teachers who joined an informal multicultural education programme in a Hong Kong teacher education university were interviewed. The data were transcribed, and coded with NVivo 12 based on the above questions. The analysis showed that preservice teachers demonstrated awareness of cultural differences in Hong Kong schools, suggesting that the intercultural contact and experiences the programme facilitated were effective. Cultural cliques among students, they believed, can promote quality of learning through co-ethnic peer interaction. Yet, they anticipated the need to go "out of their comfort zone" to teach in English, a language they regard as essential in meeting the learning needs of ethnic minority students more fully, especially those who were less proficient in Chinese language. Implications for research and teacher education for enhancing multicultural awareness in Hong Kong schools will be discussed. Copyright © 2023 World Education Research Association.