Research reveals that although teachers in English as second language (ESL) classrooms are often good at teaching language forms and skills, many are less confident about the cognitive engagement required to develop critical thinking skills. However, little research has been done to examine the development of critical thinking in the context of second-language learning and teaching. In this article, I report the results of a study that assesses the effectiveness of a program called Philosophy in Schools (PIS) in developing students’ critical thinking and English proficiency in Hong Kong. In the study, I provided training and support for five teachers in two schools so that they could teach PIS to their secondary 3 and 4 ESL students during integrated humanities and English lessons respectively. I found that PIS played an important role in promoting the students’ critical thinking and enhanced the development of their English proficiency to a significant extent. Copyright © 2020 by Francis W. Parker School, Chicago. All rights reserved.

This study examined the use of first language in English reading lessons and the perceptions of teachers and students towards it in three Hong Kong Chinese-medium secondary schools. The data comprised three teachers and sixty-three Form 2 students' participation and responses in (i) 3 classroom observations about how L1 was used in actual teaching and learning settings, (ii) survey forms gathering the frequency of participants using L1 teaching and learning strategies (based on the three teachers and nineteen selected students from the pool), and (iii) subsequent in-depth interviews concerning their perceptions about using L1 in English reading lessons. The findings revealed that (i) the use of L1 bottom-up language focused teaching strategies and condition-oriented teaching and learning strategies were effective for teaching and learning in English reading lessons and (ii) there was a negative relationship between students' proficiency in English and the use of L1. The study concluded that the use of first language in English reading lessons brought positive effects on the second language learning in English reading, especially when students' English proficiency and teaching contexts were taken into consideration. Copyright ©International Journal of Instruction.

This paper reports on a qualitative inquiry into language identities in English as a lingua franca (ELF) communication from the perspectives of a group of Chinese-English bilingual students at a Hong Kong university. Using eighteen university students' narratives of their lived experiences in ELF communication, the study revealed that the students oriented to multiple language identities closely associated with their self-perceived proficiency of English in their communication experiences. It was found that they acknowledged the co-existence of their dual identities as language users and language learners in ELF communication and made reference to their language expertise by way of explicit orientations to their self-ascribed identity as English majors. Furthermore, the students constructed and negotiated their language identities differently in relation to their interlocutors who were defined in terms of the native/non-native dichotomy. Taken together, the findings point to the multiple and variable nature of language identities that are implicated in ELF communication experiences and demonstrate the role of language ideologies in mediating language identities in ELF contexts. The paper also calls for more nuanced understandings of bilingual individuals' own – or emic – perspectives on their language identities in ELF communication. Copyright ©Routledge.

English medium instruction (EMI) is a growing phenomenon in many countries. Some researchers have investigated the difficulties and strategies students use to cope with EMI. However, the pedagogical challenges faced and strategies used by other key participants, teachers, have been surprisingly under-researched. This study utilizes questionnaire and interview data to identify the challenges and coping strategies used by secondary school EMI science teachers in Hong Kong. A number of challenges and strategies were reported. The authors argue that many of these challenges can be overcome with principles and strategies from ELT, as the 'English' in EMI is often the main issue. The most prevalent strategy reported is the use of L1. Two perspectives on L1 usage in EMI contexts are discussed. Two emergent realities are presented as possible solutions: the idealized reality and the immediate reality. Implications for teachers and suggestions for future research are provided. Copyright ©Oxford University Press.

This study presents a systematic review of previous research on e-book-based language learning. E-book-based language learning has been increasingly investigated in the field of language education, whereas previous review studies of relevant literature were relatively low in volume and incomprehensive from aspects of research participants and research perspectives. In the present study, we identified 52 relevant journal articles on e-book-based language learning published in the recent decade, coding them from three dimensions: methodology, e-book devices and features, and research issues and findings. The results indicated that: (a) most studies on e-book-based language learning were of a large sample size and one-session investigation; (b) pre-school children and university students were the most frequently investigated sample groups; (c) computers and tablets were the most frequently used devices; (d) multimedia, feedback giving, gamification and personalisation were the four features most frequently applied in enhancing the efficiency of e-book-based language learning; (e) researchers collected and processed data mainly through pre- and post-tests and group comparisons; (f) learning outcomes, learning behaviours and learners’ psychological states were investigated in most studies, whereby the findings indicated overall positive effects of e-book on language learning. Copyright © 2020 Laboratory for Knowledge Management & E-Learning, The University of Hong Kong.

In this article, the processes and patterning of translanguaging and trans-semiotizing in facilitating Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) are examined in Cantonese-English bilingual contexts. Classroom interaction data and students’ written exercises/assignments were collected to analyse the processes of feeling-meaning making among junior secondary students and their teacher in English-medium Integrated Humanities classrooms in Hong Kong. Discourse analysis on classroom data and student exercises/assignments shows that translanguaging and trans-semiotizing naturally emerge in the dynamics of feeling-meaning making and the teacher and students have challenged the dominance of English and contested the previous stabilized cultural patterns of academic and non-academic registers via orchestrating Cantonese and English, formal and social languages, visual elements and physical items in the immediate environment. It is therefore suggested that translanguaging and trans-semiotizing should not only be seen as a spontaneous, naturally occurring process but can also be incorporated in multilingual CLIL classrooms as planned systematic scaffolding.本文針對雙語環境中學科與語言整合式教學(CLIL)，嘗試探討以跨語際、跨符號實踐作為課堂教學鷹架的過程與模式。本文以香港初中英文綜合人文(Integrated Humanities)課堂為例，蒐集、分析課堂互動錄影及學生課後習作，剖析師生共同建構情感意義的過程。分析表明，師生為令課堂連貫流暢，協調粵語、英語以及正式和非正式語言的運用，調動視覺元素及課堂環境中的相關物件，自然地以跨語際、跨符號實踐表情達意。英語的主導地位以及關於學術及非學術語域的傳統觀念也在無意中被挑戰。因此本文提出除了作為即時的自發現象，跨語際、跨符號實踐還可作為有計劃及系統的鷹架支持，運用於帶有多語言背景的CLIL課堂中。 Copyright © 2020 National Taiwan Normal University.

This paper examines the unintended consequences of state language policy and planning (LPP) that adopt subtractive approaches on teachers' subsequent receptivity to policy fine-tuning. A comparative approach is adopted in this statistical study of two strategic contexts, where the influence of the world's two leading languages—English and Mandarin—manifests in the home language conversion patterns of ethnic Chinese teachers of Hong Kong and Singapore. The interplay among state, education, and family linguistic domains provides the framework to understand how teachers exercise agency underpinned by their sociolinguistic background (childhood home language—CHL) and home language conversion preference (home language as adult—HL). The results show that teacher CHL–HL conversion preferences underlie their response to state LPP initiatives and influence LPP outcomes in the education domain. The results are theorized in terms of the prevailing values in Hong Kong and Singapore that shape teacher agency, the unintended outcomes of subtractive LPP in education, and the probable outcomes on the linguistic vitality of local and dominant languages in Hong Kong, with the interplay between future subtractive LPP and teacher agency. Copyright © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Since 1997, the Hong Kong government adopted a ‘biliterate and trilingual’ language policy, aimed at developing biliterate (written Chinese and English) and trilingual (Cantonese, Putonghua and English) citizens. However, Hong Kong secondary schools did not have an agreed approach for this policy implementation, and the Medium of Instruction (MOI) arrangements have been controversial. In response, the government decided to fine-tune MOI arrangements for secondary schools in 2009, allowing them the flexibility to decide on appropriate MOI arrangements. This paper reports on a case study of the trilingual education approach of a Hong Kong secondary school after the introduction of the fine-tuning policy. Research methods employed include questionnaire surveys, interviews and analysis of recorded lessons. Research findings suggest that various factors need to be considered when adopting a trilingual education approach. First, students found it more appropriate to use Cantonese than Putonghua as the MOI for teaching Chinese Language, and the effectiveness of using Putonghua as the MOI (PMI) was questioned by Chinese Language subject teachers and the principal. Second, although some subjects such as Integrated Science and Mathematics were taught using English as the MOI, mixed code is prevalent in classroom teaching. Third, the importance of using the mother tongue in teaching is emphasised. It is hoped that this study will shed light on how trilingual education can be implemented effectively in secondary schools. Copyright © 2020 University of Westminster Press.

This paper investigates the experiences of two international students with different linguistic backgrounds in a university in Hong Kong, with particular attention to the role of language in their identity negotiation during their transnational studies. Based on their contrasting narratives, the study revealed that the two students’ identity negotiation experiences appeared to be shaped by their different language competences, which were valued differently in the academic and social contexts within the university. It was found that the degree of (in)compatibility between their language competences and the norms and expectations associated with the academic and social contexts within the university context impacted on their negotiation of fuller forms of participation and their construction of desirable identities. Furthermore, the two students’ different language ideologies and their different abilities to exercise agency in mobilising their linguistic capital in exchange for other forms of capital were found to mediate their identity negotiation and transformation. Copyright © 2019 British Association for International and Comparative Education.

Drawing upon the multifaceted construct of motivation and engagement, this study used the adapted Motivation and Engagement Scale for University/College Students (MES-UC) (Martin, 2007, 2008b, 2012) to examine English-majored undergraduate students' motivation and engagement in Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) writing classes. A sample of 1190 students from 35 Chinese universities participated in this study. Results showed that students were generally motivated to write in English and engaged in the second language (L2) writing courses. Individual differences (Le., gender, grade, region, colleges' prestige, and colleges' profession) in L2 writing motivation and engagement also were identified. Three distinct profiles of L2 learners' motivation and engagement were identified: the "Motivated and engaged", the "Ambiguously motivated and engaged", and the "Ambivalently motivated and engaged" L2 writers. The findings shed new light on the nature of Chinese English-majored undergraduates' motivation and engagement in EFL writing contexts.
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