Improving primary students' reading comprehension is one of the most significant objectives shared by all language educators. Recent studies have highlighted the uniquely important role of executive function (EF) in underpinning reading comprehension, both directly and indirectly through other reading-related skills. Reading engagement, which may require active management from readers, has been widely acknowledged as a crucial contributor to reading comprehension. Therefore, it has been claimed that EF can facilitate reading engagement and, in turn, benefit reading comprehension. However, the relationships between EF, reading engagement, and reading comprehension have not been fully explored yet. In the present study, 225 primary Grades 3 and 5 students in Hong Kong were invited to complete a battery of tasks, including EF tasks, reading engagement questionnaire, and reading comprehension task. The findings suggested that EF exerted indirect effects on reading comprehension through reading engagement, beyond its direct effect. Furthermore, when comparing the hypothesized model between students from the two grades – the effect size of each path in Grade 5 was found to be higher than in Grade 3. Additionally, the indirect effect of EF on reading comprehension via reading engagement was only found to be significant in Grade 5. Theoretical implications were discussed based on the present findings – which also enlightened teaching reading in the context of Chinese. Copyright © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Sin Manw Sophia Lam, John Chi-Kin Lee and Chung Mou Si; individual chapters, the contributors.

This chapter examines the focus on life and moral education in the Greater China region, particularly in Hong Kong, in response to global educational changes and talent demands. Emphasizing the cultivation of lifelong learning skills, problem-solving, innovation, conflict resolution, and a sense of responsibility, the Chinese Language curriculum is analyzed for its values elements related to life and moral education. The curriculum in Hong Kong includes learning strands encompassing Chinese culture, morality, and affection, with specific objectives such as moral reasoning, awareness, judgment, sentiment, self-reflection, positive life views, temperament development, and community responsibility. Teaching, learning, and assessment strategies for promoting life and moral education are also explored. Additionally, contemporary and ancient texts, namely “The Back” by Zhu Ziqing and “Love on Lotus Flower” by Zhou Dunyi, are used to illustrate the curriculum's potential for nurturing core competencies, values, and attitudes amidst diverse cultures and ideas. By equipping young individuals with these skills, they are better prepared to navigate future societal challenges and value conflicts. Copyright © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Sin Manw Sophia Lam, John Chi-Kin Lee and Chung Mou Si; individual chapters, the contributors.

There has been global popularity of the Chinese language for the past three decades. With a vast market of 1.4 billion people and enormous business opportunities in China, the Chinese language as a foreign or second language is taught in more than 2,000 universities in over 80 countries and countless primary and secondary schools. Hong Kong as part of China after the handover of sovereignty in 1997, the learning and teaching of the Chinese language as a native language in Hong Kong has experienced remarkable changes throughout the years. Hong Kong used to be a British colony where the East meets the West and played an essential role in bridging the gap between Chinese and Western cultures. For historical reasons, Hong Kong tends to be a bilingual city and advocates trilingual biliterate in education, which means students are encouraged to learn and speak Cantonese (a local dialect), write traditional Chinese characters (versus simplified Chinese characters in Mainland China), Putonghua (Mandarin) and English. In general, English is used in business and public affairs as an official language and Lingua Franca whereas Chinese is another official language used in daily communication. In terms of language education, students learn Chinese because it is their first language and cultural identity while learning English has instrumental values. It is, therefore, Hong Kong society has generally prioritized English over Chinese, and students do not attach much importance to Chinese language learning. This chapter first analyzes the challenges and development of Chinese language learning and teaching in Hong Kong in the past 50 years. It also discusses the controversial issues of language education policies, including the division of Chinese language and literature, the teaching of Classical Chinese, the teaching of Putonghua, medium of instruction (MOI), non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students learning Chinese, aiming to review the Chinese language education in Hong Kong. It is hoped

The study examines the teaching of Chinese characters in Hong Kong primary and secondary schools. Currently, the “learn character through reading text” approach is widely used, but it lacks an explanation of the connection between form, meaning, and sound. This study aims to provide a systematic understanding of word form and meaning through an etymological approach – Systematic Chinese Etymon Acquisition (SCEA). The system helps students understand Classical Chinese and recognize the different meanings of the same character in various texts. The study involved 114 Year 10 students from a local secondary school in Hong Kong. Learning materials aligned with the school's Chinese language curriculum were used for one month. Pre-and post-tests were conducted to assess the students' knowledge of Classical Chinese vocabulary, and questionnaires were administered to gather feedback on the SCEA approach. The data were analyzed using SPSS. The findings revealed that the participants' knowledge of etymology improved significantly. They demonstrated a stronger understanding of the meaning and extended meaning of Chinese characters, as well as an increased awareness of Chinese culture. Based on these results, pedagogical implications for teaching Chinese characters will be proposed. Copyright © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Sin Manw Sophia Lam, John Chi-Kin Lee and Chung Mou Si; individual chapters, the contributors.

Teacher written feedback (TWF) refers to the written comments, corrections and responses offered by second language (L2) teachers on students’ writing drafts. This practice, being considered common and important in scaffolding L2 students’ writing process and improving writing products, has attracted significant research attention.Among the existing literature, two gaps have been discovered. Firstly, the majority concentrated on written corrective feedback (WCF), indicating feedback exclusively on linguistic and grammatical errors. However, in many English-teaching classes, teachers not only provide linguistic feedback, but also deliver feedback on non-linguistic aspects of writing problems, including content, organisation, genre and linguistic use. Moreover, L2 students were found to expect different aspects of TWF in their writing. Thus, research on WCF exclusively is insufficient to generate a comprehensive comprehension of TWF, does not reflect the teaching practice in authentic classes and ignores the preferences of students. Secondly, research on TWF was mostly quasi-experimental, investigating the efficacy of feedback on writing performance. This overemphasis on the written products as evidence of learning overlooks the learning that could happen during the process where students engage with TWF and the individual and contextual factors that come into play during the process. Thus, there is a call for more research on learner engagement with teacher feedback on all aspects (i.e. local, global and praises) and how various writer-related and contextual factors mediate engagement. To respond to this call, the current qualitative longitudinal case study tried to fill the gap by investigating how Chinese English-major university students with diverse English proficiency levels engaged with TWF from cognitive, behavioural and affective perspectives in a naturalistic classroom setting as well as examined individual and contextual factors that mediated student engagement

In Hong Kong, the Education Bureau stipulates in the curriculum document that schools should enrich English language learning and teaching through incorporating moral and civic education, and use of information technology for interactive learning. To prepare preservice teachers to meet these pressing demands, an experiential learning project was conducted to engage student teachers outside the formal curriculum to produce a series of digital stories that stress values education for primary school children. A total of 11 bachelor of education students and MATESOL students joined the project, in which they collaboratively developed 12 digital stories using online tools, such as Book Creator and Canva. Interactive learning activities were designed to accompany the digital stories to facilitate school learners to develop positive values and good character, including respect, responsibility, confidence building, problem solving, sportsmanship, friendship, caring, helpfulness, compassion, civic sense and service to others. Various evaluation methods were used to gauge the usefulness of the experiential learning project. These encompass school trials, post-lesson evaluation, student teachers’ self-reflections and interviews. The findings indicate that the experiential learning process not only enabled the participating student teachers to enrich their pedagogical knowledge and skills but also provided opportunities to enhance various generic skills, such as creativity and critical thinking. Evidence shows that experiential learning plays a valuable role in equipping student teachers with the necessary skills for the challenges in their future teaching careers. Copyright © 2023 ECLL.

In response to the call for integrating a praxis orientation to understand processes of language development through active engagement with teachers and learners, this article introduces techno-reflective narrative interview (TRNI) as a tool to understand how learners invest in their English as a second language (ESL) language and literacy practices as social practices in English medium instruction (EMI) courses. It is timely in integrating both technical and critical guidance for methodological innovations in the field of applied linguistics. To illustrate how this aim is achieved, this article first justifies the significance and theoretical basis of TRNI by elaborating on the definitions of and underpinning rationale for it, followed by the relationship among second language (L2) learners, investment, and TRNI. It then discusses the methods adopted by the 69 most cited empirical studies from Google Scholar that used the model of L2 investment as the theoretical model and compares these methods with TRNI. Finally, it discusses how TRNI was developed and adopted in two action research projects conducted by the author and two lecturers among local undergraduate students in the Hong Kong context. Through these steps, I demonstrate how TRNIs can be adopted or adapted to provide an interactive space for ESL learners to reconstruct and perform their English speaker and learner identities, share their learning experiences with the agency to introduce their positions, voices, and stories, and therefore, claim legitimacy as English users in EMI courses. Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technostress is a phenomenon in which rapid technological advancement affects teachers’ psychological well-being. It is an emerging concern in English language education, which may be exacerbated by the advent of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT. This study explores the factors that influence technostress among English language teachers using GenAI tools and strategies that can alleviate it. Based on the analysis of qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 16 instructors at higher education institutions in Hong Kong, the study identifies the rapid advancement of AI technology, inadequate training and lack of experience as contributors to technostress. It also names mitigating strategies including targeted professional development, online engagement and gradual integration. These techniques can foster Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and reduce the challenges of incorporating GenAI into English teaching. The findings align with existing literature on the impact of technostress and the role of TPACK. The practical implications include the need for comprehensive training, supportive communities and a balanced approach to AI integration. This investigation also expands the theoretical understanding of technostress in English language teaching and the use of GenAI tools, providing empirical support for existing frameworks. It also suggests directions for future research, which could investigate teacher well-being, effective AI integration and the impact of TPACK. Copyright © 2024 Educational Technology & Society.