The paper focuses on teachers' cognitions (their beliefs, feelings, and under standings) about subject matter. The teachers discussed in the paper teach English to secondary students in Hong Kong. Their cognitions are all concerned with grammar and grammar pedagogy. Drawing on analyses of quantitative and qualitative data, the paper addresses four questions: 1. Are there associations between particular cognitions about subject matter and specific factors of teacher background? 2. Are there associations between particular cognitions about subject matter and levels of knowledge of subject matter? 3. Are there general patterns in teachers' cognitions about subject matter? 4. Are there patterns of association between teachers' cognitions about subject matter and their perceived pedagogical practice? In relation to the first two questions, survey data from 170 teachers revealed no significant associations between their cognitions about subject matter and such background factors as years of teaching experience and place or subject of first degree. There were, however, interesting patterns of association between the data about the teachers' beliefs and test results indicating those teachers' levels of language proficiency and explicit knowledge of grammar and grammatical terminology. Interviews (supported by classroom observation) were the main source of data relating to the third and fourth questions. Data from 17 teachers revealed patterns of cognitions about subject matter, which appeared to associate with certain pedagogical practices. At the same time, there was considerable variation between individuals. A follow-up paper will examine the uniqueness of the individual teacher's cognitions and of their association with pedagogical practice, using a case-study approach involving classroom data and interview.
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An in-depth investigation is currently being conducted into the metalinguistic awareness of a group of practising L2 teachers, all non-native speakers teaching English in Hong Kong secondary schools. The investigation focuses on teacher metalinguistic awareness (TMA) as it relates to grammar. As part of this in-depth study, a test was administered in order to explore the declarative dimension of TMA: the teacher's explicit knowledge of grammar and grammatical terminology. The test was based largely on Alderson et al. (1996), which in turn draws upon Bloor (1986). The present paper reports on the test performance of these serving teachers as an indication of the level and nature of their explicit knowledge of grammar and grammatical terminology. It also compares their performance with that of two groups of prospective teachers of EFL/ESL: one group of native-speakers and the other of non-native speakers. Comparison with the former helps to shed light on the native/non-native issue (see, for example, Medgyes, 1994) as it relates to explicit knowledge of grammar, while comparison with the latter offers some indication of the effects of post-secondary education and teaching experience upon such knowledge.
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*The paper reports a study that Hong Kong secondary school English teachers' metalinguistic awareness was related to the ability to explain a grammar point by asking teachers with different backgrounds and experience to role play a grammar point on two separate occasions. Analysis was made on the transcripts of teachers' role-plays.

The paper focuses on the development of teacher thinking, specifically L2 teachers' subject-matter cognitions, i.e. their Teacher Language Awareness (TLA) (see e.g. Andrews 2001, 2003). The study examines the evolving TLA, as it relates to grammar, of three teachers, each a graduate with more than 10 years' experience of teaching English in Hong Kong secondary schools. All three teachers took part in a previous TLA study conducted in 1996-97 (see Andrews, 1999a), when they were in their early years of teaching and had received no professional training. In the present study, these three teachers' TLA and cognitions about grammar were investigated once more (in 2004). The aim of this follow-up study was to tell the story of each teacher's evolving TLA and grammar-related cognitions. In both phases of the research a mixed methods approach was adopted. Data from the two studies suggested that the teachers' TLA and grammar-related cognitions had altered very little. Their underlying beliefs about grammar pedagogy and the role of explicit grammar teaching, and their knowledge about grammar (as measured by a test of LA) seemed largely unchanged. The main difference between the three teachers was in their interaction with the context in which they worked.
[Copyright of Language Awareness is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658410608668846 ]