This comparative study investigated the associations between instructional practices and students' reading performance among 10 top performing regions that participated in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018. A nationally representative sample consisting of 80,016 15-year-old students from 5 Asian regions (B-S-J-Z [China], Singapore, Macao, Hong Kong, and Korea) and 5 Western regions (Estonia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, and Poland) were included. A secondary analysis of PISA survey and assessment data was conducted. T test and ANOVA analyses revealed systematic differences in instructional practices of the 10 regions. B-S-J-Z (China) had significantly higher levels of teacher support, teacher-directed instruction, and teacher stimulation than the other sample regions. Asian regions tended to have higher levels of teacher support, teacher-directed instruction, teacher feedback, adaptive instruction, and teacher enthusiasm compared with Western regions, although variations were also found within Asian regions or within Western regions. Hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analyses indicated that reading performance was positively predicted by teacher support, adaptive instruction, teacher stimulation, and teacher enthusiasm, but negatively predicted by teacher-directed instruction and teacher feedback. This study sheds light on the effective instructional practices for optimizing students' reading performance across different cultural contexts. Copyright © 2023 Springer Nature.

While assessment for learning (AfL) has gained increasing international prominence, and has been strongly promulgated by an increasing number of education systems, current instruments designed to measure students' assessment for learning experience show a number of methodological shortcomings, such as lacking construct validity and low internal consistency of scales, or structural confirmations of the dimensionality of AfL constructs captured in the questionnaires have not been tested. This paper presents the development and validation of a psychometrically robust measure of assessment for learning experience in the Chinese higher education-the Assessment for Learning Experience Inventory (AFLEI). Two independent samples of 201 and 163 higher education students responded to the AFLEI. The data were then subjected to Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFAs) and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs), respectively. Results from both EFAs and CFAs provided support for a five-factor AfL experience inventory with a strong psychometric basis. The five clusters of AfL experience perceived by the Chinese university students are Teacher formal feedback and support, Interactive dialog and peer collaboration, Learning-oriented assessment, Active engagement with subject matter, and Students taking responsibility for their learning. The correlations between the five clusters of AfL experience and the 'deep learning approach' of the Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) supported the concurrent validity of the AFLEI. The AFLEI can be used both as an evaluation tool to evaluate the extent to which university students experience AfL practices in university curriculum, and as a research tool to explore more deeply the relationships between AfL experience and student learning.
[Copyright of Asia-Pacific Education Researcher is the property of Springer.]

While assessment for learning (AfL) has been strongly promulgated by an increasing number of education systems internationally, little research is available that investigates students' responses to such AfL innovations, particularly in a Chinese learning context. There is a need to research and evaluate the AfL practices introduced and their impact on student learning approaches. This study focused on students' perceptions of AfL practices and the relationships these have with students' learning approaches. The study investigated perceptions of AfL practices experienced by students (N = 582) at three universities in mainland China and Hong Kong. Results indicated that student AfL experience positively influenced their learning approaches. Results revealed that all dimensions of students' perceived AfL experience (i.e., engagement with subject matter, teacher support, and peer support) were found to be significantly positively correlated with students' tendency to use a deep approach to learning, suggesting that in the Chinese and Hong Kong university environment, AfL practices contribute to students adopting a meaningful approach to learning.
[Copyright of Measurement is the property of Psychology Press.]

This study aims at examining how learner L2 oral performance may vary across two different task types in the current school-based assessment initiative being implemented across secondary schools in Hong Kong. The study is innovative in that the tasks in this study involve speaking in a high-stakes language assessment context but they also build on a regular reading and viewing programme integrated into the school curriculum. An in-depth analysis of learner oral linguistic performance on two different task types, i.e., group interaction and individual presentation, from 30 ESL secondary school students, was conducted using a wide range of linguistic measures of accuracy, fluency and complexity derived from previous L2 speaking studies. The analysis shows generally systematic variation in performance dimensions across the two task types, suggesting a trend in the direction of less accuracy, lower fluency and less complex language being associated with the group discussion task. In addition, differences on rater assessments also appeared in the same direction across the two tasks as those differences on the linguistic measures. The results of this study appear to offer little support to the existing categorization of interactive tasks producing greater L2 complexity and accuracy than non-interactive tasks. Implications of the results for both test task development and classroom task design are discussed.
[Copyright © Pergamon Press].

Although the importance of practicum for preservice teachers goes almost unchallenged, specific empirical evidence of growth in language teachers’ practical knowledge in the under-researched context of preservice language teacher education is limited. Informed by both the reflective approach to teaching and an activity theory perspective, this qualitative case study examines what types of classroom practices a group of ESL student teachers learned in practicum experiences, and what pedagogical strategies they appropriated to achieve their learning of those goal-oriented classroom practices. The study is different from the previous teacher reflective thinking studies in that the study participants reflected on their practice teaching experiences, and such reflections were further tested in real-classroom situations and resulted in transformational learning. The results show that the student teachers’ learning of effective classroom practices was essentially prompted by reflection of the challenges and dilemmas encountered in the learning-to-teach process. The study points to the importance of foreign and second language teacher preparation programs promoting and sustaining a culture of reflection to empower preservice language teachers to anticipate or cope with the uncertainties and challenges they will encounter in the practicum experience, which is essential to meaningful learning and knowledge construction.
[Copyright © 2015 De La Salle University.]

A much under-researched issue in higher education is the extent to which English-medium university courses help students improve their English proficiency in an ESL context. Adopting a longitudinal, mixed methods design in which quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed, the current study tracked English language improvement, or lack thereof, among 33 students over a 12-month segment of a Bachelor of Education degree (B.Ed.) program. The results revealed that on average, student scores showed very slight improvement both overall and across each of the four skill areas, although there was considerable variation among the students in the amount of improvement or lack of improvement made. Analysis of the interview data identified a combination of factors that might influence students’ English language development in the B.Ed. program. Important implications of the results for pedagogical practices that facilitate ESL teacher trainees’ English language proficiency development are discussed. Although this study took place in Hong Kong, it has value in other contexts where second or foreign language learners study disciplinary content through the target language.
[Copyright © 2015 the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and Presidio of Monterey.]

Although cultural stereotypes of Asian students as being prone to rote learning, passive and teacher-dependent have been under criticism, the issue of the extent to which Asian heritage culture impacts on Asian students' learning attitudes and behaviour warrants further investigation. This paper reports on an empirical study which compares self-directed language learning attitudes, strategies and motivation among university students in mainland China and Hong Kong. In doing so, the author aims to investigate: (1) whether there are any differences/similarities in learning attitudes, strategies and motivation between these two groups of Asian students; (2) how these differences/similarities could be explained in terms of the cultural (i.e. Confucian) traditions or situational factors such as institutional contexts and social environments. Data were collected through both questionnaire and interviews. The findings of this study suggest that institutional contexts and social environments rather than cultural traditions tend to determine students' attitudes towards, strategies in and motivation for learning English. Implications for illuminating the validity of Littlewood's (1999) 10 predictions about the forms of learner autonomy in East Asian traditions are then discussed.
[Copyright of Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01434630802307890]