This paper reviews a series of studies on the effects of accent on second language listening comprehension (L2 LC). It is shown that some of the studies have been misinterpreted as indicating the existence of an own, or local, accent advantage in L2 listening. From the review, it is clear that there is insufficient evidence to support such conclusions. Given previous research findings and current state of knowledge concerning the LC process, it is hypothesised that different but familiar accents should cause no problems for L2 listeners. This hypothesis is tested in an experiment featuring 63 Hong Kong school students. The results support the hypothesis. From the findings, it is argued that degree of familiarity is the crucial issue with regard to whether a particular accent causes LC problems for L2 listeners to English. In contrast, whether or not a speaker's accent is similar to the listener's is a secondary issue, which is important only in so far as it relates to the issue of familiarity.
[Copyright © 1997 Sage Publications.]

This paper illustrates how classroom small talk between a teacher and students constitutes a distinct interaction pattern which varies significantly from pedagogical discourse of an institutional nature such as the initiation/response/feedback (IRF) pattern described in previous literature (Mehan, 1979 ; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975). By presenting a piece of extended small talk in an ESL secondary classroom in Hong Kong and contrasting it with a piece of typical teacher-orchestrated institutional classroom talk, I show how the teacher and students demonstrate more dynamic and less asymmetrical roles during small talk with clear evidence of active contributions to the exchange by the students in terms of topic setting, turn initiation, turn development, and negotiation of meaning. Features of the small talk resemble everyday social discourse. Implications of this kind of classroom talk on the learners’ L2 language development are explored.
[Copyright © 2003 University of California, Los Angeles.]

The Bachelor of Education (Languages) Programme (BEdL) of the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) was first implemented in 2001-02. As an integral part of the programme, the design of the Field Experience curriculum has its own characteristics. In addition to the traditional practice on classroom teaching, ranging from collaborative to independent teaching from Year Two onwards, the programme provides student teachers with opportunities for school visit and attachments through which they can better understand the requirements of language teaching in school contexts. Among all school attachments, the one-day-per-week attachment to a local secondary school in the second semester of Year One has received controversial feedback from various stakeholders. Such feedback reflects diversified considerations from schoolteachers involved about whether they will continue to support similar activities. Based on the feedback received in the past two years, this paper will first synthesize voices of current Supporting Teachers and student teachers of the BEd(L). Then the authors will discuss the effectiveness of such a mode of school attachment in preparing student teachers for classroom teaching. Taking the voices of Supporting Teachers and student teachers into consideration, we hope that this paper could help reveal a comprehensive evaluation of the design, and more important, enhance the quality of Field Experience with a view to forging a closer professional partnership between the Institute and schools.