Given the increasing awareness of oral communication in this era of globalized collaborative learning trends, there is an imminent need to inform language educators of ways in which the under-researched oral interactional strategies are related to first language (L1) teaching. However, no consensus has yet been reached on the relationship between interactional strategy use and oral language proficiency. This study investigates the effect of oral interactional strategy use on group discussion performance in L1 Chinese for Primary 5 students (N = 140) in Hong Kong. Based on ANOVA and regression analyses of the data on group discussion performance, five strategies have been identified: expressing actively, asking for opinion, expressing attitude, giving clarification and non-verbal language. They all significantly predicted students’ group discussion performance, with overall strategies explaining 55.5% of total variation of the performance, where higher-proficiency students tended to use more strategies that enable comprehension and elaboration in the group discussions. The patterns of strategy use among students with different levels of discussion performance have also been identified. Implications of the findings are discussed with reference to the roles individuals play in the overall performance of group discussion. Copyright © 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

Over the past decade, Chinese language teachers in Hong Kong have experienced a series of educational reforms. They are now expected to design and implement their own school-based Chinese language curriculum, and adopt innovative pedagogies and customized materials in the classroom. The current literature suggests that some teachers are not ready for or even resist changes amid new challenges and paradigm changes. This case study highlights the role of emotionality as a key factor for successful teacher change by proposing a local adaptation of the classic model, while pointing out that a combined mode of support inclusive of collective lesson preparation and teaching demonstrations/practical sessions in professional development programs is a key element that helps facilitate teachers' change and provides teachers with experiential learning opportunities and enhanced confidence, leading to their voluntary adoption of the approach and gradual change in their beliefs and attitudes after witnessing the feasibility and effectiveness of the newly introduced concepts.
[© 2017 Teacher Development]