Against the backdrop of internationalisation and growing attention to intercultural experiences in tertiary education, this mixed-methods study examined, in part I, language learning benefits reaped by active participants in intercultural activities. As English is widely used for communication among multilinguals, part II of the study focused specifically on English. We set out to investigate the relationship between individuals' language background (actual and self-perceived English proficiency) and intercultural participation, as well as their views of the formal English language education they received prior to entering universities. The participants (n = 518) recruited from two universities in Hong Kong responded to a questionnaire and 11 of them also attended individual semi-structured interviews. Overall, five categories of benefits emerged from the interview findings, namely psychological benefits, proficiency enhancement, identification of problems, communicative strategies for accommodation, and communicative strategies for expression. A weak positive correlation was found between self-rated English speaking proficiency and participation. The interviewees also commented on the formal English education they received from curricular and environmental perspectives. Copyright ©2023 Routledge.

Against the backdrop of internationalisation of education and the emergence of English as a global language, medium of instruction (MOI) has long been a controversial issue globally. The present study examined the relationships between secondary-level MOI (English, EMI; Chinese, CMI) and learners' tertiary-level academic achievement and perceptions. 434 tertiary-level business, science, and social science students in Hong Kong completed a survey and 18 of them also attended an interview. An overall significant difference was found in tertiary-level academic achievement between the EMI and CMI students. Significant differences were also found in their self-rated performance in and preferences for some but not all kinds of assessments. When analysed by tertiary-level disciplines, business students showed no differences while science students showed some, and social science students showed the greatest differences between the CMI and EMI groups. The interviewees highlighted academic and psychological challenges facing CMI students. Implications for educators and researchers are discussed. Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis.

Proficiency in speaking is one of the hallmarks of communicative competence, which is currently a key goal of many FL education curricula. The present study examined how FL-related emotions (anxiety, boredom, and enjoyment), speaking motivation, and spoken input beyond the classroom (IBC) related to young EFL learners’ speaking proficiency. One hundred and ten Grades 3–4 EFL learners from four primary schools in Hong Kong completed a questionnaire and a speaking test. Their parents/guardians also attended individual interviews. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, multiple regression, and path analysis. Overall, all three emotions were interrelated, but none was connected directly to speaking proficiency. Enjoyment had the strongest correlation with speaking motivation and proficiency, and it was predictive of proficiency only via speaking motivation (i.e., full mediation). IBC showed both significant direct and indirect predictive pathways towards proficiency. To our knowledge, this is the first study that has examined the interrelationships among the three emotions, speaking motivation, spoken IBC, and speaking proficiency holistically with young FL learners. Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Against the backdrop of rapidly growing attention to FL learners’ emotions, the present study investigated learners’ classroom emotions (anxiety, boredom, and enjoyment), literacy outcomes (reading and writing proficiency), and a largely neglected factor in FL emotions research to date – maternal education as a proxy for socio-economic status. One hundred and ninety-one Grade-three/four EFL learners from Hong Kong participated in this study. These learners completed a questionnaire about their classroom emotions, and reading and writing tests. Their parents/guardians attended individual interviews in which the highest level of maternal education was elicited. Overall, the results showed that maternal education and enjoyment were significantly associated with reading and writing proficiency. The contribution of maternal education to literacy outcomes was partially mediated by enjoyment, but not anxiety and boredom. The importance of maternal education and enjoyment are highlighted and discussed. Copyright © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The present study investigated 69 local Hong Kong English language education students' cross-cultural learning as a result of an Internationalization at Home (IaH) initiative that made use of international students' knowledge of English language education in contexts outside of Hong Kong. An analysis of written responses to open-ended questionnaire items revealed that most students reported acquiring superficial cultural facts related to teaching methods, testing methods, and public versus private education in international contexts; however, some students reflected more deeply on perceived cultural differences by challenging their own prior assumptions about English language education and, as a result, demonstrated cultural humility and enhanced empathy towards teachers in contexts outside of Hong Kong. This research suggests that teacher education programs should consider implementing IaH initiatives that capitalise on international student populations to satisfy program-level cross-cultural learning objectives. Copyright © 2022 Routledge.

The recent decades have seen enthusiastic calls for reconceptualizing English as a foreign language (EFL) education, taking into account the current socio-lingual status of English and how it is used genuinely for communication interculturally and internationally. However, a wide gap still exists between promulgation such as intelligibility over nativelikeness in pronunciation instruction and realities in the EFL classroom. The study investigated pre- and in-service teachers' cognition about accents and the incorporation of different accents in their classrooms. One hundred and sixty-six EFL teachers (89 pre-service and 77 in-service) from Hong Kong and Guangdong (a province in China) completed a questionnaire. Contrary to expectations, the teachers' overall attitude was neutral rather than positive towards General American (GA) / Received Pronunciation (RP)(1) associated with EFL teachers' accents and EFL education. Only two thirds of the teachers were certain about which accents to use and to teach in listening and pronunciation lessons (i.e. as many as one third were uncertain). Also, the participants were neutral about incorporating non-GA/RP accents into EFL lessons, with around one third objecting to doing so. Although no differences were found between pre- and in-service teachers' cognition, additional analysis revealed that teachers' individual background variables, namely teaching experience, self-rated language proficiency, and knowledge of sound systems (IPA for English; pinyin for Mandarin), have significant correlations with their cognition. Copyright ©2021 SAGE Publications.

Against the backdrop of the worldwide prevalence and importance of internationalisation in higher education, the mixed-methods study examined the relationships between tertiary-level learners' on-campus intercultural activity participation (e.g. intercultural talks and workshops), seven aspects of whole-person development (civic responsibility, cultural engagement, intellectual capacity, peer relationship, community care, leadership, and self-appreciation), and academic performance. A questionnaire was distributed to 518 participants studying at two universities in Hong Kong. No positive relationship was found between participation and academic achievement. However, participation was positively correlated with all aspects of whole-person development. Community care and cultural engagement had the strongest correlations with participation. Following an explanatory sequential design, 18 of these participants were invited for a follow-up interview to expound on the findings based on their experiences, observations and understanding of their peers. The article ends with a discussion of the findings and implications for intercultural learning and teaching in higher education. Copyright ©2021 Routledge.

Phonology in second/foreign (L2/FL) listening has not received much attention from scholars and teachers. This article reports on a mixed-methods study which set out to fill this gap by exploring the effectiveness of explicit instruction in phonology and the use of songs to enhance English-as-a-L2 (ESL) learners' listening abilities in Hong Kong. ESL learners (n = 92) aged 17-20 participated in a three-month experiment. Data from pre-, post-listening tests and semi-structured interviews were collated. The findings demonstrated the efficacy of L2 phonology instruction in improving learners' L2 listening. More remarkably, the positive effect was augmented when the instruction was coupled with phonological analyses of song lyrics. However, using songs alone for gap-filling exercises (as is commonplace in L2 classrooms) was not found to be effective.
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English as a second/foreign language education (ESL/EFL) in the supplementary setting is under-researched despite its prevalence worldwide. This quantitative study investigated the effects of supplementary and mainstream ESL/EFL education on eleven facets from learners' secondary-level and tertiary-level perspectives. In addition, we examined learners' perception of the usefulness of supplementary and mainstream classes in equipping them for the use of English for different purposes in the tertiary setting. 203 participants studying at two tertiary institutions in Hong Kong completed a 72-item questionnaire. The MANOVAs conducted revealed significant main effects of education settings (i.e. supplementary/mainstream) and education levels (i.e. secondary-level/tertiary-level) as well as interaction effects of these variables on learners' perception. There were also significant differences in learners' views of the usefulness of the two education settings in preparing them for the use of English for specific purposes at tertiary level. This article culminates with a discussion of these findings and implications.
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