This study aimed to investigate the relationship between language exposure and Chinese character handwriting (CCW) among 103 non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students in Hong Kong. Specifically, it examined the impact of academic self-concept, including students’ self-perceptions of their Chinese character competence and affect, on the complex learning process of CCW in a multilingual context like Hong Kong. NCS students were invited to complete a writing-to-dictation test, a questionnaire on CCW exposure outside of the classroom, and a self-description questionnaire of academic self-concept. Path analysis was employed to analyse the path models within the constructs. The results revealed that language exposure had both direct and indirect effects on CCW through academic self-concept. Notably, the effect of language exposure on CCW was strongly mediated by competence self-concept but not affect self-concept. This suggests that NCS students evaluate their competence in producing desired outcomes within exposure environments based on their own self-perceptions. Drawing on these empirical findings, the article discusses the educational implications for Chinese as a second language learning and teaching. It emphasizes the significance of tailored instructional methods that can enhance the competence and affective self-concepts of NCS students. By implementing such approaches, students will be better equipped to integrate into diverse multilingual societies. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).

Purpose: This article aims to (1) systematically examine the development of career guidance practices in Hong Kong over the past 40 years, (2) discuss developmental attention to the career-related self-concept of diverse learners, and (3) propose a multidimensional model of self-concept by integrating the career-related domains with recent advances in self-concept research pertaining to students' in-school and post-school outcomes.Design/Approach/Methods: This article charts the developmental trend of career guidance and counseling (CGC) over more than 40 years in Hong Kong. The article also examines key findings relating to self-concept research made in the fields of education and career counseling in the past 50 years.Findings: For 50 years, Hong Kong has progressively recognized the importance of CGC. The government's continued determination to refine its policies and practices in this domain was succinctly highlighted in the Chief Executive's 2018 policy address. However, many challenges pertaining the professional competence of career guidance teachers and the ability of school administrators to manage the paradigm shift from informal to formal career guidance and counseling practices (CGCPs) remain. Meanwhile, the effects of these CGCPs on students' gains of career-related abilities and interests directly and indirectly remain under-researched.Originality/Value: This article integrates research into the developmental trend of career guidance practices in secondary schools and the study of academic self-concept. The article builds upon previous self-concept research by proposing an extended self-concept model that includes the career-related domain, setting a theoretical model for further research to explore. Finally, the article demonstrates the importance of tailoring career guidance activities in secondary education to reflect the diverse career-related self-concepts held by today's students with diverse abilities. Copyright © 2020 The Author(s).

Based on self-reported cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioural strategy measures obtained from 828 final-year students from a university in Hong Kong, latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four distinct types of students with differential self-regulated learning strategy orientations: competent self-regulated learners, cognitive-oriented self-regulated learners, behavioural-oriented self-regulated learners, and minimal self-regulated learners. Students in the competent SRL profile demonstrated the highest levels of academic self-concept, motivation, attitude, and the lowest level of test anxiety and best academic performance. Multinomial logistic regression analysis also indicated that learning experience factors (teaching quality, clear goals and standards, appropriate assessment and workload) were significant predictors of SRL profile membership. The profiling of student self-regulated learning strategies resulted in enhanced understanding of the complex range of processes students employ and offered new insights into this emerging area of student learning.
[Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.880832]