Studies of language issues in postcolonial Hong Kong are abundant. While the majority is concerned with the language policy and medium of instruction, there seems to be insufficient discussion on the subject matter of our English lessons, which, this paper argues, are ideology-ridden. Following the tradition of critical discourse analysis and ideological studies (see van Dijk, 2005; Luke, 1994), this study attempted to explore how a habitual form of communication, teacher talk in this case, was utilized as a vehicle for young children to "[learn] the taken-for-granted aspects of lived reality" (Hasan, 1996, p. 137), and what attributed to the creation, transmission and maintenance of this dominant culture/ideology in the society, resulting in narrowly-defined subject matter for the young children in the classrooms observed. The study started with a description of lexicosyntactic items in the teacher talk via a corpus approach, and moved to an interpretation/explanation of the linguistic texts in the light of the overall sociopolitical and cultural context in Hong Kong where the teacher talk was situated.
[Copyright of Critical Inquiry in Language Studies is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15427587clis032&3_6]

A model of bilingual classroom discourse is presented as a set of communicational frames illustrated by data from secondary English classes in Hong Kong. The 'innermost' frame, where the second language, English, is most likely to occur, is that in which the lesson is conducted. Linked to this lesson frame is a lesson-support frame which functions to structure communication and behaviour. The teacher is the main participant in this frame, though students may also participate. Institutional messages which are not directly related to communication in the lesson frame are conveyed in an institutional support frame characterised by primary use of the mother tongue rather than the second language. The 'outermost' frame is that in which non-lesson talk occurs, generally in the mother tongue. This commentary frame may be exploited by students to develop a counter-discourse in opposition to the institutional agenda and other sorts of new discourses. The discussion addresses the difficulty faced by teachers in second language contexts in trying to encourage communication and participation in a way which does not marginalise the second language. It also suggests similarities and differences in students' off-lesson talk in other bilingual and non-bilingual school contexts.
[Copyright of International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13670059908666246]

In September 1998, Hong Kong's Education Department introduced the first stage of a controversial language policy which, when fully implemented, will bring about a fundamental change in the roles of the English and Chinese languages in the territory's education system at secondary level. The new policy, which was announced shortly after the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997, stipulates that the majority (around 300) of the territory's English-medium schools should adopt Chinese as the medium of instruction (MOI). Only 114 schools have been allowed to 'continue' teaching in English. In the community-wide debate which followed the announcement of the policy, reference was frequently made in the media to the fact that the select group of English schools would 'retain' English as the MOI, while those English schools which failed to receive permission to 'continue' using English would be forced to 'switch' from English to Chinese. This paper, which examines the language of oral communication in the English-medium stream prior to the introduction of the new policy, assesses the changes which teachers and students in the English schools and former English (i.e. now Chinese) schools will need to make in order to implement the new policy.
[Copyright of Research Papers in Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02671520110084030]

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been promoted by the European Union as a means to achieve multilingualism. While in Germany and other European countries the trend to use the L2 as a medium of instruction is increasing, in Hong Kong, however, we see a converse development. Many schools switched from English as a medium of instruction (EMI) to mother tongue education.
The German CLIL concept promotes a gradual and cautious switch to L2 for only a few content subjects in the curriculum. The Hong Kong EMI approach introduces L2 after a short bridging period to most content subjects. Although the CLIL and EMI programmes both share the features of a late immersion programme, their approach to language use in classroom discourse frames is different. The current study was designed to examine the processes and effects of language learning in L2-taught content subjects. Based on samples from two history lessons in the German CLIL and the Hong Kong EMI context, classroom interaction was analysed with special focus on teacher/student talk and codeswitching. First results support the claim that constructive processes during classroom interaction are vital elements of language acquisition.
[Copyright of International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.2167/beb465.0]

The author investigates whether the provision of learners with opportunities for meaningful communication in the English classroom is manifested in the secondary-level English classrooms in Hong Kong, what the level of learners' confidence is in using English in class communication, and what factors affect the different confidence levels in classroom communication. Reportedly, 487 F. 4 student of 11 local schools participated in this research.