Many children around the globe are learning English as a foreign language, especially in Asia. Numbers of participants and development of programs are increasing rapidly, as is a commercial testing movement targeted toward assessing this group of young learners. For example, the popular Cambridge Young Learners English test series has had more than 360,000 young testers globally (Cambridge ESOL Examinations, 2004, 2007). Published research on assessment for young learners has focused on developing reliable and appropriate assessment instruments at school or national levels, but little work has focused on the private uses of commercial international language tests for children. Reporting on a 3-year project investigating Hong Kong young learners' participation in commercial international language test taking and preparation, this article explores stakeholders' perceptions on the practice in order to examine the social consequences. The project adopted a multimethod qualitative approach with data including interviews with stakeholders from the education and commercial sectors, classroom observations, participant observation in online parenting forums, and documentary research on media coverage and advertisements. Our findings suggested that in lieu of clear and perceived fairness in their own education system, stakeholders were using language tests as a grassroots movement to gain access to material educational resources.
[Copyright of Language Assessment Quarterly is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15434303.2010.537417]

This research aims to study how a resource-based learning environment (RBLE) helps primary students develop better understanding of the Earth's movement. One objective of the study is to establish an RBLE by creating authentic contexts, selecting appropriate resources, designing relevant tools and adopting necessary scaffolds. The other objective is to examine the effects of the RBLE on primary students' understanding of the Earth's movement in different classroom settings with varied teaching support levels. Research methodology includes pre-lesson and post-lesson tests to study students' understanding, observation and analysis of lessons to examine the teaching scaffolding employed, interviews and teacher's written reflection after all the lessons to investigate their views of the use of RBLE. The findings indicated that there is an interaction effect between students' academic background and settings of learning, and that the RBLE provides little support to students of low academic background, but is very effective to students of higher academic background helping them to construct an improved understanding of the Earth's movement. The article suggested an integrated use of teacher-regulated inquiry approach and interactive inquiry approach for the better use of the RBLE.
[Copyright of Interactive Learning Environments is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10494820802393788]

University education has been thrust into the limelight by policymakers in Hong Kong and Singapore in recent years. Reforming university education thus has become a norm for both city-states. This article reviews and compares some recent developments in the university reforms in both city-states. It argues university education, as a public policy area, is not immune from the profound influence of such concepts as accountability, performativity, quality assurance and market relevance, which prevail in a wider policy context of public sector reforms and governance changes. Hong Kong and Singapore's university reforms are similarly extensive, ranging from the admission mechanisms through to the governance and funding systems. This article has four main sections. The first sketches a paradigm shift in the policymaking process and the changing state-university relationships in the age of globalization. The second reviews and compares some recent developments of the university reforms in both city-states. The third turns to assess the impacts of the reforms on university stakeholders. The final section is the conclusion.
[Copyright of Higher Education Research & Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0729436032000083625]

This study investigated the challenges and opportunities associated with the introduction of information and communication technologies (ICT) into the early childhood curriculum in Hong Kong kindergartens. Thirty-one principals completed questionnaires before they implemented a new curriculum initiative plan that involved the integrating of ICT into children's learning activities. They completed the same questionnaire and were interviewed within 1 month after they had implemented the curriculum. Findings indicated that the main problems were as follows: the low level of teachers' ICT competence, hardware and software problems, the lack of resources and technical support, and parental level of ICT competence. In-service training was regarded as the pivotal solution to these problems. The 5 levels of ICT transformation of the educational and learning processes (Mooij & Smeets, 2001) were evident in the participating schools. Most of the principals admitted that they were just "technology learners" (Yee, 1999), with regard to their information technology leadership. Sociocontextual accounts and implications of these findings are discussed.
[Copyright of Early Education & Development is the property of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1703_7]