This paper reports an exploratory study of questions about English grammar sent in by a group of Hong Kong ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers to a teacher support computer network, TeleNex. The study examines the questions Hong Kong ESL teachers ask about the English language. Arising from the questions posed, the paper then delineates the kinds of language support that ESL teachers may need. Grammar questions sent in by teachers to the network constituted the data source. The questions were analysed in terms of the frequency of the contentwords used, linguistic categories, and teacher knowledge. The principal findings are that the teachers' grammar-related questions typically arose outof their everyday pedagogical needs and these needs seem to be shaped by their implicit models of grammar as a set of rules for 'correct' language use. Such information on 'correct' use does not seem to be easily available from major reference books. These findings confirm the value of a computer network where teachers can obtain continuous informational support and participate in collaborative discussions, which can develop an awareness of grammar as a meaning-making tool.
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This paper examines linguistic features of text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) in Hong Kong. The study is based on a 70,000-word corpus of electronic mail (email) and ICQ instant messaging texts, which was mainly collected from a group of youngsters in Hong Kong. A questionnaire survey was also carried out to complement the textual findings. Some language-specific features are identified, which include Cantonese-based shortenings, common grammatical 'errors' such as inappropriate verb forms and lexical choice, subject omission, code-mixing, and creative orthographic representations of Cantonese. In addition, significant differences are found between email and ICQ texts in terms of the distribution of linguistic features. It is shown that these features are employed more frequently in synchronous communication via ICQ. The study suggests that these linguistic features may be seen as new 'literacy practices' i.e. how people use and think about texts in different contexts, within the theoretical framework of New Literacy Studies (NLS). The study further reveals that CMC texts should be analyzed in different CMC systems, as well as in different linguistic and cultural settings. It is concluded that language and literacy researchers and practitioners should recognize the novelty and the linguistic specificity of CMC texts.
The prevalence of text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) has enormous impact on the growing amount of research into the distinctive features of the text-based CMC (e.g. Baron 1984, 1998, 2001, Herring 1996, Davis and Brewer 1997, Snyder 1998, Paolillo 1999, Crystal 2001). This paper focuses on the linguistic features in electronic mail (email) and ICQ (I-Seek-You) messaging which are specific to the Hong Kong context. The research seeks to examine the underlying relationship between language and literacy in the context of text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) in Hong Kong.
[Copyright of Reading Matrix: An International

This paper considers issues in customising descriptions of English grammar in the context of creating an electronic database for secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. In developing the database, we have aimed to incorporate insights from functional grammar and corpus linguistics while keeping the information accessible and relevant to teachers familiar only with traditional approaches to grammar. This has involved exploiting the advantages of hypertext, explicitly foregrounding pedagogical concerns and developing a metalanguage that will allow discussion of areas such as transitivity and theme without alienating the teacher-users. We illustrate the kinds of compromises that are necessary in order to match the linguistic information to the needs and existing knowledge of the teacher-users.
[Copyright of Language Awareness is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658410008667134]

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.
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This article reports on an action research project on ways and means of promoting learner autonomy in an ESL classroom. It focuses on the implementation of an autonomy-based English program with a group of first-year university students at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The context and objective of this autonomy-based program are presented, classroom procedures and group learning tasks are described, and suggestions are provided for teachers to adapt these procedures and tasks to suit the needs of their particular students.
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The present study is an analysis of curriculum-related papers in primary education published by the education departments of New South Wales, Australia, and Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The aim is to unravel and contrast the ideological positions adopted by the two communities in their approaches to first language education so that common-sense beliefs and practices may be challenged. Analysis shows that the Australian school discourse system exhibits characteristics of progressivism, utilitarianism and reconstructionism whereas the Chinese system in Hong Kong displays combined elements of European classical humanism and Confucianism. It appears that the Australian system prefers flexibility, free choice, individual autonomy, student-centredness, and exploratory spirit, whereas the latter inclines towards uniformity, orderliness, harmony, language-centredness and discipline. The Australian emphasis in language education is social, functional and communicative, while the Chinese focus is on formal correctness and integration of language, morality and aesthetics. These different ideological inclinations are suggestive of similar orientations at the societal level and affect the discourse practices at the situational level of the classroom.
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Reading comprehension can be seen as a process dependent on the interaction of 'topdown' and 'bottom-up' processes. An important, but neglected, feature of this process concerns the effects of rhetorical organization. This article describes an experiment in which four rhetorically different texts, with identical subject matter, were read by 490 Hong Kong Chinese school children (mean age 14.1), studying in English (their L2). Comprehension was measured by a cloze procedure and by recall protocols. One way ANOVA was used to investigate the effects of different texts on the test scores. The results showed a clear difference in comprehension between the text types and suggest that pedagogical support to increase awareness of rhetorical patterns would be beneficial.
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