This study examined the optimal learning schedule for second language vocabulary within an authentic classroom setting in Hong Kong. Following a pretest, treatment, delayed posttest design, fifty-two primary school students (Cantonese first language) studied 20 English adjectives over two learning episodes under spaced-short (1-day interval) or spaced-long (8-day interval) learning conditions. The spacing of the vocabulary items was manipulated within-participants, and learning was assessed on a multiple-choice posttest, administered following a four-week delay. In contrast to previous laboratory-based findings, the results here indicated superior learning of the items presented under the spaced-short format, suggesting that lag effects might be attenuated by age, learning context and teaching procedure. Copyright ©Sage Publications Ltd.

Involving parents in their children's school-based English language learning is beneficial to learners' academic achievement as well as their language and literacy development. However, involving parents can be challenging. This study reports on one teacher's use of a digital learning platform, Seesaw, with his third-grade (7 to 8 year-olds) English language writing class in Hong Kong to address the lack of parental involvement. The platform became a space for parents to be involved in their child's school-based writing. It enabled them to view, like and comment in response to their child and other children's English work. Although parents were seen to be involved on the platform, it was observed they mainly viewed and liked rather than commented. Future pedagogical directions will be discussed with suggestions provided on how parents can be encouraged to take a more active role on such platforms. Copyright ©Sage Publications Ltd.

Previous studies have associated L2 teachers' use of motivational strategies with learners' motivated behaviours in class such as raised attention and participation. The after-class effects of L2 motivational strategies, in contrast, have drawn less attention. This paper reports a study examining how L2 teachers' motivational interventions cause changes in learners' perceived attitudes and behaviours, both within and beyond the L2 classroom. To this end, 84 reflective journals were collected over one semester from 42 tertiary students in Hong Kong enrolled in a range of English courses. The results indicate that reported increases in the use of additional self-learning materials, attempts to put newly acquired English knowledge into practice, efforts to reduce mistakes, and in-class engagement were attributable to L2 teachers' motivational efforts. This provides evidence that the benefits brought by L2 teachers' motivational practice can transcend the classroom. Copyright ©Routledge.

This paper provides an overview of English language education policies and practices in Hong Kong. It examines changes and developments in policymaking and implementation across the education system. Based on a qualitative analysis of government documents and empirical studies, this review utilizes a sociocultural framework in characterizing language policy decision making processes and implementation strategies in colonial and post-colonial Hong Kong. Findings revealed a multilayered context within which English language education policies and practices are enacted, highlighting the interplay among political, social, economic and educational agendas in policy formulation and implementation. The incongruence between policy recommendations and actual classroom practices, as well as the relationship between government responsiveness and public preferences suggested the power and agency of multiple stakeholders (e.g. parents, teachers and community members) in the interpretation and appropriation of language education policies. This review provides additional insights to understanding the status of English against the backdrop of changing local conditions and to identifying forces of continuity and change in the development of language education policies and practices in Hong Kong. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed. Copyright ©Routledge.

In the contexts of population aging and English as a second language (ESL) proficiency decline in Hong Kong, a 12 weeks program that matched 15 retired citizens with 30 secondary school children who wanted to practice English outside the classroom was established. Using proficiency tests, open-ended questions, and Likert scales, this study examined the program value in terms of participants’ program experiences and performances. Results indicated that intergenerational contacts through games, activities, mutual understanding, and friendships appeared to be conducive to children’s ESL learning and relevant to retirees’ post-retirement development. Ideas on exploring ways to increase more available linguistic practice encounters while promoting active aging, and an insight on responding to intergenerational segregation are considered. Copyright ©Routledge.

In recent years, the widespread growth of mobile-assisted language learning using apps has made English vocabulary learning increasingly accessible. This study investigated students' perceptions of a vocabulary learning app developed by the researcher as a tool to help them to improve their L2 receptive vocabulary. The app, containing 20 levels, works with both iOS and Android. The participants were 14 undergraduate students at an English-medium university in Hong Kong. A qualitative methodology of semi-structured interviews captured a holistic overview and revealed students' perceptions of the app. The results suggested that Hong Kong university students have a strong motivation for acquiring an L2 vocabulary. Participants also indicated a preference for mobile applications using gamified features. The study highlights directions for future research into apps for English language learning. Copyright ©I G I Global.

This article examines the experiences of transnational teachers of English in government-funded English language teaching programs, each of which recruits, trains, and administers native speakers of English: Hong Kong's Native-speaking English Teachers scheme (NET), the Japan Exchange and Teaching program (JET), the English Program in Korea (EPIK), and Teach and Learn in Korea (TaLK). It focuses on the relationship between the participation and experiences of native-English speaking teachers and the programs' different policies and institutional structures. The findings demonstrate that these different policies and institutional structures—such as the program aims, eligibility requirements, policies on salary and benefits—have significant implications for the participation of native-English speaking teachers in these programs. This research, with its focus on the experiences of these teachers, extends our understanding of their involvement in English language teaching in Asia. It urges us to locate transnationalism and the global spread of English within a much more complex field of social power relations, calling for more insightful approaches to English language teaching. Copyright ©Elsevier Ltd.

The present study investigated the executive functioning of working memory, inhibition, shifting, and planning in Chinese adolescent readers with dyslexia and how they related to Chinese (L1) and English (L2) reading comprehension. Fifty-seven Hong Kong Chinese students at Grade 7 were compared with 57 typically developing readers of chronological-age-matched controls on their performance on working memory, inhibition, shifting, planning, vocabulary knowledge, rapid naming, and reading comprehension in Chinese and English. Results from the multivariate analysis of variance showed that readers with dyslexia performed worse than the typical readers in executive functioning, vocabulary knowledge, rapid naming, and reading comprehension. Hierarchical regressions indicated that working memory, inhibition, and vocabulary knowledge were significant predictors of reading comprehension in L1 after controlling for age, IQ, and group membership. Furthermore, working memory, inhibition, shifting, vocabulary knowledge, and rapid naming contributed uniquely to reading comprehension in L2. Taken together, these findings suggest executive functioning difficulties in Chinese readers with dyslexia and highlight the differential contributions of executive functioning to Chinese and English reading comprehension; working memory and inhibition appear to play an important role in reading comprehension across different languages. Copyright ©Springer Netherlands.

Teacher collaboration is generally believed to relate positively to student performance. Although many researchers have investigated the influence of teacher collaboration on student performance, much of this work is confined to Western educational contexts. This study used data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011 to test the influence of teacher collaboration on student performance in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Results of multi-level models suggest that teacher collaboration is not a significant predictor of student performance in those countries. This study contributes to the literature on teacher collaboration by providing counter evidence to the relationship between teacher collaboration and student performance in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Copyright ©Routledge.

This study sought to investigate the impact of world Englishes (WE) and English as a lingua franca (ELF) research on Hong Kong's ELT curricula and textbooks over the past four decades in three areas: (1) language standards, norms and models; (2) language and intercultural awareness; and (3) strategies for international communication. Based on qualitative and quantitative content analysis, the findings suggest that WE/ELF research has influenced Hong Kong's English language education mainly by accommodating to the changing role of English (from a colonial to international language) and the evolving language use contexts, but there has been little engagement with the pluricentric view of language varieties and variation. The paper offers suggestions to initiate changes that could better accommodate WE/ELF research in the gradual ELT development. Copyright ©Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.