The expansion in the number of people entering higher education has resulted in a substantial increase in the proportion of students enrolling in nontraditional modes, such as part-time study. This study examined the question of whether part-time study curtails the development of the types of intellectual capabilities needed for a knowledge-based economy, because the students would have markedly less exposure to a stimulating campus environment than their full-time counterparts. Graduates from discrete full- and part-time programs from 1 university in Hong Kong completed a survey seeking perceptions of the nurturing of a range of capabilities, together with measures of teacher-student relationships and type of teaching experienced. Two hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling: (a) the same mechanism for capability development operated for full- and part-time modes and (b) the principal element of the mechanism was the nature of teaching and the quality of teacher-student interaction. Hypothesis 1 was supported because configural invariance between hypothesized models for capability development between the 2 modes was found. Hypothesis 2 was also supported because the models showed that the principal influence on capability development came from teaching for understanding, through promoting active learning experiences and the degree and quality of teacher-student interaction.
[Copyright of Structural Equation Modeling is the property of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1302_6]

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]

The present study looks at how family processes and the classroom norms influence students' employment of learning strategy in junior secondary schools in Hong Kong. It employed an ecological perspective to look at how family factors and classroom factors uniquely and combined to influence students. Nineteen secondary schools with 948 Secondary 2 students and their family members participated in the cross-sectional survey for the research. Findings of the study suggest that peer victimization norm in the classroom plays a moderating role in the association between socioeconomic background and students' use of achievement strategy in learning Chinese. The result of the research is suggested to have important implications for home-school relations in Hong Kong, as well as the restructuring of the school process to create a more supportive and nurturing environment for learning and teaching.
[Copyright of Journal of School Violence is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J202v07n01_04]

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]

Comparing how English teachers evaluate their students in China and Hong Kong, the author points out that one-third of teachers' instruction time is spent on assessment-related matters.

研究者先介紹教師口語和教學的關係及有關的研究，再介紹研究設計。研究採用「生手／專家比較法」以了解中國語文科教師教室內的語言表現。研究對象是一位經驗教師和一位教學祇有三個月的新教師。研究採用質化導向，用教室觀察和與研究對象晤談的方法搜集資料，並以錄音及文字加以紀錄。研究者發現經驗教師比新教師較能：一、激發學生聯念，引起其學習動機；二、以告訴及控制提供良好的學習條件，容納學生意見，且能正確給予報酬；三、活用語言形式，配應策略，適切教學內容和學生能力。研究者分析了經驗教師語言運用的能力較好的原因後，進一步提出教師教育要重視教授語言與教育的理論，加強教師口語訓練，強化學員中國語言的知識和教師的信念。（鄭佩芳整理）