English as a foreign language (EFL) education has become increasingly ubiquitous in Eastern Asian early childhood education (ECE) settings, but the studies on this phenomenon have not been thoroughly reviewed. This scoping review investigates the scope and findings of the current literature regarding this under-researched phenomenon. Through a five-step protocol, 17 empirical studies published during 2012–2022 are included. Findings indicate that: (1) there are four major research areas: education policy, education technology, teacher and teacher education, and curriculum and pedagogy; (2) Hong Kong receives the most research attention; (3) teachers’ knowledge and beliefs, implementing early EFL education, and effects of interventions constitute three prominent research themes. This review also identified research gaps and highlighted the need for more quantitative research on early EFL education in other parts of Asia, the planning and implementation of EFL policies in micro-level contexts, and in-service educators’ beliefs and practises. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

This article reports on a study exploring primary students’ after-class social interactions in English vocabulary acquisition using a mobile learner-generated-content (m-LGC) tool. A total number of 29 grade 4 students from an elementary school in Hong Kong were involved. A case study approach was adopted. Data collection included log data on the m-LGC tool and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis included content analysis, visualisation using Gephi, and thematic analysis. The results show two types of students’ social interactions in a m-LGC learning environment. The interview results indicate that students held different perceptions of social interactions using the m-LGC tool. The implications are discussed. Copyright © 2022 Yin Yang, Yanjie Song.

A techno-reflective narrative interview (TRNI) aims to elicit learners' investment in the language practices in a course — their stories, participation, and ways of participation (Zhang, 2023). This presentation elaborates on the notion of TRNI and how it can be adopted to investigate EFL and ESL learners' L2 investment in a given course. Drawing from Darvin and Norton's (2015) investment model, two examples are provided as two cases: 1) how a Mainland Chinese EFL learner invested in her EFL learner, gender, and role identities (Zhang, forthcoming), and 2) how a Hong Kong undergraduate ESL student invested in her Hong Kong English, multilingual, and Hongkonger identities (Zhang & Gonzales, forthcoming).The study highlights how TRNI helps to provide a reflective account of L2 learners' investing trajectories and empowers them by amplifying their own voices and self-positioning. Overall, the findings reveal the 1) concomitant effects of participants' English learning experiences and life histories on their investing patterns; 2) the interconnectedness of identities, capital, and ideologies; and 3) their combined effects in shaping Chinese English learners' investment in two courses. It provides specific guidelines for lecturers to adapt TRNI in their own courses and pedagogical implications for L2 practitioners and universities. Copyright © 2023 HAAL.

Portfolio assessment, as an alternative writing assessment approach, has received growing attention in the past few decades. Although the benefits of portfolio assessment are well validated, there is a dearth of empirical research on how portfolio assessment can be sustained over time and the support teachers need to sustain portfolio assessment practice in their teaching contexts. To fill this significant void, the present study examines the influences that contribute to the sustainability of portfolio assessment in second-language writing. Drawing on data from interviews with the principal, English department chair and four English teachers from one elementary school in Hong Kong, as well as classroom observation and teachers’ team meeting observation, the study revealed that administrators’ role in dispersing decision-making authority to teachers, exploiting learning opportunities and providing a stimulating environment for teachers, and the sharing of common vision and goals, as well as collective flows of learning among team members, are the cornerstone of transformation and sustainability for the practice of portfolio assessment. The paper concludes with practical implications on how the innovative attempts in portfolio assessment can be sustained over time. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).

With a focus on the neglected ‘L2 learning experience’ component in Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), this study investigated secondary students’ L2 motivation in the context of online English private tutoring (EPT). Through narrative inquiry, students narrated their EPT experience online and reflected on it in comparison with that in the face-to-face environment. Through an initial questionnaire, in-depth interviews and follow-up conversations with 12 senior secondary students in Hong Kong, the study revealed the participants’ generally negative L2 learning experience in online EPT. This negativity stemmed from constant distractions and poor concentration, limited interaction with the tutor and peers and insufficient learning support in the online environment. These experiences disengaged and demotivated the students in the language learning process. The findings contribute to our understanding of the L2 learning experience component in L2MSS and the impact of L2 contexts on students’ L2 motivation. The study indicates that, for our participants, there are some irreplaceable elements in face-to-face tutoring (e.g. physical proximity, facial expressions), lack of which affected students’ engagement and motivation. This highlights the importance of researchers and practitioners in language education taking into account learners’ situated contexts and immediate learning environment when conducting relevant studies on L2 motivation. Copyright © 2024 Association for Language Learning.

A wealth of studies has shed light on how the identity and emotions of English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers are formed and interinfluenced. However, very few studies focus on a specific emotion of ESL teachers that adversely affects teacher professionalism. Drawing upon the notion of melancholy (Brady and Haapala 2003), this chapter conducts narrative inquiry and thematic analysis to investigate how melancholy is experienced by early career English teachers in their narratives. The research is conducted through a longitudinal qualitative multiple-case study of three ESL teachers working in secondary schools for seven years in Hong Kong. Specifically, the chapter elucidates how socio-cultural factors, such as self and personality, school culture, peer relationships, and student performance, contribute to the melancholy experienced by ESL teachers. The findings of this study serve to conceptualize the melancholic sense of ESL teachers regardless of institutional changes and provide implications for enhancing the well-being and career sustainability of ESL teachers in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

The present study explored the use of digital tools by English language schoolteachers in Hong Kong. Using a qualitative-dominant sequential mixed-methods design, wherein an online mixed-methods survey of primary and secondary school English language teachers (N = 83) and follow-up in-depth interviews (N = 22) were employed, this study collectively explored which digital tools the participants used, why the participants used these tools, and how the participants used them. Fourteen categories of tools utilized by teachers in their professional practice were identified. These were further categorized into core, additional, and remote digital tools based on their mode and frequency of use. Affordances of the core digital tools for language teaching were identified, with examples of teachers’ pedagogical uses of the tools presented. By providing an overview of digital tool use, teachers, school leadership, and professional development providers can better understand how teachers should be prepared for the digital realities of schools. In addition, this study provides a model for understanding the context and subject-specific bidirectional relationship between tools, their affordances, and teachers’ professional tasks. © 2023 by the authors.

Perusall, a web-based collaborative reading platform characterised by its social annotation functionalities, was introduced in a postgraduate teacher-training language-awareness course in Hong Kong during the shift to online teaching and learning brought about by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Tasks were designed on Perusall to engage the participants in reading the literature and references on grammar and lexis teaching and in analyses of coursebook materials and classroom-teaching excerpts. In this article, I discuss why Perusall was adopted, the pedagogic innovations at different stages, the impact this had on sharpening participants’ teacher language awareness, and the implications this has for both teacher education and language learning. I aim to highlight how autonomy can be fostered via effective task design and student-centred pedagogies. I maintain that it is not just the platform that matters but how Perusall is utilised with a strategic blend of synchronous and asynchronous classroom activities and instructor intervention to promote teacher language-awareness gains and the empowerment of teachers as grammar specialists and critical coursebook analysts and users. © The Author(s) 2023.

This study explores teachers’ perspectives with regards to teaching English in virtual classrooms, specifically with regards to teaching English as a second language within the context of emergency remote learning in Hong Kong during COVID-19. Through undertaking thematic analysis of six interviews with English language teachers at a university in Hong Kong, this study explores how teachers view the benefits, challenges and personal and professional consequences of the shift to emergency remote teaching during the pandemic. Taking a social constructivist approach to the topic, the study also seeks to uncover how teachers view such provisions as being improved under future emergencies and with respect to online English language teaching moving forwards generally. This research topic contributes both to a longstanding debate on the ways in which digital technologies can enhance education and language learning, as well as the emerging body of literature examining how teachers and students have responded to the implementation of digital learning in online classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic. © The Author(s) 2023.