This case study aims to discover how journal writing promotes critical reflectivity over time. Six non-native pre-service teachers of English as a Second Language (TESL) in an undergraduate program in Hong Kong took part in a 12-month study from the time they took Internship, which entailed a 2-week placement, to the time they completed Practice Teaching, which entailed a 3-week placement. Before the commencement of the Internship program and after the completion of the Practice Teaching course, the teachers were assigned to write about successful English teachers, understanding and expectations of teaching English in the context of local secondary schools. During the five weeks of teaching practicum, the teachers made daily journal entries freely on any topics they wanted. All entries were coded for topics and reflective traits, and further analyzed for changes in content. Results show that while most reflective traits in the free journal entries were located in the area of evaluating teaching, those in the assigned entries concentrated on theories of teaching. Post-coding interviews were held to allow the teachers to verify the codings and interpretations. Discussion in the interviews cross-validated the findings that the six teachers wrote reflectively and that they became more reflective towards the end of the courses, indicating less simplicity in their understanding of the multitude of issues of teaching. Such findings suggest that journal writing as a coursework assignment in pre-service teacher education program fosters teachers' critical reflectivity over time and promotes understanding of the nature, theories, and praxis of teaching.
[Copyright of Reflective Practice is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1462394032000082268]

This paper presents the findings from a longitudinal study of teachers learning to teach English in Hong Kong secondary schools who were enrolled on the BA course in Teaching English as a Second Language (BATESL) at the City University of Hong Kong. The purpose of the study is to try to determine the extent to which the beliefs and knowledge of pre-service English teachers change between leaving secondary school and entering the teaching profession. A detailed questionnaire was completed by a cohort of student teachers as they began the course in 1994 and again upon graduation from it in 1997. The results of the comparison between the two administrations reveal that pre-service teachers' beliefs and knowledge are based on their experiences as students within the education system; are strongly influenced by their time in classrooms during practice teaching; but are changed relatively less by the training that they receive in their BA course.
[Copyright of Language and Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500780308666843 ]

A number of studies have examined the process and product of writing instruction under different conditions. Fewer studies have investigated the development of knowledge and its relationship to writing performance. While some writers may be able to draw upon knowledge of text in their writing, others do not possess this knowledge and yet others may possess the knowledge but fail to draw on it. This study explores the development of and relationship between declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge among a group of 36 Hong Kong Chinese ESL learners in a three-month university writing course. The interaction of awareness of writing effectiveness with writing performance was investigated. Subjects of high and low English proficiency were put in either self- or peer-editing groups. They wrote reflective journals demonstrating their awareness of effective writing of short paragraphs and complete essays. Results suggested that both awareness of and ability in effective writing were enhanced after the course. High proficiency students and peer-editing groups demonstrated greater awareness and performed better in the writing tasks. Knowing and doing in ESL writing were found to be significantly related among proficient and peer-editing groups.
[Copyright of Language Awareness is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.2167/la365/0]