This study examined the structural relationships between (a) the latent independent constructs of orthographic and lexical knowledge and phonological sensitivity and (b) the effect of these constructs on the latent construct of literacy manifested by reading aloud and spelling regular and exception English words in 156 Cantonese- speaking Chinese students (M age = 10.8 years) who were learning English as a second language in Hong Kong. Three carefully designed and item-analyzed indicators subserved the construct of orthographic and lexical knowledge, and another three indicators subserved the construct of phonological sensitivity. Our hypothesis of greater contribution of word-specific orthographic and lexical knowledge than phonological sensitivity to learning to read and spell English words in these Chinese children was supported by results from multiple regression, principal component analyses and especially by structural equation modeling. The various goodness-of-fit indexes showed the appropriateness of the indicators in measuring the latent constructs as well as the relationships among these constructs.
[Copyright of Scientific Studies of Reading is the property of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s1532799xssr0901_5]

The influence of an extensive reading scheme on students' second language development is discussed in this paper, which investigates to what extent 1) the reading program affects the reading behavior of S1-3 students and their language development, 2) students' vocabulary recognition and reading comprehension are improved, and 3) students' perceived language enhancement is correlated to their actual performance.

Through three sets of questionnaire and interviews, the authors focus on the availability of existing extensive reading resources and the implementation practices of extensive reading schemes in primary schools. The authors find that most students are detached from comprehensive reading materials.

To examine the effectiveness of the presence of a text and the use of various explanation types in second language vocabulary teaching, the author visited three 9th grade and one 10th grade classes of English as a Second Language students being taught by different teachers in Hong Kong. Each teachers' classroom techniques for vocabulary instruction were videotaped and classified as nonverbal or verbal.

Responding to the extensive reading programs for Hong Kong primary and secondary students, the authors investigate its impact on cultivating students' habit in reading English articles by looking at whether students have acquired a reading habit and the factors that can make the reading program more successful.

The authors report a survey on the extent to which extensive reading materials and activities are used at the upper elementary level in Hong Kong. The study was to identify learner difficulties with English reading and to solicit teachers' view on the role of extensive reading in the local context.

基於香港地區參加國際閱讀能力調查研究的資料，作者探討以漢語語的中小學生，在中英文閱讀能力的發展過程中，各類學校因素對他們的影響。結果顯示：影響學生閱讀能力的學校因素，在小學階段較少，相關性也較低，而有利的因素是教學管理；學校因素在中學階段則顯著提高，其中影響最大的是學校中各種學會的「軟件」設施。（何文勝整理）