This paper illustrates how classroom small talk between a teacher and students constitutes a distinct interaction pattern which varies significantly from pedagogical discourse of an institutional nature such as the initiation/response/feedback (IRF) pattern described in previous literature (Mehan, 1979 ; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975). By presenting a piece of extended small talk in an ESL secondary classroom in Hong Kong and contrasting it with a piece of typical teacher-orchestrated institutional classroom talk, I show how the teacher and students demonstrate more dynamic and less asymmetrical roles during small talk with clear evidence of active contributions to the exchange by the students in terms of topic setting, turn initiation, turn development, and negotiation of meaning. Features of the small talk resemble everyday social discourse. Implications of this kind of classroom talk on the learners’ L2 language development are explored.
[Copyright © 2003 University of California, Los Angeles.]

Research into the teaching and learning of speaking in the ESL context is relatively neglected. There have been only a few studies that addressed the need to incorporate the development of strategic competence into the L2 oral classroom (e.g., Cohen, 1998; Dornyei, 1995; Konishi & Tarone, 2004). This paper will report findings from a strategy interventionist study conducted in the secondary English oral classroom in Hong Kong. Based on a psycholinguistic model of speech processing, eight strategies were identified and introduced to the treatment class in the study. A data collection method comprising stimulated recall interviews and observations that aimed to investigate respectively the learning process (i.e., covert thoughts) and the learning product (i.e., overt speech) was employed. A comparison of the findings between the treatment class and the control class which was not exposed to any strategies-based instruction supports the view that not all strategies are equal and that some are more teachable than the others. Specifically, 'Resourcing' seems to function as a 'bedrock strategy' for young L2 speakers. Possible implications for strategy instruction are made with a view to enhancing the development of strategic competence in the L2 classroom.
[Copyright © 2005 The Asian Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language.]

This paper examines the effects of computerised music instruction on student motivation to learn music through a case study of five secondary schools in Hong Kong. Two main types of music software were used: the sequencing Technology-based Music Learning (TBML) type for composing, arranging and creating sound projects and the closed-package Computer-assisted Music Instruction (CAMI) type for enhancing musical knowledge such as the introduction of the musical instruments, Chinese operas and music theory. The researcher observed 16 lessons and 2sessions of extra-curricular activities in all and interviewed 5 teachers and 44 students. Analysis showed that use of the divergent sequencing software generated more student interest. It also showed that peer and independent learning took place more readily and that students demonstrated musical understanding more vividly through their creative work. When using the closed-package CAMI software, most teachers and students enjoyed the attractive visual effects, the organised sequential instruction and efficient feedback. The results may help music educators to review several pressing issues in the 21st century, including music curriculum design catering for teenagers with different learning styles when using music technology. The results may also have implications for teaching styles, changes in the teacher’s role with increased student autonomy, and the need for hardware and software support for classroom music lessons.
[Copyright © 2002 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

Within the English language teaching profession there is now general acceptance of the advantages of integrating language and content teaching. Yet challenges continue over how such integration can be accomplished within individual classrooms. In Asian universities using English as the medium of instruction (EMI), one of the key barriers to integration is the alleged reticence of learners to participate in spoken discourse within the classroom. If the language policy aims of these institutions are to be realized, these constraints need to be acknowledged. This paper uses a multidimensional investment framework to investigate the oral participation of one group of foreign language learners within their English for academic purposes (EAP) classroom at an EMI university in Hong Kong. Drawing on data from interviews, classroom observations, audiovisual recordings of classroom interaction, and documentary analysis, this paper argues that the successful integration of language and content teaching should include an appreciation of the institutional forces that constrain and enable learners' oral investment, how learners deploy a variety of knowledge, skills and understandings in support of this investment, and the degree of freedom learners enjoy in shaping the processes and products of their investments. The implications of this research for classroom practices are explored.
[Copyright © 2008 John Benjamins Publishing Company.]

This paper examines how Hong Kong has developed from a diglossic society, where the relationship between English and Chinese were largely in complementary distribution to each other, into a bilingual society, where there is a proliferation of mixed codes, involving a continuum of language use from “high” Cantonese and English to “low” Cantonese with code switching. Against this background, the Government’s recently promulgated mandatory language policy on the medium of instruction in secondary schools is examined. Though the obvious purpose of this policy is to improve the credibility and prestige of mother tongue education, it has the effect of creating a set of elite monolingual English medium schools. Whether these will be able to fully serve the needs of a bilingual society is discussed, especially as Putonghua and High Cantonese are increasingly used in the domains of government and higher education, and a variety of mixed codes and modes used in other social and domestic domains. The paper concludes with a preliminary examination into possible directions in research into the development of a bilingual teaching code, which is genre and domain sensitive and responsive to student needs.
[Copyright © 2000 International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies.]

In this study, the authors investigated the implementation of adopted information technology (IT) policy in representative institutes of the Vocational Training Council in Hong Kong. The article first introduces the context of the government’s 1997 IT initiative. It then reviews the literature on generally acknowledged advantages and limitations of IT in education. Next, the research methodology is briefly set out. In the study, the authors attempted to achieve a degree of triangulation by employing instruments from both the positivist and subjectivist paradigms, namely, questionnaire surveys of current staff-student IT use, and focused interviews with lecturing staff concerning personal evaluations of the project’s viability. Quantitative findings suggest some initial movement in the desired direction, but the qualitative data call for skepticism. It was concluded, therefore, that full implementation will be far from unproblematic.
[Copyright © 1999 International Vocational Education and Training Association.]

This paper reports on the design and implementation of a project for developing self-directed learning in student teachers. The study involved 20 student teachers currently enrolled at The Hong Kong Institute of Education. The study contextualized self-directed learning in the Education Projects module. Each student teacher designed and implemented a small educational research project. The Know Want Learn (KWL) method, concept map and a reflection question were used to collect data on the change in the self-directed learning capacity of student teachers. Data analysis revealed that student teachers had differential growth in selfdirected learning competence. Further, both quantitative and qualitative changes were observed in student teachers’ conceptualizations of educational research. Nevertheless, capacity remained for further improvement in their capacity for self-directed learning.
[Copyright © 2005 International Self-Directed Learning Symposium Group.]