In Asia, the dominance of English as a foreign or second language has greatly contributed to the prevalence of Standard English and Native English Speaking Teachers (NESTs). Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have been officially recruiting NESTs to introduce authentic Standard English to their citizens. However, as globalisation continues throughout the world, the genres featuring native speaker norms have been challenged for failure to equip English learners with English as an International Language (EIL) or World Englishes (WEs) competence to communicate with other non-native English speakers from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds in international settings. The present study is based on this conceptual problem and investigates how Non-Native English Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) perceive native speaker norms and respond to varieties of English developed outside the Inner Circle, and how they are prepared to operate in the EIL/WEs contexts in their training programs. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications to Asian EFL/ESL teacher education.
[Copyright of Asian EFL Journal is the property of Nanzan University.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/]

There has been increasing research on the study of discourse markers (DMs) in terms of their pragmatic use. However, their pedagogic use in the ESL classroom has received less attention. This paper explores the attitudes of Hong Kong teachers towards the pedagogic values of DMs using a questionnaire (N=132), a reliability test, factor analysis, and interviews (N=3) with NS and NNS teacher-informants. Both the quantitative and qualitative results indicate a very positive perception of the pragmatic and pedagogic values of DMs by the subjects, where students at the intermediate-advanced level are challenged to acquire DMs for both receptive and productive purposes. The findings also 200 reveal the underrepresentation of DMs in existing teaching materials and in subjects' teaching. The study proposes the need to develop learners' linguistic awareness of this aspect of spoken features to facilitate communication and suggests that DMs can be included as part of the lexical input in the ESL/EFL syllabus. The results have implications for utilizing corpora to exploit the polyfunctionalities of DMs in different contexts and across registers, modifying existing teaching materials and promoting professional involvement in preparing learners to develop more effective communication.
[Copyright of Asian EFL Journal is the property of Nanzan University.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/]

This paper presents data from a largescale ethnographic study into the perceptions, concerns, and preferred lecturer strategies of one group of Hong Kong secondlanguage (L2) engineering students who were attending lectures given in English. Although such investigations often focus purely on the 'problem' dimensions students have when listening to lectures, there are aspects to the lecture event which students identify as aiding their listening comprehension. These positive dimensions of lectures are the focus of this paper, and were identified using journals, interviews, and focus groups, and categorized under language features and pedagogical features. The data presented also suggests that lecturers need to adopt specific lecturing strategies in order to make the content materials more accessible to this type of student.
[Copyright of Asian EFL Journal is the property of Nanzan University.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/]

There has been a lack of research on the relationship between metacognitive language-learning strategies (MCLLSs) and language-learning motivation (LLM) among Chinese-speaking ESL learners in Hong Kong. This article reports the results of a survey of the relationships between the use of MCLLSs and LLM among Chinese-speaking ESL learners at a vocational education institute in Hong Kong. The aims of the study were to identify the patterns of the use of MCLLSs and LLM of the learners and to explore the relationships between the two variables. A survey questionnaire containing items on MCLLSs of the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) as well as items on integrative and instrumental motivation from the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMBT) were administered to 192 ESL learners at the institute. Findings indicate that 'Paying Attention', 'Finding out language learning' and 'Self-monitoring' were of the high use range, while all the other strategies including 'Self-evaluation', 'Setting goals and objectives' 'Seeking practice opportunities' and 'Organizing' were of the medium use range. Respondents' level of LLM in general was found to be moderate, and respondents were more instrumentally than integratively motivated. Results indicate that the levels of the use of MCLLSs are positively related to the levels of motivation of respondents, with integrative motivation having a stronger relationship with strategy use than instrumental motivation and total motivation. Results from stepwise regression show that integrative but not instrumental motivation predict the levels of strategy use. The conclusion of this study is that LLM is positively related to the use of MCLLSs, and integrative motivation is a predictor of the use of MCLLSs. The inadequacies of Gardner's (1985) dichotomous classification in measuring LLM are discussed, and implications for how to promote LLM in the local and other Asian contexts in order to bring about more use of MCLLSs are suggested.

Internationally, English is increasingly being adopted as the language of postsecondary education. In Asia however efforts by universities to promote the use of the English language both inside and outside the classroom may be threatened by the supposed reticence of Asian learners. This paper problematizes Chinese learners alleged reticence by examining how one group of undergraduates at an English medium of instruction university in Hong Kong were able to meet the demands placed upon them for participation in spoken activities within their English for academic purposes classroom. Interviews with students and teachers, classroom observations, audiovisual recordings of classroom interaction and documentary analysis were used to understand how students participated in classroom discussion. The results suggest that learners adopted particular oral roles and drew upon a range of resources in ways that enabled them to conceptualize participation in classroom discussion as, in part, the result of learner agency. Implications for classroom practices in content classrooms traditionally dominated by a transmission mode of teaching are discussed.
[Copyright of Asian EFL Journal is the property of Nanzan University.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/]

In most EFL settings, reading is seen as related to language subjects only. Students rarely read for pleasure; they think that reading is part of the textbook-related activity. With the implementation of an extensive reading scheme and school-based assessment, students in Hong Kong begin to see reading a little differently. This paper investigates the effectiveness of a new whole-school approach reading scheme in a Chinese school in Hong Kong. Students read at least 15 minutes every school day in either Chinese or English. Results of the questionnaires and the interviews, conducted for teachers and students, indicate that teachers and students see the role of reading differently. It concludes that junior level students who have less public examination pressure enjoy reading better than the senior students. The paper informs educators in non-Asian countries as well; they will know why students from Asia are reluctant to read. The implication is that when reading has not been formed as a habit, holding up a book will be considered just part of school work.
[Copyright of Asian EFL Journal is the property of Nanzan University.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/]