Despite the increasing use of English as a medium of instruction (EMI), teachers who teach at EMI schools encounter significant challenges, such as difficulties in teaching content-subjects in English and students' limited understanding of content presented in English. To examine the extent of these challenges, six early-full and 14 late-partial EMI science teachers from eight schools in Hong Kong were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews on the challenges they faced as teachers of EMI science subjects. A biographic approach was used to analyse the interviews, and the results showed that despite the metacognitive overlap between the two groups of teachers, there were noticeable differences in their pedagogical strategies. These findings suggest that the implementation of EMI instruction influences teachers' metacognition and pedagogical practices. Teachers' frequent use of Cantonese (L1) further suggest that English language skills are not as prioritised compared to the subject content. Further research is needed to investigate the complex and diverse factors that influence teachers' metacognition under EMI contexts. Copyright ©2023 Routledge.

This study investigated instruction in vocabulary consolidation strategies over eight months and vocabulary learning among a group of secondary students in Hong Kong. Two vocabulary tests and one vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) questionnaire survey were administered near the end of the school year. The data were analysed using t-tests and correlation coefficients. The results show that the eight-month VLSs instruction was significantly correlated with students' vocabulary knowledge. It was also found that: (1) students favoured cognitive strategies and word analysis strategies to other VLSs; (2) more successful learners employed a wider variety of VLSs than less successful learners, with significant, positive correlations found between the repertoire of strategies and vocabulary performance; and (3) the strategies taught were effective for students' vocabulary learning and were significant predictors of more successful students. Students' responses from group discussions revealed their positive experiences with learning VLSs through explicit instruction, supporting the effectiveness of consolidation strategies. This study adds to the limited research literature on the role of VLSs instruction for EFL secondary learners. Strategies conducive to vocabulary learning and the implications of this study are discussed. Copyright © 2023 Routledge.

Research on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programmes has yielded mixed results regarding their impact on students' language learning, drawing attention to the role of CLIL teachers. This study draws on teacher language awareness research to explore secondary subject content teachers' language-related pedagogical practices when teaching subject content in the medium of English in Hong Kong, with a focus on their form-focussed processing and facilitation of language learning strategies. In the study, data collected through classroom observation and interviews were analysed. The analysis revealed that the participants covered limited language forms and language learning strategies in teaching. Their (lack of) language-related pedagogical practices were further interpreted with reference to their awareness of the roles of language in teaching, their understanding of the demands of the language used for learning, and their knowledge of EFL/ESL pedagogy. These findings confirm the significance of developing subject teachers' language awareness through CLIL teacher education programmes in successfully implementing CLIL programmes. Copyright © 2021 Routledge.

Out-of-class exposure to and use of the target language mediated by technological resources are essential to language learning, as foreign language learners very often encounter difficulty in accessing and processing target language in the immediate physical environments. Understanding how foreign language learners' out-of-class self-directed technology-enhanced language learning experience interacts with their learning beliefs helps inform educators of how these learners could be supported to take advantage of technological resources to enrich language learning. Interview responses from 20 undergraduate foreign language learners at a university in Hong Kong were elicited to shed light on the issue. It was found that learners' language learning beliefs and technological behaviors had a two-way cyclical interaction, and the interaction was manifested in both the nature of technological resources these learners used and the way they interacted with the resources. Furthermore, the interaction between the two was context-dependent and subject to the influence of the characteristics of self-directed out-of-class technology-enhanced language learning and associated self-concept and affective factors. The study calls for a contextualized and systemic approach towards supporting foreign language learners' autonomous technology-enhanced language learning beyond the classroom.
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This paper looks at the continued survival of 'myths' about English grammar, for example, the statement that in negative and interrogative sentences any should be used instead of some. It is based on a survey of 195 Hong Kong students majoring in English, in five different cohorts, which found that such myths are quite prevalent; with choices of 'true', 'false', 'don't know' and 'partly true', the true option was chosen in over 50% of cases. Differences between subjects are identified and discussed, as well as changes across time from the first to the last cohort. Then the individual myths are discussed and explained one by one. A number of possible sources for the myths are suggested, and the means of combatting them are discussed, along with the reasons for their resilience.
[Copyright of Language Awareness is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2013.873803]

A major challenge for language teacher educators working in the area of teacher language awareness (TLA) is to develop pedagogical approaches that will go beyond merely enhancing L2 teachers' knowledge about language by enabling them to make the bridge between the declarative and procedural dimensions of TLA. This paper sets out to investigate the effectiveness of using online discussion forums to develop the language awareness of a group of student-teachers of L2 English in Hong Kong. Through content analysis of the 18 discussion threads initiated by these novice teachers, the research team found that despite the different reasons they had for posting their discussion topics, most of them had used extensively the e-learning platform to request help regarding the two dimensions of TLA, and that their reflections showed a strong tendency to move from the declarative to the procedural dimension of TLA. The study, though exploratory, has enhanced our understanding of learning to teach by opening up a small window for people to understand how TLA affected the teacher behaviour of this group of student-teachers during their teaching practice. The study also shows the research potential of using online discussion forums to understand teachers' language awareness development.
[Copyright of Language Awareness is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2012.680467]

Language learners and teachers’ cognition in respect of learning and teaching plays a critical role in mediating their actual behaviour and decisions in the process. This study investigates the vocabulary learning and teaching beliefs held by pre-service and in-service teachers in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland so that teacher education programmes can better equip teachers with appropriate knowledge concerning the vital task of vocabulary teaching. A mixed approach was adopted in inquiring into the nature of vocabulary learning and teaching beliefs held by these participants. Statistical tests (factor analysis, multi-variate analysis, and Chi-square test) were employed in conjunction with qualitative analysis of the data collected. The analyses revealed variations in the beliefs held by the participants in the two contexts. The identified variations in the beliefs held by pre-service and in-service participants both in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland were less significant than those that emerged when comparing Hong Kong participants’ beliefs with those of their mainland Chinese counterparts. The findings are indicative of profound contextual mediation on the participants’ vocabulary teaching and learning beliefs. They also confirm the importance of raising and strengthening language teachers’ strategy and language awareness in teacher development programmes.
[Copyright of Roeper Review is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2011.579977]

Commencing study through a foreign language in senior secondary school brings huge challenges because of the cognitive-linguistic demands of academic subjects. This paper argues for the need to blend sociocultural and systemic functional linguistic (SFL) perspectives to address this enormous task. Firstly, readers' attention is drawn to the less than successful history, globally, of helping students overcome the challenges. Secondly, the paper sets out the author's intention to respond to the call by Coyle for bilingual educators working in a predominantly sociocultural paradigm to 'connect' with other paradigms. Next, aiming to respond to two exploratory questions regarding the power of SFL to inform planning of language-aware teaching, which is richer and more productive than is evident in sociocultural scholarship, the paper proceeds towards descriptive and comparative analyses of a student's written outcome in science, using the SFL framework based on 'text architecture'. The SFL analyses exemplify what might be taught, with brief mention of how SFL practitioners do so, in order to raise awareness of academic genre creation. Finally, drawing on the paper's analyses and evidence from elsewhere, arguments for the paradigmatic blending are synthesised.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658410903431721]

Two hundred and ninety-six English majors at universities in Poland, Austria and Hong Kong were given a 50-item questionnaire designed to evaluate their knowledge of grammatical terminology. The main aim was to identify whether the three populations were subject to differing 'terminological cultures'. This was found to be substantially the case; for example, the term indefinite article was known by 95% of Polish students but only 29% of the Hong Kong ones, whereas imperative was known by 71% of the Austrians but only 5% of the Hong Kongers. Some differences were attributed to a lack of use of the related concept in teaching; others were explained by the use of a synonymous term (e.g. reported speech was preferred in Poland and Hong Kong but indirect speech in Austria). A significant correlation between terminological knowledge and language proficiency was found for the Hong Kong students. Qualitative findings included confusion between pairs of complementary terms and thosewith similar forms; unknown terms being treated as transparent with functional reference where possible; and the prototypical use ofwords as examples of grammatical categories (e.g. 'beautiful' for adjective). Implications for teachers, writers and researchers are discussed.
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This paper considers issues in customising descriptions of English grammar in the context of creating an electronic database for secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. In developing the database, we have aimed to incorporate insights from functional grammar and corpus linguistics while keeping the information accessible and relevant to teachers familiar only with traditional approaches to grammar. This has involved exploiting the advantages of hypertext, explicitly foregrounding pedagogical concerns and developing a metalanguage that will allow discussion of areas such as transitivity and theme without alienating the teacher-users. We illustrate the kinds of compromises that are necessary in order to match the linguistic information to the needs and existing knowledge of the teacher-users.
[Copyright of Language Awareness is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658410008667134]