The pedagogical approach-Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)-has been widely adopted around the globe with its dual aims of developing students' second language (L2) proficiency and mastering content knowledge simultaneously. However, its effectiveness remains inconsistent. This inconsistency has led researchers to call for an investigation into the perspectives of CLIL students to understand the factors behind the success and failure of CLIL implementation. To address this gap, this study explores CLIL students' perspectives through the lens of self-regulation and examines the relationships between CLIL students' self-regulation levels, linguistic challenges, and learning outcomes. Involving 167 junior secondary students from three schools in Hong Kong that adopted different CLIL models in Hong Kong, the study revealed moderate self-regulation levels and varying linguistic challenges among CLIL students, with listening being identified as the most difficult skill. A significant, moderately positive correlation was found between self-regulation levels and perceived linguistic challenges. Multiple regression analysis also found that motivation was a key predictor of both L2 proficiency and content subject achievement, while other self-regulation constructs (self-preparation, self-monitoring, and self-reflection) showed non-significant predictive values. Pedagogical implications are provided to develop students' self-regulation skills and address perceived linguistic challenges, ultimately enhancing the learning experience and outcomes for CLIL students of diverse abilities. Copyright © 2025 Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Informed by self-determination theory, this study investigates the motivations behind students' voluntary pursuit of a master's thesis and the crucial role of supervisory support in their academic journey. The study also explores the impact of writing a master's thesis on their growth and well-being. Data were collected through interviews with 20 students from diverse disciplines in government-funded universities in Hong Kong. The interviews centred on critical themes such as students' motivations, expectations, feedback practices, supervisor-student relationships, challenges, and engagement levels. Thematic analysis revealed that the students were primarily driven by well-internalised and autonomous extrinsic motivations to write a master's thesis, with the aim of laying the foundation for a future PhD and achieving personal and professional development goals. The interaction between these motivations and the supervisory support, particularly in meeting students' needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, significantly contributed to their academic, professional, and personal growth and well-being. The implications of these findings for supporting students' engagement and development are discussed. Copyright © 2024 Routledge.

Introduction This study examined the ways in which different influences on student motivation and the development of independent learning (IL) skills might be constituted across students learning within different educational cultures. Previous studies on student motivation and IL have suggested the potential for differing conceptualizations of IL and its strategies (ILS), prompting questions as to the sources of these distinctions. One theory is that they might be influenced by differing cultural constructions of these concepts or may be linked to different motivations with respect to the purposes and outcomes of education.Methods This study addressed a research gap with respect to these differences in the British and Chinese contexts by examining the responses of students sampled from a university in Scotland and a university in Hong Kong. Through mixed-methods research comprising quantitative analysis of questionnaires and thematic analysis of interview data, this research project compared conceptualizations of IL and ILS across both these contexts and highlighted the role that student motivation might play in either context.Results The analytical results showed differences in the conception of IL and the implementation of ILS potentially due to differing cultural contexts.Discussion Further cross-cultural comparative research is needed with a study design that excludes the influence of institutional and demographic factors to better isolate the influence of culture on perception of IL and use of ILS. Copyright © 2024 Frontiers Media SA.

Research Findings: This study investigated the effectiveness of a home-based intervention in increasing the intrinsic reading motivation and Chinese oral vocabulary of minority South Asian children in Hong Kong. A quasi-experiment was conducted with 78 children (Mage = 51.54 months; control: 37 children, intervention: 41 children) and their parents. Intrinsic reading motivation was measured by parent report and oral vocabulary was measured by child direct assessment. The intervention group received picture books, prerecorded stories, and guidance on carrying out home activities over four weeks. The control group received two wordless picture books. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, Multivariate Analysis of Covariance revealed a significant Group X Time interaction. Follow-up tests revealed that children in the intervention group scored higher in posttest intrinsic reading motivation and oral vocabulary than children in the control group. Practice or Policy: These findings support the development of evidence-based interventions to cater for Chinese language learning of South Asian children in Hong Kong and have the potential to inform the design of future intervention programs that aim to enhance the Chinese language proficiency of minority children in Hong Kong and other settings where Chinese is used as a second language. Copyright © 2025 Routledge.

Introduction This study explores the motivators to use learning management systems (LMS) adopted and used in eLearning by Hong Kong universities among Mainland Chinese postgraduate students amid COVID-19 pandemic.Methods An adapted and extended UTUAT2 model was first proposed and tested using the structural equation modeling approach. Through self-report online questionnaire, data were collected in 2022 from 352 Mainland Chinese postgraduate students of nine universities in Hong Kong. The reliability and validity of the data were tested using the confirmatory factor analysis, followed by path analysis to test the hypotheses in the proposed model.Results The study revealed nine motivators which explained 50% of the variance in LMS use intention. Trust (0.204), instructor characteristics (0.202), performance expectancy (0.181), and facilitating conditions (0.181) were identified as strong motivators of behavioral intention. Other factors such as effort expectancy (0.148), learning value (0.118) and social influence (0.115) also had significant positive effects on LMS use intention. Habit (0.014) and hedonic motivation (-0.016) had no significant direct effect on it.Discussion These findings provide inspirations for educational stakeholders to promote the acceptance of LMS platforms among distance and online learners who adopt the cyberspace as the only means of learning. They also offer insights about instructor recruitment and evaluation methods. Copyright © 2024 Frontiers Media SA.

This study investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of using a flipped classroom (FC) approach to combine self-regulated learning (SRL) instruction and out-of-class eLearning activities in a two-year reading intervention program to facilitate students' learning of classical Chinese reading. A total of 352 junior secondary students from three Hong Kong secondary schools participated in the study voluntarily. Using a quasi-experimental design, students from each school were assigned to one of the following conditions: SRL instruction plus out-of-class eLearning (EG-I+E), SRL instruction only (EG-I), and control (CG). Both quantitative methods, including reading tests and student questionnaires, and qualitative methods, including teacher and student interviews, were adopted to collect data for the program evaluation. Findings indicate that after implementing the intervention program, EG students perceived significant changes in their classical Chinese lessons to be more SRL-oriented. While all treatment groups significantly improved their performance in the reading post-tests, only EG students significantly improved their strategy use, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation. Although both EG groups had similar improvements in all outcome measures, teachers and students of EG-I+E opined that the eLearning component of FC facilitated teachers' implementation of the intervention and students' strategy learning and motivation. Findings are discussed to shed light on applying SRL instruction and FC in a school subject long dominated by teacher-centered instruction. Copyright © 2024 Springer .

With more and more non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students learning in Hong Kong mainstream classrooms, differentiated instruction has been called for application in Chinese language education to consider the diverse learning needs of all students. However, factors influencing Chinese language teachers' use of differentiated instruction remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the influence of teacher-student relationships and teachers' work motivation on differentiated instruction, as well as the mediating role of work motivation in the relationships between teacher-student relationships and differentiated instruction. Two hundred and ninety Chinese language teachers from Hong Kong primary schools participated in the survey. The results showed that after controlling for demographic factors (i.e., gender, length of service, years of teaching NCS students, and in-service training), both dimensions of the teacher-student relationships (i.e., closeness and conflict) positively predicted differentiated instruction. Autonomous motivation positively predicted differentiated instruction, while controlled motivation did not significantly predict differentiated instruction. Furthermore, autonomous motivation partially mediated the positive effect of closeness on differentiated instruction. Contributions, implications, and limitations are discussed. Copyright © 2024 Springer.

Introduction This research project examines student perspectives on independent learning in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Independent learning describes learning undertaken by students outside of standard institutional learning environments. Prior research has suggested that motivations to undertake independent learning and the strategies involved may differ across cultural contexts, institutions, and individual learners.Methods This research employs primary qualitative research consisting of interviews with 16 students in Business Studies (eight British and eight Chinese). The study takes a social constructionist approach to better establish the ways in which culture may serve as a mediator for motivation to learn independently and the strategies pursued to this end.Results The study's findings note key differences in the motivations to complete independent learning across either cohort, as well as distinct conceptualizations of what strategies and practices facilitate effective independent learning.Discussion This research highlights significant cultural differences in the motivations, strategies, and skills related to independent learning between students in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. It also notes the potential for socioeconomic factors, institutional structures, and assessment methods, alongside culture, to contribute to these differences. Copyright © 2024 Frontiers Media SA.

Drawing on self-determination theory, this study investigated the impact of different teaching styles (i.e., autonomous and controlled motivation) to motivate students to complete the pre-class activities in a flipped classroom context on their academic performance, especially in the cognitive domain of Bloom's taxonomy. Utilizing ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis and a two-sample t-test, a quasi-experimental design comprising of 95 students from a higher education institution in Hong Kong was employed. The results found that among students in the class with controlled motivation from the instructors, there was a negative relationship between watching pre-recorded videos and performance on questions related to the knowledge and comprehension levels in the final examination. This negative relationship highlights the core aspect of cognitive overload, suggesting that over-engagement with video content may hinder rather than help learning. However, neither the pre-recorded videos nor the online exercises correlated with performance on questions at the application level. This outcome emphasizes the need to tailor the design of flipped classroom materials to accommodate cultural learning styles and cognitive development goals, particularly in diverse educational environments. The present study contributes to the flipped classroom literature by enhancing understanding of its impact on academic performance across the knowledge, comprehension, and application levels under Bloom's taxonomy, and suggests practical guidelines for the use of pre-recorded videos in the flipped classroom. It also highlights the intricate balance required between student engagement strategies, the cognitive demands of learning materials, and the cultural context of learners. Copyright © 2024 Springer.

Emotions have received widespread attention in the education field globally thanks to the greater emphasis on well-being in recent times. Against this backdrop and the fact that foreign language (FL) education is increasingly common from a young age, this study set out to investigate what FL classroom activities children find most enjoyable and most boring, and why. Ninety-eight Grade-5 English-as-a-FL learners in Hong Kong participated in this study. The participants put forward 18 activities that they thought were most enjoyable, especially games and videos (together making up about 49% of the responses) . Fifteen activities were deemed most boring, especially writing and dictation (together 45% of the responses). Fun , knowledge-gaining , and opportunities for interaction were among the most common reasons given for activities being enjoyable, while difficult , troublesome , and tiring were the main descriptors of the activities they thought were boring. Copyright ©2024 Springer.