While Hong Kong students excel at international tests in mathematics, they do not display corresponding attitudes toward mathematics learning. This study examined 10 Hong Kong Secondary 6 students' perceptions of learning mathematics (experiential curriculum) and their perceived factors that limited the development of students' positive attitudes toward mathematics learning in the New Senior Secondary mathematics curriculum by content analysis of their responses in the interviews. Although the participants in this study expected to learn mathematics by "conceptual learning" and the authentic applications of mathematics, they experienced rote-and-drilling-dominated learning approaches in mathematics education, which had succeeded in developing their numerical senses and problem-solving skills but failed to develop their sense of creativity and positive attitudes toward mathematics. The practical mentality and the examination-oriented culture in Hong Kong were the perceived factors that caused such situations.香港學生於不同的國際數學評測中都表現優越，但他們對學習數學並未展現出相應的態度。本研究探討10名香港中六學生對學習數學的看法。研究員對學生的訪問回應進行了內容分析，從中了解阻礙學生發展出對學習高中數學課程的良好態度的因素。學生雖然期望能透過概念學習和應用數學於日常環境來學習數學，但他們總是經歷死記硬背及不斷操練的方式來學習。此方式或許能有效發展學生的數感和解難能力，但未能幫助他們建立創意和良好的數學態度。務實心態和應試文化是學生最重視的因素。 Copyright © 2022 香港中文大學香港教育研究所.

In this study, we investigated the direct and indirect associations of different cognitive–linguistic skills and Chinese reading comprehension in Hong Kong kindergarteners. We assessed 179 children's nonverbal IQ, cognitive–linguistic skills, word reading, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. Results showed significant correlations between all variables and reading comprehension. Further path analysis results indicated that rapid automatized naming, orthographic knowledge, and morphological awareness contributed to reading comprehension via word reading. Nonverbal IQ and vocabulary knowledge were associated with reading comprehension through listening comprehension. Beyond that, nonverbal IQ and morphological awareness still contributed directly to reading comprehension. Overall, our findings elucidated the importance of nonverbal IQ and cognitive–linguistic skills within the framework of the simple view of reading in Chinese and highlighted the unique roles of nonverbal IQ and meaning-related skills in Chinese reading comprehension, which contributed to understanding the simple view of reading in Chinese. Copyright © 2022 Language Learning Research Club, University of Michigan.

對以中文為第二語言或外語的學生而言，漢字無疑是學習中文的難點。怎樣才能加速學會大量漢字，從而提高學習中文的效率，相信是所有教師都共同關注的議題。通過考察中國兒童學習漢字的過程和方法，崔永華（2008）曾提出過“語文分開，先語後文”、“先認讀，後書寫”、“分層次教學”、“認多讀少”等對外漢字教學的主張。然而，限於不同教學條件，中文二語的漢字教學往往擺脫不了“教材為本，隨文識字”的路徑，同一課文裡出現識漢字和學中文互相牽制的情況──由於漢字難學，課文的篇幅不能過長，內容容易流於膚淺，學生無法學習更深刻、更嚴肅的題材。教與學雙方對每篇課文以致每冊教材的漢字教學缺乏系統科學的認識，更遑論根據所學的漢字，設計反復閱讀和應用的練習，處理好語言教學和漢字教學的關係，提高中文二語的學習效益。有鑑於此，本文以一套專為香港非華語學生設計的教材為基礎，通過全套教材的文本字詞統計、字詞分級、漢字與詞類關聯、漢字構詞位置等層面的分析，探索可以配合該教材的漢字學習系統，並為採用該教材的師生，建議一個與學習內容相關的漢字教學框架和程序。其中研發過程的經驗，相信對中文二語的漢字教材設計也有一點參考價值。 Copyright © 2019 第九屆漢字與漢字教育國際研討會.

This study explores how students in Hong Kong perceive the influence of parental support and parental cultural capital on their participation in musical activities. A survey questionnaire was distributed to students attending grades seven to nine at eight Hong Kong secondary schools in the early summer of 2015. The findings from that survey, based on the 1,433 valid questionnaires that were returned, show that parents' cultural background informed their support of their children's musical activities, and could, in turn, enhance cultivation of students' cultural capital. Students in the study also perceived parental encouragement to be more important to their musical activities than the possession of musical competence and knowledge. This study provides a nuanced perspective on the interplay between parental cultural capital and parental support, and students' perception of the influence of parental support on their participation in musical activities in the Hong Kong context. Copyright © 2016 The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups.

Effective teaching requires teachers to have shared understanding with learners. If learners see the world in a way different from that of the teacher, the teacher may not be able to make connections with the learners, thus failing to convey the instructional content to them. Along this line, our project adopted the notion of ‘the pedagogy of learning’ and involved iterative cycles of research on children’s ways of seeing and the professional development of kindergarten teachers. In terms of research, we investigated the qualitatively different ways of seeing of children as manifested by the errors in the spoken words they used in everyday conversations in kindergartens while they learned to speak. Over the three years of the project, we had engaged a total of 254 in-service kindergarten teachers in observing children’s errors in their own kindergartens. A pool of 788 children’s errors was collected and 5 categories of errors were inductively identified: sound imitation (A), non-existent combination of characters from words (B), inappropriate use of the spoken forms of words (C), use of characters with inaccurate meanings (D), and creative exploitation of characters with relevant meanings (E). Concerning professional development of in-service kindergarten teachers, we presented the five categories of errors to the teachers in our professional development programmes to explore what they needed to know to teach children to correct each of the categories of errors and to use the appropriate spoken words. The presentation generated stimulating discussion among the teachers, inducing them to reflect upon their understanding of the Chinese language and their scientific knowledge about the world. On the whole, this project put forth the positive value of children’s errors and called attention to the potential contribution of the notion of the pedagogy of learning in improving the teaching of teachers for children to learn Chinese.有效的教學要求教師與學生有共同的理解，如果學生理解事物的方式與教師的不同，教師難以明白學生的想法

The relationship between individuals' possession of cultural capital and their musical preferences has been extensively examined in Western society; however, little attention has been given to it in contemporary Chinese contexts. Based on Bourdieu's (1973, 1986) concept of cultural capital, this study focuses on junior secondary school students' (Grades Seven to Nine) preferred musical listening styles, and their perception of how their parents' and their own cultural capital have shaped their musical preferences in contemporary Hong Kong society. Two research questions are addressed: (1) How does parental cultural capital influence students' cultural capital? (2) To what extent does students' cultural capital shape their musical preferences in contemporary Hong Kong society? A survey questionnaire was distributed to nine Hong Kong secondary schools in the summer of 2015, followed by an interview survey conducted in the spring of 2016. Based on a synthesis of the 1,614 completed questionnaires and 28 in-depth individual interviews, the quantitative and qualitative findings provide nuanced insights into students' perceptions of their musical preferences, and how one's cultural capital shapes one's musical preferences, in a Hong Kong context. This study finds that the students' music listening not only served as an aesthetic and leisure activity, but also as a means of inculcating cultural capital-proficiency of English-that is legitimate in Hong Kong and deemed an influential factor in school performance. The study also shows that through technological advancements, more specifically a readilyavailable platform for accessing comprehensive musical resource databases, a new factor has emerged that weakens the relationship between familial social status and students' musical preferences and leads to more autonomous music listening behaviour. In addition, students' musical cultural capital, which is transformed from their parents' cultural capital, may directly and explicitly

The influence of social factors on individuals' musical preferences has been extensively examined in Western society; however, little attention has been given to social influences on students' musical preferences in the Chinese context. With reference to Hong Kong, China, this study focuses on junior secondary school students' (Grades Seven to Nine) preferred musical listening styles, and how different social factors have shaped their musical preferences in contemporary Hong Kong society. Given its British colonial history, Hong Kong is renowned for its blend of Eastern and Western cultures, and its historical and cultural backgrounds may be reflected in its students' musical preferences. Two research questions are addressed in this chapter: (1) How do students perceive their musical preferences in their daily lives? (2) What are the social factors influencing students' musical preferences in Hong Kong society? A survey questionnaire was distributed to nine Hong Kong secondary schools in the summer of 2015. Based on a synthesis of the 1,614 completed questionnaires, the quantitative findings provide nuanced insights into students' perceptions of their musical preferences, and how social influences have shaped their musical preferences, in the Hong Kong context. The study found that social factors - language proficiency, family socialization, and technological advancement - significantly shaped students' musical preferences, which, to some extent, reflected the social values in contemporary Hong Kong. Moreover, this study showed that music listening not only served as an aesthetic and leisure activity, but also as a means of socialization, while advanced technology influenced students' music listening behavior by providing a readily-available platform for accessing huge musical resources. Copyright © 2018 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic assessment (DA) has its objective in generating fine-grained diagnostic profiles for effective treatment or intervention. Most existing DA studies on English academic writing focus on developing diagnostic tools to identify problems or difficulties within written texts. Rarely are there studies that design and implement a treatment or intervention phrase following the diagnosis. Moreover, despite of its importance, few studies have examined the construct of discourse competence. This thesis project, therefore, firstly diagnosed EFL learners’ development of discourse competence (DC) as indicated by their academic writing in university, and then based on the diagnostic results, designed and implemented an intervention study.The project involved six Chinese EFL learners studying in a university in Hong Kong, nine individuals studying in mainland, and their 277 peers pursuing their first degree in an international degree program based on a comprehensive university in mainland China. In both contexts, the participants need to write academic assignments in English. Methodologically, the project adopted a mixed-method approach and was conducted via four inter-linked studies, namely, a text analysis study, a comparative multiple-case studies, a survey, and an intervention study. The diagnosis phrase, consisting of text analysis, multiple case study and a survey, examined student writers’ textual features, composing strategies, and academic writing knowledge status. The intervention phrase was designed to resolve students’ problems and difficulties identified in the first phase.The results showed that the cyclical diagnostic assessment procedure was effective in identifying specific lacks, problems and difficulties in learners’ written products, composing process and knowledge status, and the diagnosis could inform the design of intervention measures in teaching and learning of EFL academic writing. Specifically, contextuality was found to be a critical element for