Past Seminars

In English as the medium of instruction (EMI) schools, students learn some or all non-language content subjects through their second/foreign language (L2). Their content knowledge is also assessed in their L2. Since most of these students are still acquiring the target L2, they face the demands and challenges in both cognitive and linguistic aspects. Yet, there has been limited research exploring (i) the interplay between cognitive and linguistic demands imposed on students by EMI assessments, and (ii) whether and how EMI teachers, who are usually subject specialists, help their students cope with those challenges. This study seeks to address these two important questions. In the first phase of the study, over 4,900 questions in Science/Biology textbooks, workbooks and public examination papers in Hong Kong secondary education were analysed to examine their cognitive and linguistic demands. Differences between formative and summative assessments, and between junior and senior secondary levels were also explored. The second phase of the study then investigated the instructional and assessment practices of two science teachers in Hong Kong EMI schools to examine to what extent they incorporated language instruction in their science lessons, which may have affected how well students were prepared to deal with EMI assessments. These findings together illuminate pedagogical practices in EMI classrooms, particularly when considering the alignment among teaching objectives, instruction and assessment.

The aims of this paper are threefold. First, it describes the design of the enhanced version of the Essay Critiquing System (ECS2.0) for English writing, drawing on second language acquisition theories. Then it reports and compares the writing behaviours, responses to the system feedback and performances of 89 Secondary 3 and 4 students aged 13-16, representing high, mid and low English proficiency levels of three secondary schools in Hong Kong, after using the system in five workshops. With reference to the Paired Samples Test results, the three groups of students demonstrated a statistically significant difference (p<.05) in the timing of seeking their initial feedback from the system, and improvement in content score over the period of the study. The recorded verbal protocols of 12 students revealed the ways they incorporated the system feedback into their writings and revisions. Finally, students highly rated the usefulness of the system, and valued the frequent and comprehensible writing feedback. The quantitative and qualitative data and students’ responses provided useful learning-related information for teachers and schools to understand students’ learning process and progress, and could help them make informed pedagogical decisions to optimize opportunities for computer-supported English writing and learning in their contexts.

In this paper, I seek to deconstruct the discourses that naturalise and normalise what I call ‘postcolonial desires for colonial English’, a phenomenon observed in many officially post-colonial or independent societies, as well as in contexts themselves considered imperial powers. I do this first by tracing the historical origins of the gradual inscription of these desires upon the subjectivities and cultural imaginaries of the colonised by analysing the historical processes of imperialism, colonialism and Cold War structures, and the cultural and psychological aftermath of such processes. I conclude by outlining what is needed to interrupt the working of the effects of these processes at the level of subjectivity and cultural imaginary, and propose new ways of reconstituting desires in learning languages in multilingual contexts without subscribing to historical or contemporary hierarchies of languages.

This study explored the processes of utilization of resources in secondary students’ self-regulated strategic writing for academic studies in an English as medium of instruction context in Hong Kong. Drawing on multiple data sources collected through the observation of lessons, stimulated recall and semi-structured interviews, the study examined the features of six secondary students’ self-regulated writing with focus on how they used resources strategically to overcome challenges in academic writing. Self-regulated strategic writing processes of high achievers and underachievers were compared in the analysis. Differences were found in the ways resource utilization unfolded in the learners’ self-regulated writing activities. Seven processes, namely, noticing, selecting, reorganizing, evaluating understanding, reviewing and memorizing, imitating, as well as adapting, were found in the high achievers’ self-regulated writing, while only imitating and reorganizing were identified in the case of underachievers. Differences were also found in terms of why and how the high achievers and the underachievers imitated and reorganized resources. The study suggests that underachievers should be encouraged to reflect on their self-regulated writing processes and language teachers can help these students to deploy strategies in ways high achievers use them.

In this seminar, I will first outline the reasons why the Hong Kong SAR government’s biliteracy and trilingualism (兩文三語) policy since 1997 is such a tall order, before reviewing empirical evidence in support of alternative measures in our language-in-education policy. The nature of the challenge will be elucidated by examining various critical issues from multiple perspectives: linguistic, sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, and curricular. I will then briefly review recent research in neurolinguistic research, with a view to addressing a key question at the level of language policy and planning: Is there room for rethinking the priority of language learning and enhancement support for Cantonese-dominant students at earlier life stages?