This article considers arguments for and against the use of coding systems in classroom-based language research and touches on some relevant considerations from ethnographic and conversational analysis approaches. The four authors each explain and elaborate on their practical decision to code or not to code events or utterances at a specific point…

This paper describes a project that evaluated World Wide Web resources for language teaching and learning. First, issues of quality of Web resources, the need for an evaluation procedures, and the difficulties of implementing such procedures are discussed. The development of criteria on which to base such an evaluation is then outlined. Criteria…

Explores the classical roots of comparative education and related language issues. Three different strands of comparative education are identified, and the approach to language within each strand is discussed and illustrated. (Author/VWL)

The teaching orientation of a graduating group of students on a BATESL course in Hong Kong is reviewed based on a questionnaire in the five categories of (1) language use; (2) lesson planning and decision making; (3) teaching approach; (4) professional status, relationship, and responsibilities; and (5) perceptions and values. Compares the…

Identifies and describes the genres that a group of tertiary level English-as-a-Second-Language students produced during a process writing class in which they were free to decide their own topics, purposes, and audiences. Characteristics of these genres, the relationships among them, and their schematic structures are described. (Author/VWL)

Reports a study in Hong Kong that used a think-aloud protocol to examine the use and effectiveness of Chinese university students' inferential strategies for dealing with unknown words while reading in English. Findings show that advanced second-language readers are moderately efficient at using local and discourse context clues, although wrong…

Discusses the difficulties faced by English-as-a-Second/Foreign-Language students who study at an English-medium university. Focuses on graduate students' oral needs and difficulties at the university of Hong Kong and argues that student needs should be systematically addressed to ensure students become effective communicators. (Author/VWL)

Aims to identify communication difficulties that arise when Eastern and Western cultures meet in the context of language teaching and learning. With particular focus on China, this article attempts to make explicit some underlying assumptions held by teachers and to contrast these with the expectations of Chinese students. Cultural perspectives…

Looks at the shifting profile of bilingualism in Hong Kong. Whereas Hong Kong society could once be characterized as diglossic, with differentiation of English and Cantonese in terms of their functions and status as "high" and "low" languages, it is currently undergoing a rapid shift away from diglossia, with erosion of these structured…

The 10-year history of the Morrison Education Society School, the beginning of Anglo-Chinese education in Hong Kong, is chronicled from 1842, focusing on its aims for general and English-language education, Chinese and English curriculum content, teaching methods for Chinese and English, and the influence of the school's western teachers and…

Examines the process of developing an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) cloze test by computer based on a language corpus. Two such tests developed and pilot-tested in Hong Kong were found to have test items that were not as good as they would have been if designed by a competent human, but better than expected. (Author/MSE)

A study of Hong Kong secondary school English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers revealed a gap between their beliefs and practices regarding writing. Although most teachers thought discourse coherence was essential to writing instruction, they appeared to attend primarily to grammar in their evaluation of students' writing and in their own…

Proposes that courses in English for Special/Academic Purposes use instructional materials reflecting the needs, communicative purposes, and standards of effective discourse as perceived by the targeted discourse community, make the linguistic structures explicit, help learners self-evaluate and become independent learners in the workplace, and be…

Essays and research reports on the relationship between teaching second languages and teaching culture include: "Teaching Culture as an Integrated Part of Language Teaching: An Introduction" (Chantal Crozet, Anthony J. Liddicoat); "Primary Socialization and Cultural Factors in Second Language Learning: Wending Our Way through Semi-Charted…

Reviews the research on ageing, focusing on issues of multi-disciplinarity versus inter-disciplinarity; research orientations to "subject" populations; ethical imperatives in language research; interactivity; and linguistic versus ideological perspectives. Makes a case for considering research on language and ageing as falling within an…