Investigates changes in Hong Kong government's medium of instruction policy amid political, economic, and sociolinguistic changes in the last three decades. Explores the possible impact of the Chinese-medium instruction policy proposed in the wake of change of sovereignty on English-language learning. The theoretical underpinning of the study is…

Examines when and how much the target language (TL) should be used in second language and foreign language teaching and why. Agrees with the view that second and foreign language teachers should maximize their use of the TL, and argues that doing so benefits students' TL proficiency. Highlights disadvantages when teachers rely too heavily on the…

Based on findings from an ethnographic study conducted in South Korea, recommends that when working with non-native speakers, native speakers: be patient, emphasize vowel sounds, avoid over-enunciation, utilize phenomenological bracketing, minimize use of metaphors and idioms, and avoid using intonation to convey meaning. (EV)

Introduces this volume of the journal, which focuses on language in education in post-colonial Hong Kong. Before Hong Kong was returned to China, Cantonese and English were the predominate languages; since the change of sovereignty, the status of Mandarin has increased tremendously. (Author/VWL)

Argues against the notion that Chinese students do not volunteer to participate in tutorial discussion. Interview data obtained from a group of Chinese tertiary students in Hong Kong has shed some light on the subtle relationship between the traditional Chinese concepts of learning and students' behavior in tutorial discussion. (Author/VWL)

Describes the Intensive English Language Testing System test, which is used to assess whether nonnative candidates are ready to study or train in the medium of English. (Author/VWL)

Outlines concepts of language rights in the Hong Kong context. Considers development of a medium of instruction policy from the point of view of language rights and suggests that while policy enforcing Chinese medium of instruction is consonant with the language rights of the Cantonese majority, continued existence of an English-medium stream may…

Discusses English medium teaching in Pakistan and suggests that at the moment it is an elitist preserve and a stumbling block for Pakistanis not taught through English. Indicates that exposing other students to English could counteract growing cultural and religious intolerance in Pakistan. (Author/VWL)

This exploratory study identifies factors affecting parental choice of language of instruction, based on semistructured interviews with 16 Russian-speaking parents in three urban areas of Estonia. We investigated three different types of language programs: Russian schools, which provided education in the children's first language; Estonian…

In his article, A class act -- Mathematics as filter of equity in South African schools, Michael Kahn analyses South African data from matriculation examinations and draws on and re-examines previous analyses he himself has done. This document highlights the important insights into participation and performance in mathematics in South Africa that…

A violent conflict between Maoist insurgents and the national government has engulfed Nepal for most of the last decade, a situation that has been complicated by deep-seated instability at the highest levels of the government itself. Even with the declaration of a ceasefire in 2006, violence endures in pockets of lawless banditry and unrest at the…

The study explored English as a Second Language (ESL) learner development. In particular, it focused on investigating learners' understanding of reading and their willingness to be engaged in strategic reading in participatory classroom activities. It also examined possible effects of such pedagogy on reading performance. The context was a…

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is a term widely used in Europe to refer to different forms of content based education, often conducted in English. Earlier research on CLIL has tended to focus on matters of language learning or content mastery rather than on details of classroom interaction. This paper investigates how English is…

The present study is about the early literacy skills among children in the lower kindergarten in India. The study seeks to identify the areas where inadequacy exists in the Indian scenario where the medium of instruction is not the first language/mother tongue of the child. The study found that children were proficient in the skills taught in…

This paper uses ethnographic observation and in-depth interview to look at the ways in which an English-dominant school in California, USA inhibits the fulfilment of the goals of its dual immersion "strand" programme. Taking a Bakhtinian perspective on discourses, and leaning on Bourdieu's concept of "linguistic capital", the…