Cantonese-speaking Students Research Articles

English medium higher education in Hong Kong: linguistic challenges of local and non-local students

This research project involved a mixed-methods study investigating language-related challenges of first-year students at an English Medium Instruction (EMI) university in Hong Kong. The two-phased sequential study employed a questionnaire survey and semi-structured student interviews. The survey and interview findings indicate that first-year students face a number of language-related academic challenges during their first year at an EMI university in writing, reading, speaking, and listening, many of which appear to stem from lower levels of vocabulary knowledge in English, unfamiliarity with academic and technical terminology, and limited exposure to varieties of English. Additionally, the findings suggest that these challenges can vary significantly based on background and first language, relating specifically to three different demographic student groups: local Hong Kong Cantonese-speaking students, Putonghua-speaking mainland Chinese students, and non-Chinese speaking local and international students.

Early Chinese heritage language learning in Canada: A study of Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking children's receptive vocabulary attainment

Chinese immigrant children in North America often experience rapid growth in their English lexicon, while their heritage language (HL) vocabulary development is characterized by early stabilization and decline. This study was designed to explore whether and how factors such as SES, gender, L1, immigration status, home language use, mainstream and HL school attendance have influenced Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking first graders' (N = 76) early HL vocabulary development in Canada. Students' HL receptive vocabulary was measured by the Chinese Peabody Vocabulary Test (C-PPVT-R) and home and school information was collected through the Alberta Language Environment Questionnaire (ALEQ). Statistical analyses revealed significant differences in the effects of L1 and gender between Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking first graders. Mandarin-speaking girls outperformed Mandarin-speaking boys and their Cantonese-speaking peers. Family SES was found to be a significant factor affecting early HL vocabulary development. While Mandarin-speaking students' performance was associated with the richness of their home language environments, Cantonese-speaking students’ performance was not. Group performance was not significantly associated with home language use. Findings suggest the need to move beyond a usage-based theory to understand better home interactions across L1 and SES subgroups that shape differential performances.

From second language to third language learning

AbstractThis mixed-methods study explores English and Japanese learning motivations in a group of Japanese summer course participants at a university in Hong Kong. Sixty-one Cantonese-speaking students completed two questionnaire surveys on co-existing motivations for learning L2 English and L3 Japanese. Depending on the questionnaire results, eight participants were selected to take part in the two subsequent interviews. The findings revealed that the participants perceived L2 English learning as a school subject and a practical tool for academics and career. It was instrumentality, rather than integrativeness, that motivated the students to learn English. Contrary results were found for L3 Japanese language learning, as the learners had more cultural interest, positive learning experience, self-confidence, and positive attitudes. This study, therefore, argues that L2 and L3 motivations merit distinct status. There appears to exist a dual-motivation system amongst these multilingual learners. The study also provides insights into how geographical and psychological distances could impact language learning under the phenomena of globalisation.

Adjusting to higher education in Hong Kong: the influence of school medium of instruction

ABSTRACTThis article compares the experiences of Cantonese-speaking students from Hong Kong’s Chinese- and English-medium schools when adjusting to the demands of English-medium degree studies. The participants in this mixed-methods study were members of the first cohort to undertake the new four-year undergraduate programme. The findings of a large-scale survey revealed statistically significant differences between the responses of the two categories of students, indicating that school teaching medium was a crucial determinant of their speed and ease of adjustment to university study. Chinese-stream students evidently entered university with lower competence and confidence in English than their classmates from the English-medium stream and thus encountered greater difficulties performing key study and language skills. Qualitative evidence from the study’s longitudinal strand suggests that Chinese-stream students endured extremely taxing transitions in the first semester. However, by the end of the year, they had begun to overcome the challenges of university study through a combination of strong achievement motivation, unremitting practice, effective learning strategies and supportive peer networks. The article concludes by discussing the study’s implications for higher education policy in Hong Kong and worldwide.

Effects of L1 tone on perception of L2 tone - a study of Mandarin tone learning by native Cantonese children

In the present study, the Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) was tested on its applicability in child L2 lexical tone acquisition. The possible effect of L1 (Cantonese) lexical tones on L2 (Mandarin) lexical tone learning was explored. Accuracy rate and error patterns were examined with an AX discrimination task and a forced-choice identification task. Forty-nine native Cantonese-speaking students aged 8 years participated in the study. Results revealed that these children exhibited nearly perfect performance in the discrimination of Mandarin tones. However, significant tone differences were detected in the identification task. Tone 4 (T4) was identified with the lowest accuracy, and T1 with the highest. Error analysis revealed that Mandarin T2-T3 was the most confusing pair, followed by the T1-T4 pair. The inherent phonetic similarity between lexical tones in a language and the tone similarities across languages may also have contributed to perception difficulties, which could help to refine and supplement the PAM in the tonal/suprasegmental domain.

Investigating Cantonese speakers' language attitudes in Mainland China

The People's Republic of China (PRC) has often been considered a monolithic, monolingual state but, in fact, it is linguistically and culturally diverse. Despite the size, there is still a lack of sociolinguistic studies on the Han Chinese in the PRC. Therefore, this study focuses on the language attitudes of Cantonese-speaking students in Mainland China towards Cantonese, Putonghua and English. Surveys were conducted to assess the language attitudes of Cantonese-speaking university students. The results showed students' strong integrative attitudes towards Cantonese, whereas Putonghua and English were recognised as instrumental tools for career advancement and international communication. Although the respondents of this study positively supported multilingualism, the active language policy of the PRC does not adequately promote a multilingual environment or cultural development of Han Chinese languages. Therefore, the authors call for policies that equally value official, minority and regional languages in China.

Influence of additional language learning on first language learning in children with language disorders

Multilingualism can bring about various positive outcomes to typically developing children. Its effect on children with language difficulties is not yet clear. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of multilingual learning as a medium of instruction (MOI) on first language (L1) acquisition of children with language disorders (LD). Nineteen Cantonese-speaking students aged 5;8-6;8 who were diagnosed with LD were recruited from a school that used Putonghua (an alternative Chinese dialect) as the MOI when learning Chinese language and were compared with 18 age-and-gender-matched Cantonese-speaking students with LD from a school that used Cantonese as the MOI when learning Chinese language. All the students also learned English (L2) as a subject at school. Proficiency in Cantonese was tested at the beginning and the end of the semester in Grade One in terms of: (1) grammar, (2) expressive vocabulary, (3) auditory textual comprehension, (4) word definition and (5) narration. Mixed-model ANOVAs revealed an effect of time on language proficiency indicating positive gains in both groups. Interaction effects between time and group were not significant. There was a trend that children learning Putonghua showed slightly more improvement in auditory textual comprehension. Proficiency gains were similar across groups. The study found no evidence that a multilingual learning environment hinders the language proficiency in L1 in students who have LD.

Native English-speaking Students in Hong Kong EFL Classrooms: A Case Study

The present study explores the learner stories of two Hong Kong English language students: a returnee student (a native speaker of English) and those of one of his local classmates (a native speaker of Cantonese). With the high level of migration from and to Hong Kong over the last 25 years, the number of children returning to Hong Kong from English-speaking countries has increased dramatically. Many of these returnee children enter the local Hong Kong education system and study English as a foreign language alongside Cantonese-speaking students. Through biographical interviews, this study investigates the complexities of the Hong Kong EFL classroom contexts and the implications on bilingual identity formation. The interview data provide insight on the negotiation of and limitations on bilingual identity formation in educational settings.

Pedagogical correlates of reading comprehension in English and Chinese

This study conducted in Hong Kong used multiple regression procedures to investigate the relationship between primary school children's reading test scores and the frequency with which forty-two instructional practices were used by their literacy teachers. Analyses were conducted separately for reading in English language and in Chinese (Modern Standard Written Chinese). Subjects comprised 4,329 Cantonese-speaking students (2,157 girls; 2,172 boys) aged approximately 9+ years, and their 256 teachers (129 teachers of English; 127 teachers of Chinese). Results suggest that no single instructional practice was highly correlated with students' reading achievement in English or Chinese, and in fact some practices demonstrated a negative association. However, certain practices, particularly related to the use and nature of resource materials and to assessment strategies, did demonstrate a positive association with reading performance. Similarities and differences between Chinese and English data are discussed.

Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary students

This article revisits a question posed by Hyland [(1997). Is EAP necessary? A survey of Hong Kong undergraduates. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 7, 77–99] in the Hong Kong higher education context: Is EAP necessary? The article presents the overall findings of a large-scale, multi-faceted investigation into the language problems experienced by Cantonese-speaking students at Hong Kong's largest English-medium university. Baseline data for the study were derived from a questionnaire survey of almost 5000 undergraduates from all 26 departments in the university. In terms of the number of student participants, the investigation is one of the largest ever undertaken in the field of EAP research. The findings from the student survey are illuminated by data from interviews with students and discussions with and surveys of departmental programme leaders. The findings indicate that a significant percentage of the subjects experience difficulties when studying content subjects through the medium of English. The evidence suggests that students’ problems centre on academic writing (particularly style, grammar and cohesion) and academic speaking (particularly grammar, fluency and pronunciation). The findings also indicate that students’ receptive and productive vocabularies are generally inadequate. Academic listening appears to present students with fewer difficulties than writing, speaking and reading. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for EAP course and materials design in light of the changing tertiary-education landscape in Hong Kong.

The contradictory culture of teacher-based assessment: ESL teacher assessment practices in Australian and Hong Kong secondary schools

A growing concern in teacher-based assessment, particularly in assessing English language development in high-stakes contexts, is our inadequate understanding of the means by which teachers make assessment decisions. This article adopts a sociocultural approach to report on the background and findings of a comparative study of ESL teachers’ assessment of written argument in the final years of secondary school in Australia and Hong Kong. Using verbal protocols, individual and group interviews and self-reports, the study explored the different assessment beliefs, attitudes and practices of teachers working with senior secondary Cantonese-speaking students acquiring English as a second language. The study found that the Australian teachers varied considerably in their approach to assessing student work with two somewhat conflicting assessment orientations revealed: the legalistic assessors who ‘ticked the boxes’ according to the published assessment guidelines and those assessors who relied much more on professional judgment. In Hong Kong, there was much more variability in the underlying assessment criteria with consensus reached through reference to community norms rather than explicit statements of performance. The article concludes that traditional notions of validity may need to be reconceptualized in high-stakes teacher-based assessment, with professional judgment, interaction and trust given much higher priority in the assessment process.