Against the backdrop of declining motivation and growing social and emotional challenges in English learning experienced by Hong Kong primary school students, the study aimed to profile an interactive pattern between relevant motivational beliefs (i.e., self-efficacy, interest, and growth mindset), social and emotional learning (SEL) skills and…

Previous research on cross-linguistic transfer has provided evidence about the transfer of reading performance and strategies. However, little knowledge exists regarding how motivational factors (e.g. self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation [IM], extrinsic motivation [EM]) transfer and how they facilitate the transfer of reading from the first…

Despite much attention having been paid to foreign language (FL) reading and related variables such as self-efficacy, relatively few studies have focused on young learners, and even fewer on storybooks, arguably the commonest genre read by children worldwide for language learning. As FL learning commences at a young age in many contexts globally,…

Student engagement in the learning process drastically declines as students make their way through the education system from fifth grade onward. Student disengagement increases the likelihood a child will eventually drop out of school. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the promotion of student engagement,…

As an intimidating school subject for students globally, writing requires a high level of motivation, especially for second language (L2) learners. Despite abundant research on motivation in both first language (L1) writing and L2 learning, L2 writing motivation warrants more attention. To bridge the gap, the study intends to present an overall…

The aim of this study was to evaluate relationships among the primary school students' social connectedness to parents, teachers and peers, and their career and talent development self-efficacy (CTD-SE). CTD-SE encompasses talent development, career exploration and the acquisition of good work habits. Results suggest that the connectedness with…

This study examined the role of growth mindset, self-efficacy, and intrinsic value in self-regulated learning (SRL) and English language learning achievements in Hong Kong primary school students. A sample of 690 4th graders participated in the study. The findings suggest that the level of SRL strategy use (i.e. monitoring, effort regulation, and…

This paper presents a small-scale study examining the effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on English language learners' reading comprehension in a Hong Kong international school. Twenty-five primary school (Grade 5) students who learn English as a second language participated in this study. Metacognitive instruction was…

This study investigates the student- and school-level predictors of reading performance across five top-performing countries in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021. Utilising a multilevel analysis, the research examines the influence of cognitive development, socio-cultural contexts and educational environments on…

In this study, the associations between social support, reading confidence and English reading amount were examined using a sample of Grade 5 and Grade 6 primary school students (N = 570) in Hong Kong. It was hypothesised that the effect of parent support, teacher support, and peer support on reading amount was mediated by reading confidence. Age…

This study investigated the influences of the use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies on students' self-efficacy in English writing. A total of 155 fourth graders from 1 government-funded primary school in Hong Kong completed a questionnaire on SRL strategy use and a questionnaire on self-efficacy in English writing. The students used…

Parents are their children's most influential educators, and their joint activities can influence these children's early learning. Past studies with small, non-representative samples do not show a consistent link between early numeracy activities at home and children's mathematics achievement. Specifically, whether or how "early numeracy…

This study was to examine the individual differences in primary school students' motivation (i.e. growth mindset, self-efficacy, and interest), self-regulated learning strategy use in English writing and the relationships between motivation, strategy use and English writing competence. Participants were 523 4th grade primary school students in…

Hong Kong attained champion of the PIRLS 2011 that aroused keen interest in understanding the underlying reasons of a non-alphabetic language. The study aimed at unravelling various aspects of the student and home factors which contributed to remarkable Chinese reading performance. Totally 3,875 students from 132 primary schools completed the…