The vocabulary research of the 1980s and 1990s brought a breath of fresh air into the language classroom. Teachers in many remote EFL locations had long suspected that vocabulary was their learners' main challenge, but there was little research evidence to confirm this or say what to do about it. Then, suddenly, work by Nation, Laufer, Meara,…

This article introduces the use of public exam questions in fishbowl debate to engage highly exam-oriented secondary students with communicative language teaching (CLT). The practice aims to address the issue that many teachers of English as a second language (ESL)/English as a foreign language (EFL) in Asian contexts either teach to the test or…

Literature has long been used as a tool for language teaching and learning. In the New Academic Structure in Hong Kong, it has become an important element in the senior secondary English language curriculum to promote communicative language teaching (CLT) with a process-oriented approach. However, as in many other English as a second or foreign…

Recent literature on the use of exemplars in the context of higher education has shown that exemplar-based instruction is implemented in various disciplines; nevertheless, how exemplar-based instruction can be implemented in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing classrooms in higher education institutions remains under-explored. In this…

The "Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers of English" (LPATE) is a test of standards of English language ability for Hong Kong primary and secondary school teachers of English. The impetus for the creation of the LPATE arose, in 1996, because of concerns in business and education communities over falling English language…

The development of a language ability scale for English as a Second Language in Hong Kong secondary schools is described. The project used a local computer network designed as a database of teacher-designed English language tests. From test items in the database, a series of seven tests was prepared, one for each grade level. Tests for the lowest…

Describes an investigation into the type of listening test that might serve as an assessment instrument of English language teachers as part of a teacher certification test--the Hong Kong English Language Benchmark Test. Highlights a case study where groups of preservice and inservice English language teachers were administered audio and video…

This paper describes the development of a program to test oral and written language skills of students graduating from seven Hong Kong higher education institutions. The program's objective is to provide information for prospective employers concerning graduates' practical communication skills in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. The 2-year…