This study describes the validation and interpretation of the Parents' Attributions and Perception Questionnaire (PAPQ) using confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch modelling to report both the construct validity and category structure of the scales in the questionnaire. The PAPQ was developed to reflect the proposal that parents mediate the…

The first comprehensive survey of 7,025 Chinese primary schoolchildren found that 24% of respondents reported that they had sometimes physically bullied another child. When children observed school bullying, 56% said they immediately reported it to their teachers. Another 20% tried to stop the bullying by approaching the bullies. The study also…

In the field of specific learning difficulties research, interest has recently turned to affective and motivational issues as possible causal or exacerbating factors. In particular, studies have suggested that students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) have diminished perceptions of their own capabilities as a result of persistent and…

This paper reports on my first-hand experiences of being a "purist" in Hong Kong, during which time I was not allowed to use mixed code, a common discursive practice among Hongkongers in Hong Kong. I shall discuss the difficulties in using "pure" English and "pure" Chinese in my daily life, as well as exploring the…

This study examined the relations between reading-related cognitive skills and word reading development of Chinese children with dyslexia in their Chinese language (L1) and in English (L2). A total of 84 bilingual children--28 with dyslexia, 28 chronological age (CA) controls, and 28 reading-level (RL) controls--participated and were administered…

Implementing curriculum integration initiatives is far from easy. In Hong Kong, the change has been imposed to schools for more than twenty years. However, experiences show that they were not successfully implemented. To successfully implement such an initiative, teachers have a pivotal part to play. Past research studies have shown that teachers…

Hong Kong has been actively promoting a student-centered approach to teaching since the 1980s. Despite this effort, students in Hong Kong still tend to be traditional learners who rarely experience and gain from real student-centered learning. While teachers hold a "quantitative" concept of learning and focus on transmitting declarative…

Recent international studies have highlighted the success of students from Hong Kong in mathematics and problem-solving, and have begun to suggest some of the factors associated with this success. Other studies have suggested that Hong Kong students are averse to risk-taking, favouring memorisation and imitation in their solution strategies. Year…

This paper proposes an initial model for the care and support of primary school children coping with family situations and family changes. The model is built on existing counselling literature, incorporating the perceptions of teachers, children and parents on their needs for support and a small empirical study by the author on teachers'…

In writing assessment, there are quite a number of factors influencing the marking stability and the reliability of the assessment such as the attitude towards marking and consistency of markers, the physical environment, the design of the items, and marking rubrics. Even the methods to train markers have effects on the reliability of the…

Two decades after I left teaching primary school for a university career, I observed students and teachers in a mainstream primary school in Hong Kong. There were three main student communities within the school. Those who were labeled extremely low achievers were taught in a small class of not more than 12; these students were taught a curriculum…

Background: Most previous studies in Western societies have demonstrated a general decline in school motivation. However, it is not clear whether motivational decline occurs uniformly for all students. The moderating effects of individual and cultural differences on students' motivational decline need to be further explored. Aims: This study aimed…

The English reading comprehension ability of 4,352 Grade 4 Hong Kong students was tested. The students' parents completed questionnaires about home factors, including monthly income, language habitually spoken at home, whether the mother was employed, and whether an English-speaking domestic helper resided there. Analyses revealed statistically…

This study investigated transfer of reading-related cognitive skills between learning to read Chinese (L1) and English (L2) among Chinese children in Hong Kong. Fifty-three Grade 2 students were tested on word reading, phonological, orthographic and rapid naming skills in Chinese (L1) and English (L2). The major findings were: (a) significant…

Before 1997, no formal curriculum on Chinese cultural education for primary schools was developed in Hong Kong although the education authority had started to introduce some items of Chinese cultural learning into the Chinese language syllabus when the Target Oriented Curriculum was implemented in 1996. However, such items were incorporated into…