ESL readers' comprehension performance: the

ESL readers’ comprehension

performance: the Chinese secondary context Juliana Chau, Winnie Wu, Julia Chen, and Shari Lughmani

Introduction

Prior research into ES L readers indicates close correlations between reading comprehension ability and reading strategy application, contributing in part to overall ES L attainment (Pani 2004; Zhang 2010). Findings in Zhang’s study, for example, revealed several notable features that distinguished proficient from less proficient Chinese E S L readers. Where the former demonstrated ability to activate wide-ranging strategic resources to unlock meaning in English texts, the latter’s over-reliance on linguistic knowledge constrained their reading comprehension efforts. Other studies (for example Song 1998) reported discernible gains in reading competence of low-ability E S L readers after undergoing reading strategy training. Additional factors known to influence reading ability include topic familiarity, E S L proficiency, cultural schemata, and readers’ beliefs and goals, as well as quality and amount of reading practice (Dressler and Kamil 2006; Grabe 2009). Several studies in Western contexts have made attempts to gather information to make inferences about ES L learners’ reading abilities through reading assessment tasks, many in the form of standardized testing using multiple-choice or short-answer questions (Alderson 2000; Zheng, Cheng, and Klinger 2007). However, similar studies in

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Recent research in reading comprehension in Western settings has focused on collecting evidence from reading tests that would measure relevant ESL reading constructs to inform reading instruction and assessment. Similar studies in nonWestern contexts, however, remain under-reported. This study involved 958 senior secondary Hong Kong (Chinese) school students and 45 ESL teachers from local secondary schools. The study identified some of the weaknesses and strengths in aspects of Chinese ES L readers’ comprehension performance. Results of the study indicate that reading comprehension is constrained by linguistic-, discourse-, and pragmatic-level problems. The article concludes with a call to rethink ESL reading pedagogy to foster readers’ own understanding of a text and to build up interest and confidence in reading. Three instructional methods in this direction are proposed for ESL reading improvement.

non-Western settings, especially those that target Chinese ES L readers, are far less well established. The need to fill the gap in knowledge is critical because the route and rate of reading success is understood to vary with individual readers and across contexts, thus underscoring the significance of investigating ES L readers in situ (Zheng et al. ibid.). The genesis of the study can be attributed to insufficient current knowledge about Hong Kong (Chinese) E S L readers’ comprehension ability in secondary education. This creates challenges for E S L teachers and educators in Hong Kong as they grapple with issues arising from a new secondary English curriculum, culminating in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKD SE) Examination to be introduced in 2012. Weighting (%)

Duration

20 25 30 10

1½ hours 2 hours About 2 hours About 20 minutes

Public examination Paper 1: Reading Paper 2: Writing Paper 3: Listening and integrated skills Paper 4: Speaking table 1 Components in the HKDSE

School-based assessment (for school candidates only)

15

As seen in Table 1, the reading component in this examination counts for 20 per cent of the overall weighting. Its aims, among others, are to assess candidates’ ability to understand and interpret the purpose and meaning of a broad range of texts, identify the contextual meaning of words and phrases, and interpret, analyse, select, and organize ideas and information from various sources. Public examinations in Hong Kong represent high-stakes exercises that are likely to determine secondary school students’ future tertiary study and career options. The study, therefore, offers a timely opportunity to provide important information and insight into Hong Kong (Chinese) E S L readers’ comprehension ability amidst education reform. It seeks to: n identify strengths and weaknesses in aspects of Hong Kong E S L readers’ comprehension performance as shown by the results in a reading test; and n examine pedagogical implications that may affect improvement in Hong Kong E S L readers’ comprehension ability.

The study Context and participants

We teach English at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and in 2010 we collaborated with seven Hong Kong secondary schools in a study to achieve two goals: n to investigate secondary school students’ E S L reading comprehension abilities as revealed by a reading test; and n to provide feedback on students’ reading comprehension performance to schools that may assist E S L teachers in the design and implementation of reading instructional and assessment practices appropriate for the new English curriculum.

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Juliana Chaucomprehension et al. ESL readers’ performance

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Component

The study involved 958 students in their fourth year in seven Hong Kong secondary schools; the first cohort of students in Hong Kong to take part in the new H K D S E in 2012. The students’ E S L proficiency level was understood to range from intermediate to low, based on internal English examination scores as reported by the participating schools. Forty-five E S L teachers from these schools, with years of experience and expertise in E S L teaching, participated in their capacity as reading task setters, administrators, and markers.

Data collection and analysis

We felt it desirable and necessary to first sketch out the key reading ability constructs as a reference framework for identifying the constructs the reading assessment items were intended to measure and for aligning them closely with the stated learning outcomes of the HKDS E. In the study, such constructs were operationalized as a set of reading component skills (Table 2) consistent with those outlined in substantive theories of and Reading construct

Reading component skill

Code

Linguistic competence

1 Understand texts that contain complex and unfamiliar language 2 Understand grammatical patterns and vocabulary 3 Infer grammatical meaning from texts 4 Identify both literal and figurative meanings of words or phrases

LC1

1 Distinguish in detail the various parts of the treatment of a theme and their connections 2 Separate main ideas from lesser ones 3 Recognize the line of argument in the treatment of the issue presented 4 Evaluate opinions presented 5 Identify and compare alternative views 6 Infer the wider meaning of texts and understand the purposes of texts 7 Guess the intended readers of the text

DC1

Discourse competence

table 2 Framework of reading constructs and component skills

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Sociolinguistic competence 1 Recognize the style of the text 2 Understand and interpret nuances of meaning and style 3 Interpret tone and mood 4 Understand a variety of slang and culture-dependent references

ESL readers’ performance Juliana Chaucomprehension et al.

LC2 LC3 LC4

DC2 DC3 DC4 DC5 DC6 DC7 SC1 SC2 SC3 SC4

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We and the participating teachers agreed that the reading task would assume the form of large-scale testing (pen-and-paper) with online marking (scanned scripts) for administrative efficiency, drawing on the characteristics of the reading test outlined in the new English curriculum. Crucially, the focus of the task on assessment for learning (Broadfoot 2007) would accord with the dual aim of the study to understand aspects of E S L readers’ comprehension performance and to identify possible ways of fostering reading success.

research in ES L reading and testing performance (for example Gao and Rogers 2011). It is acknowledged that some of the component skills overlap and complement one another. A reader’s ability to invoke knowledge of discourse structure may, for instance, hinge on his or her vocabulary knowledge, classified under linguistic competence. This awareness would give us extra scope to explore and understand the students’ reading performance in the study.

Example 1 Passage 1, item 7, multiple-choice question Main intended construct: discourse competence Secondary intended construct: sociolinguistic competence

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We held several meetings with the participating teachers to examine issues ranging from test item difficulty and item type appropriateness to the accuracy of the answer key. We finally decided on two reading passages on topics of fashion and health science that we assumed would be of interest to and at the appropriate difficulty level for students. The two passages registered 986 and 340 words in length, respectively. The reading test comprised 41 items based on the two passages, and students were instructed to answer all of them in 45 minutes. The test items aimed to measure different aspects of reading comprehension skills across the three identified constructs through multiple-choice questions and constructed-response questions (for example one-word or short answers, see Table 3). Three test items below from the passages exemplify each question type and intended construct.

Example 2 Passage 2, item 23, constructed-response question (one-word answer) Main intended construct: linguistic competence Secondary intended construct: discourse competence

Passage 2, item 17, constructed-response question (short answer) Main intended construct: discourse competence

All items were scored 0–2 points, subject to the completeness and accuracy of the answers. The full score was 63. We developed a marking guide, listing the criteria for the award of points or otherwise, and alternative answers to constructed-response questions. Analysis of the findings was undertaken using mainly students’ responses to the items, the percentage of (in)correct answers, and the reference framework of the reading ability constructs and component skills (Table 2). Participating teachers’ discussion notes and reflective entries complemented our analysis with clues to understanding teachers’ reading instructional methods, beliefs, and expectations, among others. The codes denoting the component skills were designed to facilitate item analyses and subsequent discussion. 308

ESL readers’ Julianacomprehension Chau et al. performance

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Example 3

Strengths and weaknesses in aspects of students’ comprehension performance

The reading comprehension test yielded a mean score of 10.84, out of a possible maximum 63. Table 3 presents the results of the test in ascending order of the error rate.

Passage Item Item type

2 2 1

1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

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18.iii T/F DC2 21.iii Short answer LC2; LC1 12 Multiple SC1; DC7 choice 24 Multiple SC1; DC7 choice 9.iii T/F DC2 1 Multiple LC4; SC1 choice 21.i One-word LC2; LC1 answer 20 Short answer DC2; LC4 9.ii T/F DC2 9.iv T/F DC2 23.i One-word LC1; DC3; answer LC2 5 Multiple LC4; SC3; choice DC4 18.ii T/F DC2 23.iv One-word LC1; DC3; answer LC2 19 Multiple LC2 choice 22.ii One-word DC4 answer 22.i One-word DC4 answer 18.i T/F DC2 9.v T/F DC2 17.i Short answer DC2 10 One-word DC6 answer 21.ii One-word LC2; LC1 answer 23.ii One-word LC1; DC3; answer LC2 15 Short answer DC2 16 Short answer DC1 3.i One-word DC2 answer 2 One-word LC1 answer 3.ii One-word DC2 answer


29.4 29.6 30.4

69.0 4.4 68.4

N/A 52.0 N/A

35.6

57.0

N/A

36.7 38.0

62.5 61.7

N/A N/A

38.2

0.9

49.4

40.0 41.2 41.8 42.0

7.1 57.7 57.0 10.6

43.9 N/A N/A 31.5

44.4

54.8

N/A

44.6 44.6

53.9 2.3

N/A 34.9

44.8

51.9

N/A

45.4

2.7

35.9

46.8

2.5

36.4

51.6 51.8 52.0 52.4

46.8 46.8 11.4 4.2

N/A N/A 25.0 39.5

53.2

0.8

28.0

53.4

2.9

25.9

55.1 58.8 59.6

10.2 8.0 5.0

23.6 23.9 30.1

59.8

1.4

30.6

63.9

3.4

25.6


2

Intended % Scored 0 % Scored 1 % Scored 2 construct/ component skill

309

4

1 2

8.ii 13

2 2 2

17.ii 18.iv 23.iii

1

11

1 2

9.i 23.v

2

14

1

6

1 1

8.i 7

One-word answer Short answer Multiple choice Short answer T/F One-word answer One-word answer T/F One-word answer Multiple choice Multiple choice Yes/no Multiple choice

SC3; LC1

64.8

1.4

30.7

DC2 DC1

65.0 66.2

3.7 33.1

20.7 N/A

DC2 DC2 LC1; DC3; LC2 DC6

66.9 67.1 68.6

6.5 31.1 8.6

8.8 N/A 5.1

68.8

14.9

9.2

DC2 LC1; DC3; LC2 DC2

70.5 73.8

28.8 1.2

N/A 0.3

75.1

24.0

N/A

DC1

76.7

22.3

N/A

DC5 DC4; SC1

76.7 84.1

22.0 14.8

N/A N/A

Notes: Students n ¼ 958; percentages of students who scored 0 on each test item are presented in ascending order; T/F ¼ true or false; N/A ¼ not applicable.

Several items recorded an exceptionally high rate of ‘0’ score (‘% scored 0’, Table 3). Those with an error rate of over 70 per cent include items 6, 7, 8(i), 9(i), 14, and 23(v), with five targeting discourse competence construct, two linguistic competence, and one sociolinguistic competence. The results suggest inadequate knowledge of discourse structure, namely, knowledge that requires readers to distinguish between main and extraneous ideas, to evaluate and identify opinions, and to recognize overall text organization. The findings accord with earlier research evidence (Kobayashi 2002; Zhang op.cit.) showing less skilled readers to be textbound, with a focus on micro-level language processing that rarely progresses beyond sentencelevel or literal understanding. Skilled readers, on the contrary, tend to espouse comprehension-oriented beliefs and strategies in reading. Admittedly, the results have to be treated with caution because of the high frequency of discourse knowledge being tested that may have skewed the test scores. Results of the study also reveal students’ failure to make links and connect ideas (Figure 1). Of the nine true-or-false questions in the test, four—9(i), 9(v), 18(i), and 18(iv)—were answered incorrectly by over half of the 958 students, of which three attracted a ‘not mentioned’ response when in fact the information was located in the passages. Specifically, approximately 63 per cent of students failed to integrate or relate information presented in different sentences to extract meaning not explicitly stated in the passages. Students’ over-dependence on discrete-point grammar clues is a possible cause. Alternatively, the effect of working memory on reading comprehension can also be considered. Working memory functions as an attentional mechanism that guides encoding, recall, and other high-level reading processes (Swanson and Jerman 2007). A large working memory 310


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table 3 Students’ reading comprehension test scores

1

capacity is reported to allow for increased resources for storage while comprehending a text (ibid.) and is positively correlated with one’s ability to draw inferences with social and cultural implications. The role of cultural schemata in reading—and concomitant sociolinguistic competence—was identified as an area of concern by the participating teachers (in their discussion notes) in the study. Interestingly, the six items (1, 4, 5, 7, 12, and 24) intended to measure sociolinguistic competence yielded an average error rate of 50 per cent, which is lower than that of the non-sociolinguistic items (55 per cent). Over half of the students, for example, identified correctly the text genre in items 12 and 24. Two factors could account for the students’ relatively strong performance in this area. First, the visual layout of the two reading passages that resembled authentic texts (for example two-column passage accompanied by photos, Figure 2) may have cued students to the correct answer without their recognizing the nuances of meaning and style. Such visual clues may privilege the majority of students whose reading experiences are increasingly technology and image mediated. The second factor for satisfactory performance on the above six items may lie with the question type. All but one (Item 4) were multiple-choice questions, an item type registering a higher overall correct rate (45 per cent, Table 4) than those of one-word or short answers, 28 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively. The findings support earlier research (Zheng et al. op.cit.) that multiple-choice questions (comprehension-selection exercise 8 of 14


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figure 1 A sample marked script with a score of 5 out of 63

using mostly guessing and matching strategies) generally record higher scores than constructed-response questions (comprehension-production exercise involving dynamic cognitive skills). Chinese students are known to receive instruction on test-taking skills including guessing and using surface features of answer choices in multiple-choice reading comprehension tests (Cheng and Gao 2002). Although it is not entirely clear from the results of the study how much guessing was involved, examination of students’ scripts (for example Figure 1) suggests that weak students obtained scores mostly from multiple-choice or true-or-false questions.

table 4 Percentage of correct answers and nil attempts by item type

Multiple choice One-word answer Short answer

Overall correct %

Overall nil attempt %

44.91 28.14 24.93

1.53 14.94 9.44

The low percentage of correct answers on questions requiring one-word or short answers merits mention. Table 4 indicates less than 30 per cent of students provided correct one-word or short answers. The ‘nil’ attempt rate was almost eight times (12 per cent) higher than that of the multiplechoice or true-or-false questions on average. Item 4, for example, required students to identify a word that means ‘somebody who is inexperienced and new to an activity or job’. Nearly two-thirds of the students failed to produce the correct answer ‘rookie’. This example reveals a lack of grammatical knowledge, which resulted in the failure to recognize the part of speech for an item (‘somebody’ suggesting a noun), prompting random guessing, as exemplified by students’ erroneous choice of a gerund (‘debuting’) and an adjective (‘strappy and sexy’; ‘wearable’, Figure 3).

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figure 2 Visual layout of Reading Passage 2

figure 3 A student’s incorrect answer for Item 4

The results of the study raise critical challenges about reading instruction in Hong Kong and China where high-stakes assessment practices affect pedagogy and policy in education. To ensure examination success, many teachers pursue prescribed text teaching, close reading of texts at the local level, or test-taking ‘question-first’ reading strategies, as opposed to those focusing on ‘passage-first’ reported to facilitate reading fluency (Cheng and Gao op.cit.: 171). Previous research evidence on teachers’ attempts to pre-teach vocabulary with definitions, but without its connotations and context, is inconclusive (cf. Sharp 2003). Most of the 958 Hong Kong students in the study have had over ten years of E S L experience and are no strangers to the above reading practices. To date, promoting higher order cognitive skills and important reading comprehension skills remain a much neglected area in non-Western contexts, which partly explains students’ poor reading comprehension performance.

Limitations of the study

We recognize that reading test scores do not necessarily reflect reading comprehension, a process likely to be influenced by person-related factors (for example motivation and prior knowledge) as mentioned previously. Students’ performance may have been affected by the short duration (45 minutes) allowed for the test, item difficulty, E S L proficiency (intermediate to low in this study), and variations in teaching practices in schools. Because the test was scheduled almost immediately after the endof-year examination, fatigue experienced by students might have undermined comprehension efforts. We can hardly claim that conclusions based on the study are generalizable.

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The evidence about students’ inability to identify words and word meanings, notwithstanding cues in the item set, tends to confirm previous research results (Alderson op.cit.) about the value of understanding ES L grammatical and discoursal relationships in a text. The capacity to process infrequently used vocabulary, to synthesize information located in adjacent or non-adjacent sentences, and to discern organization patterns lies at the heart of reading attainment.

The study, however, has identified some of the weaknesses and strengths in aspects of Chinese E S L readers’ comprehension performance, providing recent and relevant data for E S L practitioners in non-Western settings to draw upon in their own context. Results of the study confirm that reading comprehension is constrained by linguistic-, discourse-, and pragmatic-level problems. A limited focus on reading test-taking skills is not to be advocated, nor is the explicit teaching of syntax or lexis devoid of context. Rather, the classroom ecology needs to be reconfigured to facilitate readers’ own understanding of a text and build up interest and confidence in reading. Three instructional methods in this direction are proposed for rethinking reading pedagogy.

Recognizing rhetorical patterns through connecting reading with writing

The study reveals students’ weaknesses in recognizing the relationship between sentences and rhetorical features to extract meaning in text. Teachers can help students develop this ability through linking reading to writing. Reading and writing are interlinked, having a reciprocal effect on each other. Students generate meaning from reading, from which sources for ideas and rhetorical devices are derived to provide the basis for effective writing. As reading gives students the feel for the organizational flow and texture of prose, acquired discourse knowledge in writing facilitates reading comprehension. One method is to ask students to choose a topic (for example relationships; teenage issues) that interests them and free write on it in class for 15 minutes. They then compare notes, looking for ideas mentioned in their writing and focusing on content rather than language accuracy. Students can also discuss in pairs how they organize their ideas and alternative ways of doing so. After class, they collect and read two articles on the chosen topic from different genres (for example journal; newspaper article) or text types (for example narration; exposition) in preparation for the next lesson. The teacher should have already discussed genres and text types in class. Using the articles brought in by students, the teacher compares and contrasts the rhetorical patterns in the articles, together with the nature and function of these devices in reading and writing. A similar activity can be undertaken using previously discussed articles in students’ textbooks. Students then revisit their free writing and rework it applying what they have learnt about rhetorical devices.

Integrating and extracting information through rereading as a comprehension strategy

Students in the study seemed to experience difficulty in integrating ideas and extracting embedded information. To address this, it is important to view reading as an interactive, iterative process, one that involves the writer seeking to anticipate and answer questions from the reader on the one hand, and the reader attempting to predict the questions the writer will try to answer on the other. Widdowson (1998: 711) adds a ‘conspiracy’ dimension to this interaction, arguing that comprehension rests not so much on knowing what the language means as on deducing what the writer might mean by language. Achieving this would entail promoting rereading as a comprehension strategy. A possible means of encouraging purposeful rereading would be to design multi-tiered sequential reading activities, each tier concentrating on one or

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Pedagogical implications and conclusion

two key aspects of the text. Here is an example of what teachers can instruct students to do with one or several paragraphs of a text. Tier 1 1 Read the first two sentences of the opening paragraph of a text. 2 Work with a classmate and answer the questions about the two sentences, for example: a What do we know about the location of the text? b What atmosphere is created by the sentences? c Can you suggest a plot that will be developed?

1 Read the whole of the opening paragraph or the page and check the answers you gave in the previous activity. Were you correct in your assumptions? 2 Compare notes with a classmate. Tier 3 1 Reorder a few sentences in the paragraph or on the page. Look for any change in meaning by examining the adjacent sentences. 2 Discuss with a classmate how such changes affect the intended meaning. Tier 4 1 Identify the characters or possible characters that might appear in the text. Work in a small group, each adopting a character and describing what happened or might happen from their perspective. 2 Jot notes while listening to your classmate. Tier 5 1 Ask questions based on the notes (for example ‘What triggered the event?’, ‘How did it affect others?’). 2 Compare your classmates’ descriptions with those in the text.

Promoting vocabulary growth through use of technology

The evidence from the study indicates students’ limited vocabulary knowledge to make contextual connections to infer appropriate meaning. Because of strong associations between vocabulary power and reading fluency, and increasing application of technology in E S L pedagogy, many E S L teachers attempt to reconfigure reading as a multimodal activity involving sound, image, and animation. The visual resources of the screen (spatial organization, colour, directionality) allow readers to enter digital texts at different points, offering possibilities of multiple contextual conditions in which to make and interpret meaning (Jewitt 2005). For instance, sentence reordering at Tier 3 of the above proposed reading activity would encourage students to deploy digital tools to

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Tier 2

examine vocabulary appropriateness and pronunciation (for example http://www.merriam-webster.com/), synonyms (for example http:// www.visualthesaurus.com), and grammar (for example http:// www.grammarbook.com/english_rules.asp). Teachers can lead students in a discussion to identify suitable synonyms to replace words in the paragraph and to guide students in how to go about determining the meanings of unknown words in text using context clues, for example definitions, examples, and restatements, as well as pictures and typographical features. Related websites or blogs in English give students quick access to graphics, voice-over narration, and text that may both encourage purposeful reading practices and reinforce vocabulary learning. No one single instructional method is sufficient for optimal reading development. A central plank of rethinking reading pedagogy is to advance reading experience as a target, not a by-product of other aspects of ES L learning. Many important reading experiences occur in the context of instruction. Understanding how the readers’ behaviours and motivations are influenced by instruction, and how short- and long-term goals are defined by instruction, is crucial in any attempt to improve instruction for reading comprehension. Further efforts to determine both how and what readers comprehend could provide important directions for contemporary reading practices. Final revised version received September 2011 References Alderson, C. 2000. Assessing Reading. New York: Cambridge University Press. Broadfoot, P. 2007. An Introduction to Assessment. New York: Continuum. Cheng, L. and L. Gao. 2002. ‘Passage dependence in standardized reading comprehension: exploring the college English test’. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching 12: 163–78. Dressler, C. and M. Kamil. 2006. ‘First- and secondlanguage literacy’ in D. August and T. Shanahan (eds.). Developing Literacy in Second-language Learners. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Gao, L. and W. T. Rogers. 2011. ‘Use of tree-based regression in the analyses of L2 reading test items’. Language Testing 28/1: 77–104. Grabe, W. 2009. ‘Teaching and testing reading’ in M. H. Long and C. J. Doughty (eds.). The Handbook of Language Teaching. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Jewitt, C. 2005. ‘Multimodality, ‘‘reading’’, and ‘‘writing’’ for the 21st century’. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 26/3: 315–31. Kobayashi, M. 2002. ‘Method effects on reading comprehension test performance: text organization and response format’. Language Testing 19/2: 193–220.

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Pani, S. 2004. ‘Reading strategy instruction through mental modelling’. E LT Journal 58/4: 355–62. Sharp, A. 2003. Reading Comprehension and Text Organization. New York: Edwin Mellen Press. Song, M. 1998. ‘Teaching reading strategies in an ongoing E F L university reading classroom’. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching 8: 41–54. Swanson, H. L. and O. Jerman. 2007. ‘The influence of working memory on reading growth in subgroups of children with reading disabilities’. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 96/4: 249–83. Widdowson, H. G. 1998. ‘Context, community, and authentic language’. T E S O L Quarterly 32/4: 705–16. Zhang, L. J. 2010. ‘A dynamic metacognitive systems account of Chinese university students’ knowledge about E F L reading’. T E S O L Quarterly 44/2: 320–53. Zheng, Y., L. Cheng, and D. A. Klinger. 2007. ‘Do test formats in reading comprehension affect secondlanguage students’ test performance differently?’. TESL Canada Journal 25/1: 65–80.

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Conclusion

The authors Juliana Chau holds a PhD in language education and has published works in international journals on second language acquisition, technology-mediated learning, and socio-constructivist language learning. She has taught English as a second language in Australia and Hong Kong and is currently working at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, coordinating a language ePortfolio project, overseeing materials development for university students, and providing teacher training for secondary school teachers. Email: [email protected]

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Shari Lughmani is a Senior Lecturer in the English Language Centre, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and is responsible for the coordination work in the area of reading and writing. Having a background in English Literature and Applied Linguistics in the UK, Pakistan, and Hong Kong, she has taught Poetry, Drama, Novel, Discourse Analysis, and Phonetics to undergraduates and ELT trainees. Her research interests include reading and writing assessments, collaborative writing, and teacher and peer feedback. Email: [email protected]


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Winnie Wu is a Language Instructor at the English Language Centre of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She teaches both academic and workplace English. She holds an MA in translation and interpreting and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education in English language teaching (secondary). She has experience teaching both local Chinese, mainland Chinese, and ethnic minority students in Hong Kong. Email: [email protected]

Julia Chen is Associate Director and Senior Lecturer at the English Language Centre of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Deputy Chair of her Faculty’s Learning and Teaching Committee. She coordinates materials development and staff development in her Centre. Her research interests include L2 writing pedagogy, E SP, academic integrity, teacher training, and enhancing the secondary–tertiary interface. Email: [email protected]