Purpose: Vocational education in Hong Kong suffers from an image problem. Stakeholders often perceive it as a second-best option for those who fail to advance in academic education. In 2016, to promote vocational education, the Hong Kong government launched a publicity campaign and rebranded vocational education and training (VET) as vocational…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer direct tests of the effectiveness of renaming vocational education and training (VET) in enhancing the image and popularity of the subject. Although many proponents of renaming argue that the word "vocational" is associated with lower levels of skills and knowledge and should therefore be…

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study on a group of mainland Chinese students' multilingual experiences during their cross-border studies in a Hong Kong university from a language ideological perspective. Drawing on in-depth interviews as the primary dataset, the study investigated the language ideologies held by the participants…

While many career development theories (e.g., Gottfredson, in: Brown SD, Lent RW (eds), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work, Wiley, Hoboken, 2005) posit that occupational perceptions are fundamental for understanding youngsters' career aspirations, research relating school students' perceptions of engineers and…

The impact of social group information on the learning and socializing preferences of Hong Kong Chinese children were examined. Specifically, the degree to which variability in racial out-group exposure affects children's use of race to make decisions about unfamiliar individuals (Chinese, White, Southeast Asian) was investigated. Participants…

Emerging research suggests that adolescents at high-achieving schools (HAS) in Western societies are at elevated risk for problem behaviours. This cross-sectional study explored whether adolescents attending HAS in a non-Western setting show similar risk patterns and if contextual (school-, family-, and peer-based) factors typically associated…

This study explores 16 non-native English teachers' beliefs and practices about pronunciation teaching in Hong Kong. Drawing on data from the teachers' written reflections and follow-up interviews, the findings suggest that these non-native English teachers understood the importance and goal of pronunciation teaching but appeared unconfident and…

In recent times, international research students from China have become a substantial demographic because aside from the revenue they bring to host countries, they are valued for their research contributions. To understand how to attract and support them, this article investigated the influences on the educational and post-graduation occupational…

This exploratory study involved a structured group-games intervention to develop first-grade students' social competence. The effects were evaluated by assessing possible outcomes for the children's social status. A sample of 119 first-grade, mixed-ability students from a Hong Kong primary school participated in the sessions (63 boys, 56 girls:…

How are elite schools caught up in the changing processes of globalisation? Is globalisation a new phenomenon for them? This paper focuses on the globalising practices that selected elite schools adopt. It also explores how globalisation is impacting on the social purposes of elite schools, which conventionally have been to serve privileged social…

Disadvantaged students increasingly confront ruthless competition for higher education degrees, while losing out on opportunities for social mobility. Some of Hong Kong's low-income households defy the trend: families take on risk, including considerable debt, to send their offspring abroad, rather than test their chances at home by dealing with…

This study explores the writing of Wikipedia articles as a form of authentic writing for learners of English in Hong Kong. Adopting "Second Language Socialization and Language Learning & Identity" approaches to language learning inquiry, it responds to an identified shortage of research on computer-mediated language socialization.…

This article investigates the language attitudes, language practices and identity construction of a group of ethnic minority students in a secondary school in Hong Kong. Drawing on data from focus group and individual interviews, this research shows that the ethnic minority students negotiate and contest their heritage identity by utilizing their…

This study attempted to validate distinctions between popularity and social acceptance in the cultural context of Hong Kong. We recruited 280 Chinese children (132 girls, 148 boys, mean age = 9.5) from Hong Kong primary schools. These children completed a peer nomination inventory assessing popularity, social acceptance, social rejection,…

This paper examines the role of specific and place-based social capital in the recognition and evaluation of international credentials. Whilst research on labour market segmentation has contributed towards an understanding of the spatial variability of the value of human capital, very little attention has been paid to the ways in which the…