Two successful non-English-major EFL learners at Beijing Normal University took part in a think-aloud and an interview session, respectively, on how they handle...

This article reports on the updating and validation of a questionnaire for vocabulary learning strategies. An English as a second language (ESL) version of the Vocabulary Learning Questionnaire (VLQ), first published in Gu and Johnson (1996), was created based on its latest version. Two response formats were piloted, that is, a paper version with a 7-point Likert scale and an online version with a 100-point slider bar. A series of validation procedures resulted in a 62-item instrument which was then administered online among 682 English language learners at the tertiary level in China. The paper presents evidence of content validity, construct validity, internal consistency reliability, and predictive validity. It also provides suggestions for interpreting and using the questionnaire for both research and instructional purposes.

To date, very few empirical studies can be found on primary, especially lower primary school pupils’ use of language learner strategies. The few studies that exist often employ research techniques such as questionnaires and think-aloud protocols as studies on adults do. However, we know very little whether the research methods commonly used with adult learners can be applied to lower primary school pupils (grades 1–3). Practically no published study in this area reports the problems associated with eliciting language learner strategy data from children. In addition, not much is known about whether children as young as primary one can be differentiated in terms of learner strategies they use in completing language tasks. This paper shares the problems that we encountered in eliciting strategies from lower primary school pupils in Singapore and presents some preliminary findings on these learners’ use of language learner strategies.

The Chinese authorities have spelt out their educational vision in a series of documents and provided explicit guidelines in terms of curriculum and assessment. How are these policy visions and curriculum standards translated into the classroom practices of the teacher? This paper tries to answer this question by looking into one teacher’s instruction and assessment practices in one unit of teaching. Interviews of an experienced teacher and video recordings of one unit of her teaching at a school in Beijing provide insights into the dynamics of classroom teaching and assessment in relation to curriculum and textbooks in the Chinese context. Findings suggest that textbooks provide the backbone of the what; teaching experience guides the how; high-stakes examinations define the what and the how; and curriculum standards become the garnish only. Discussion emphasises the importance of communication in curriculum implementation. Teacher assessment literacy is seen as another crucial factor in assessment reform.