This Element discusses the complexity of metalinguistic awareness (i.e., phonological, orthographic, and morphological) and provides a thorough account of its impact on second language (L2) reading development. In particular, it underscores various factors regulating the influence of first language (L1) metalinguistic awareness on L2 reading. It presents the most comprehensive meta-analysis of inter-lingual correlation coefficients between L1 and L2 metalinguistic awareness on the one hand and those between L1 metalinguistic awareness and L2 reading on the other. This Element is the first to systematically investigate the roles of distinct facets of metalinguistic awareness in L2 reading.

This book is an academic work on the history of education in Macao, covering the period from the late Qing Dynasty to the post-handover era. It explores the development of the region’s educational system and highlights key historical shifts. The author begins with the education of the Chinese and Portuguese communities during the late Qing Dynasty. The text details initiatives by the Chinese community, including the establishment of schools, the oversight of private schools, and the organization of student-led patriotic activities. The narrative then shifts to the extracurricular dimensions of modern education, particularly the activities of the Boy Scouts and YMCA, emphasizing their educational values. Using extracurricular engagement as a lens, the author chronicles the histories of two patriotic schools—Pui Ching and Kwong Tai—both of which maintained strong educational missions despite challenging circumstances. Special attention is given to Pui Ching’s principal, Kuang Bingren, whose lifelong dedication to education and moral integrity are praised. Additionally, the Tung Sin Tong Charitable School is highlighted as a model for providing free education to the public. Other chapters examine the development of normal education, the cultivation of Chinese language teachers, and the research on educational history in Macao from the transition period to the post-handover era. These discussions reflect the reforms in Macao’s education sector and highlight the various contributions made by the Macao SAR Government to the region’s educational development.

This article reports the first meta-analytic Structural Equation Modeling study that examined the within- and cross-language relations of three metalinguistic awareness skills (orthographic, phonological, and morphological awareness, or OA, PA, and MA) with word reading among school-aged dual language learners (DLLs) of English. Based on 156 primary studies (N = 23,371), we found that (1) OA, PA, and MA each uniquely predicted word reading within first language (L1) and second language (L2); (2) L1 OA, PA, and MA predicted their corresponding skill in L2, showing a construct-level transfer facilitation effect; (3) for cross-over transfer, L1 PA, as opposed to L1 OA and MA, predicted L2 word reading, but their indirect effects on L2 word reading were all significant. Moderator analysis was conducted on L1 background (Chinese vs. non-Chinese); L2 learning context (ESL vs. EFL); and developmental stage (younger vs. older). We discuss the transfer facilitation effects of L1 metalinguistic awareness skills that can be leveraged for effective and differentiated instruction for DLLs.

This is the first article the Faculty of Education has ever published in the journal, which is a prestigious, flagship journal of the American Educational Research Association and also a Category A journal defined by FED.

Guided by Grolig (2020)’s bioecological perspective, this study examined the effects of a shared book reading intervention for ethnic minority kindergarteners learning Chinese as a second language (L2) in Hong Kong. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 365 kindergarteners across three groups: an experimental group of L2 Chinese children receiving an 8-week intervention, and two control groups (L2 and L1 Chinese children) receiving regular instruction. Four major findings emerged: (1) The experimental group showed significant improvement in L2 Chinese reading subskills. (2) Low and mid-level L2 learners gained more from the intervention than high-level learners initially. (3) High-level L2 learners performed comparably to L1 peers in post-test Chinese metalinguistic awareness. (4) L2 children’s reading proficiency was influenced by home literacy environment factors, including father’s education, parents’ Chinese proficiency, and number of books at home.