Factors affecting classroom implementation: Task-based curriculum renewal in Hong Kong

The need to innovate，in order to keep up with the rapidly changing demands of the contemporary world，is a fundamental feature of postmodern society. English Language Teaching (ELT)，like other spheres of education，continues to involve much innovative activity，although in practice numerous attempts to maximize pupil learning outcomes have often failed to produce substantial improvement or sustainable change. The management of change in ELT is a complex，poorly understood，and underresearched issue，although one that is attracting increasing attention in recent years，for example，Markee (1997) and Stoller (1994). Markee (1993，1997) has argued that in ELT there has been too much emphasis on curriculum development at the expense of curriculum implementation--how a curriculum or syllabus is carried out in practice in the classroom. It goes without saying that many innovations are adopted in name but not actually ever implemented at the classroom level. This article aims to contribute to a greater emphasis on such issues through its primary focus on the main factors affecting the implementation of innovations，derived from a review of the literature in ELT and general education. A secondary focus of the article will be to apply the factors briefly to the Target-Oriented Curriculum (TOC)，a task-based innovation currently being introduced in Hong Kong primary schools. In this way，the paper attempts to combine an analysis of the factors and their application with respect to a specific case. Copyright © 1999 Rowman & Littlefield Education.