Worthwhile objects of learning & exploitation of variation in a secondary school foreign language learning study

This paper reports an English Learning Study at Secondary 1 level, which attempted to address a fundamental problem for English teaching/learning in Hong Kong – English proficiency development rather than stagnation. The presentation focuses on the group’s process of identifying a worthwhile object of learning, and on student output data. The evaluation of processes raises some fundamental issues in planning for English proficiency development in a context where high levels of English proficiency are demanded. The findings from student output illustrate some successful exploitation of the ‘Theory of Variation’, which enriches recent contributions to applied linguistics, such as ‘languaging’ and ‘consciousness-raising’.