Kevin Wai Ho Yung

English private tutoring (EPT) has become a major site of English learning for students in many examination‐oriented societies, yet world Englishes scholarship has rarely looked inside shadow education. This article compares how the same learners reason about their preferences for so‐called native and non‐native English‐speaking teachers (NESTs and NNESTs) across two coexisting educational contexts: mainstream schooling and EPT. Drawing on focus‐group interviews with 64 senior secondary students from 16 tutorial schools in Hong Kong, the study finds a relatively balanced orientation in mainstream schooling, where students value NESTs for immersion and prestige and NNESTs for Cantonese‐mediated comprehension and empathy. However, there is a pronounced preference for locally experienced NNESTs in EPT, where the decisive criterion shifts from nativeness to demonstrable command of the local examination. A telling case is a NEST chosen because he had himself sat and excelled in the public examination, suggesting that what learners prize is contextual, examination‐specific expertise rather than nativeness as such. Reading these patterns through a world Englishes lens, the article argues that shadow education is a revealing site in which the native‐speaker ideal is reshaped by examination capital, and that learners’ situated reasoning is more nuanced than the native/non‐native binary implies. The study contributes a comparative, learner‐side account of teacher preferences and brings the under‐explored context of shadow education into the purview of world Englishes.

This chapter theoretically investigates the role of second language (L2) selves in the motivation of English learners in private tutoring settings. It first discusses how L2 selves can be conceptualised, explaining its relevance to individual and cultural factors and its connection to language learning motivation. It then discusses the interplay between the L2 self and various contextual factors, including the educational environment, social influences, and cultural aspects. The chapter also focuses on the psychological aspects of the L2 self, examining its psychological underpinnings and explaining how it can be understood through multiple theories such as possible selves theory, self-discrepancy theory, and self-determination theory. The chapter then explores the L2 Motivational Self System, a key framework for understanding L2 motivation, encompassing the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self, and the L2 learning experience. Based on the discussion, the chapter presents a theoretical framework to understand English language learners' L2 motivational selves in the private tutoring context.

Based on the understanding of the 18 second language (L2) learners' English learning histories, this chapter “zooms in” on their English learning processes in private tutoring in their final year of secondary schooling. It first focuses on the learners' decision-making processes regarding their choices of tutorial courses, types of tutoring, modes of the class, costs of the tutorial courses, and reasons for continuous enrolment. The chapter then describes the learners' experiences in English private tutoring regarding their learning processes and learning motivation, from the beginning of the academic year to the period they finished their tutorial courses and were preparing for the high-stakes university entrance examination. Their learners' learning processes and motivation respectively represent the cognitive and affective dimensions regarding their use of language learning strategies. The chapter then highlights key issues emerging from their described experiences and discusses them through the perspectives of the English learners' multiple L2 motivational selves.

Following up on the learners' private tutoring experiences in the previous chapter, this chapter turns to explicate their reflections in two dimensions. In the temporal dimension, it illustrates the learners' variations of attitudes towards English private tutoring (EPT) at various stages throughout the year in different aspects, such as the usefulness of teaching and learning content and their perceptions of examination success and failure. The chapter then examines the learners' reflections in the contextual dimension. The participants made sense of the role of EPT with reference to a wider context such as mainstream schooling and sociocultural environment in which they were situated. The chapter concludes with a conceptualisation of the learners' reflections and unpacks the role of EPT in actualising their future second language (L2) selves.

This chapter offers a comprehensive conclusion to the book by restating the key findings and their relevance to the field of second language (L2) learning and shadow education, particularly focusing on the motivational aspect of learning English through private tutoring. It begins with a brief introduction, followed by a summary of the L2 motivational selves of learners in English private tutoring. The findings are theorised from the L2 motivational self perspective and an overall conceptualisation of the learners' English learning experiences in private tutoring is illustrated. The chapter then discusses the implications of the findings for mainstream education. By shedding light on the role of private tutoring in shaping learners' L2 motivational selves, this chapter highlights the need for schools and educators to take these factors into account when designing curricula and teaching strategies. Moreover, the chapter underscores the importance of recognising the potential influence of shadow education on students' L2 motivation and overall learning outcomes. How this book contributes to the existing literature on L2 motivation, private tutoring, and L2 acquisition is also discussed. After addressing the limitations of the study and offering directions for further research, the chapter concludes with an epilogue, reflecting on the author's personal journey throughout the research process and emphasising the significance of the findings for educators in applied linguistics and beyond.

This chapter brings the reader to the second language (L2) learners' world through the narratives of their English learning journey. It presents the narrated lived experiences of 18 L2 learners of English from Hong Kong who received English private tutoring at various stages of their lives. The chapter first provides an overview of the L2 learners' biographical and educational background including genders, medium of instruction in their secondary schools, and English language proficiency at the senior secondary learning stage. It then shows the learners' individual stories, reporting their recollections of English learning experiences through narratives from as early as they could remember to the time they joined the study. The narratives of the 18 learners are presented in three sections based on their English language proficiency—high, medium, and low. The chapter concludes with an overall observation of these learners' English learning experiences and motivations at different learning stages, which prepare for more in-depth and theoretical discussion in the following chapter.