Amongst the conclusions that can be drawn from this study is that Chinese learners do
participate in undergraduate classroom discussion. In this respect the study supports
the conclusions of Kember (2000), Kennedy (2002) and Lee (1999). However this
paper extends their analysis by offering insights from the undergraduate classroom to
show how such participation occurs in locally situated settings. As a result, classroom
roles, resources and perceptions were identified that may have been responsible for
enabling learners’ oral participation within these settings. These understandings could
be of value in promoting students’ oral participation in those undergraduate
classrooms in Hong Kong which have been traditionally dominated by a transmission
mode of delivery. Further, because the problem of learner reticence in the classroom
is thought be common in education settings throughout Asia (Jackson, 2002; Kim,
2006), the results and recommendations made in this paper should be of interest to
teachers and students in other EMI tertiary institutions within the Asian region. More
research however is needed to determine how classroom roles, resources and
perceptions about oral participation in different educational settings enable and
constrain learners’ participation in classroom discussion. In particular, there is a need
for classroom research to assist in contextualizing what learners and instructors report
in questionnaires and interviews. The results could play an important role in reducing
the gap between the stated language policies of different EMI tertiary institutions
within Asia and the realities of student participation in classroom discussion.