FEHD Research

Standing at the forefront of research into education and psychology, the Faculty of Education and Human Development (FEHD) is the leading provider of educational courses and research at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). We conduct high-quality research that addresses educational, social, and policy issues of global significance.

Article of the Month

Discover this month’s featured article, showcasing cutting-edge research and impactful ideas from our Faculty’s experts across disciplines.

September 2026

Beyond the Shadow: How Hong Kong Students Navigate English Private Tutoring

English private tutoring (EPT) has become a global phenomenon, especially in high-stakes, exam-oriented education systems such as Hong Kong. Often described as “shadow education”, private tutoring follows and supplements what students learn in mainstream schools. In Hong Kong, where English is crucial for university admission and future careers, more than two-thirds of secondary school students reportedly receive private tutoring.

While much research has examined cram schools, star tutors, and inequality, less attention has been paid to learners’ own experiences. Are students passive consumers of exam tips, or do they actively make strategic choices in this commercialised system?

This question lies at the heart of the work of Dr Kevin Wai Ho Yung, Associate Professor at The Education University of Hong Kong. His studies on EPT, learner agency, and motivation show how Hong Kong students navigate schooling, tutoring, family expectations, examination pressure, and personal aspirations.

Learner Agency in Online Shadow Education

In his article, “Theorizing Agency from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective: Evidence from Language Learner Narratives in Online Shadow Education,” Dr Yung examines how students exercise agency in online EPT. Grounded in Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST), the study views learner agency not as a fixed personal trait, but as something that develops over time through interaction with changing environments.

The year-long longitudinal narrative inquiry involved students enrolled in EPT at large tutorial companies in Hong Kong. From a project involving 19 students from four large tutorial companies, the article focuses on three senior secondary learners: Alice, Joey, and Tim (pseudonyms). Data was collected through in-depth interviews, reflective writing, learning materials, and supplementary interviews with tutors, schoolteachers, and parents.

This narrative approach allowed the study to move beyond one-time snapshots of student behaviour. Instead, it captured how learners’ decisions, confidence, motivation, and learning strategies shifted across time, particularly during the move between face-to-face and online learning.

Agency as Dynamic, Contextual, and Emergent

A central finding is that learner agency is dynamic and emergent. Students did not simply follow what tutors or teachers told them to do. They made decisions according to their needs, goals, learning conditions, and available resources.

Alice appreciated online tutoring because recorded lessons allowed her to pause, replay, speed up, or skip sections of the video. This gave her greater control over her learning pace. She could spend more time on difficult vocabulary, copy useful notes, and bypass parts she found less relevant.

Joey’s case illustrates another form of agency. Initially resistant to private tutoring, she decided to enrol after feeling that online schooling was not helping her make sufficient progress in English. She became aware of her lack of self-discipline at home and saw tutoring as a way to maintain a sense of continuous learning.

Tim’s experience shows that agency can also involve withdrawal. After finding that online tutoring did not fully match his school curriculum and that feedback on writing became delayed, he chose to quit EPT. Instead, he turned to workbooks, mock papers, fiction reading, and feedback from his father. His decision shows that agency is not always about doing more; sometimes it means choosing a more suitable learning path.

Learning across Home, School, and Online Spaces

The study also highlights the ecological nature of learner agency. Students’ decisions were shaped by interconnected environments: school, tutorial centres, home, online platforms, and family networks.

When tutoring moved online, physical learning spaces became especially important. Alice found her home too noisy and chose to study in the library. Tim created a focused learning space by putting his phone away. Joey, however, struggled to concentrate when studying near her bed and found it easy to pause or delay recorded lessons. These examples show that online learning is not only about digital access. It is also shaped by space, routine, discipline, and family circumstances.

Agency was also relational. Students’ choices were influenced by tutors, schoolteachers, parents, peers, and social media interactions. Some students felt they had little power to influence school teaching, but saw platforms such as Instagram or WhatsApp as possible channels for communicating with tutors

Motivation: From Exam Pressure to Future Selves

Dr Yung’s broader research also examines how EPT shapes students’ motivation and language learner identities. In another major study, “Narratives of English Language Learners in Private Tutoring: An L2 Motivational Self Perspective,” he investigated the experiences of 18 Secondary 6 students attending large lecture-style English tutoring classes.

Using the L2 Motivational Self System, the study explored two dimensions of motivation: the ought-to L2 self and the ideal L2 self. The ought-to self refers to learning English because of external expectations, such as parental pressure, examination requirements, university admission, or career demands. The ideal self refers to a learner’s personal vision of becoming a confident English user.

Dr Yung found that EPT largely strengthens students’ ought-to selves. Many learners attended tutoring to improve examination results and future prospects. In Hong Kong’s competitive education system, English is often seen as a gatekeeping subject, and tutoring reinforces this instrumental view.

However, the research also shows that EPT does not only produce examination-driven motivation. Under certain conditions, such as engaging teaching, supportive tutor-student relationships, humour, and inspiring classroom experiences, tutoring can also stimulate students’ ideal L2 selves. Some students began to imagine themselves as more fluent and confident English users beyond examination success.

Supporting Independent and Confident Learners

Dr Yung’s studies offer important implications for teachers, tutors, and policymakers. Students need more than examination tips and model answers; they need support in becoming self-regulated learners. Teachers and tutors can help by guiding students to set realistic goals, manage time, evaluate learning materials, monitor progress, and reflect on effective strategies.

Educators should also give learners meaningful choices, such as selecting suitable tasks, adjusting their learning pace, and asking questions. Such opportunities can strengthen students’ sense of ownership, especially in online learning, where flexibility can support agency but may also lead to procrastination.

Interaction and feedback are equally important. While recorded lessons may be efficient, they cannot fully replace dialogue, clarification, encouragement, and timely responses. Online tutoring should therefore provide more opportunities for student-tutor and peer interaction.

For policymakers, the research highlights the pressure created by high-stakes examinations. If English is treated mainly as a testing subject, students may develop narrow motivations. Language assessment should align more closely with communicative competence, curriculum goals, and real-life needs.

Overall, Dr Yung’s research shows that EPT is closely connected to students’ routines, anxieties, family expectations, future aspirations, and identities as English learners. By understanding learner agency and motivation, educators and policymakers can help students learn English with greater confidence, purpose, and control.

This research, titled “Theorizing Agency from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective: Evidence from Language Learner Narratives in Online Shadow Education,” is partially supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. EdUHK 18609821).
To learn more about the studies, please visit: