使用英語作為國際交流語言的情況大幅增加，同時以英語作為外語（EFL）教授幼兒的情況在世界各地有上升的趨勢。可是EFL幼兒正處於兩難的局面，他們接觸英文的機會有限，而且認知未發展成熟。在幼兒英語教學上，以亞洲為背景的研究文獻十分短缺。本論文以三間幼稚園的老師為個案研究對象，並評估其英語教學條件，透過老師訪談和課堂觀察來收集資料。本研究發現教學條件的限制可能導致注重結果的教學及幼兒在學習英語時較少的參與。研究亦提到注重結果的教學己偏離課程指引的原意。香港和其他亞洲城市在EFL環境中教授英語所面臨的挑戰是未來研究和討論的重點。

The use of English as the language of international communication has increased dramatically and this has been accompanied by a growing trend for the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) to young learners all over the world. However, young EFL learners are doubly disadvantaged because of their relatively limited exposure to English as well as their cognitive immaturity. Given that there is a dearth of research-based evidence documenting the teaching and learning of a foreign language by young learners in Asian contexts, this paper draws upon a multiple case study of three Hong Kong kindergarten teachers and examines the pedagogic conditions within which the teaching of English took place. Data were collected through teacher interviews and classroom observations. Constraints and limitations in pedagogical conditions were identified and these were felt to contribute to both a product-oriented pedagogy and relatively low levels of children's engagement in learning English. The product-oriented pedagogy was also recognized for having digressed from the rhetoric of the curriculum guidelines. Challenges facing Hong Kong and its Asian counterparts in teaching English in an EFL setting are highlighted for further research and discussion.