Dr FONG, Ka Man Yasmin
方家雯 博士
Post-doctoral Fellow
Department of Early Childhood Education
Contact
ORCiD
0000-0002-4643-1258
Phone
(852) 2948 6796
Fax
(852) 2948 7160
Email
ykmfong@eduhk.hk
Address
10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong
Career Overview

The Education University of Hong Kong
Post-doctoral Fellow
Date :08/2023- Present
Research Outputs
Journal Publications
Nikkola, T., Kangas, J., Fong, Y., & Reunamo, J. (2022). Children’s Social Orientations as Creative Processes in Early Childhood Education and Care. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 11(1), 297-312. https://journal.fi/jecer/article/view/114020

Conference Papers
Ng, C.W., Xiang, J., Fong, Y., Lee, K., & Lau, Y.H. (2025, June). Hong Kong children’s temperament and math performance: The mediating effect of working memory and self-regulation. 2025 Conference of The Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society, Hong Kong.
Ng, V., Fong, Y., Lee, K., & Lau, Y.H (2025, June). Preschoolers’ parental involvement and math competence: The moderating role of working memory. The Conference for Research in Early Childhood Education, Hong Kong.
Xiang, J., Ng, C.W., Fong, Y., Baustista, A., Sun, J., Cheung, S.K., Siu, T.S.C., & Lee, K. (2025, June). Pathways to math patterning in Hong Kong kindergartners: Relations among working memory, non-symbolic magnitude comparison, and visual-spatial skills. 2025 Conference of The Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society, Hong Kong.
Fong, Y., Ng, V.C.W., Lee, K., Bautista, A., & Sun, J. (2025, January). Quality in Hong Kong kindergarten classrooms: Preliminary findings in patterns of teacher-child interactions. The PECERA-HK Young Scholars Conference 2024-2025, Hong Kong, China.
Fong, Y., & Ko, J. (2024, June). Enhancing creative thinking in kindergarten children: Exploring the impact of teaching instructions, visual art activities, and social contacts. The International Conference of Research in Early Childhood Education and Development: Ecologies for Development and Learning: Supporting Children to Reach Their Full Potential, Hong Kong.
Li, E.S., Chen, R.T., Fong, Y., Zhang, D., Lee, K., Cheung, S.K., & Lin, D. (2024, June). Exploring the domain-specific relations between Chinese language abilities and Mathematical skills in Hong Kong kindergarten children. The International Conference of Research in Early Childhood Education and Development: Ecologies for Development and Learning: Supporting Children to Reach Their Full Potential, Hong Kong.
Ng, V., Fong, Y., Lee, K., & Sun, J. (2024, June). Different roles of local parenting practices in household financial strains and children’s cognitive performance. The International Conference of Research in Early Childhood Education and Development: Ecologies for Development and Learning: Supporting Children to Reach Their Full Potential, Hong Kong, China.
Xiang, J., Ng, V., Fong, Y., Lee, K., Cheung, S.K., & Sun, J. (2024, June). Young children’s math competence in Hong Kong: The influence of working memory, self-regulation, and family socio-economic status. The International Conference of Research in Early Childhood Education and Development: Ecologies for Development and Learning: Supporting Children to Reach Their Full Potential, Hong Kong, China.
Fong, Y., Ko, J., & Sun, J. (2023, August). How to understand creative thinking in kindergarten children from teacher-child interactions. The European Association for Research on Learning & Instruction 2023: Education as a Hope in Uncertain Times, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Fong, Y., Wu, E., Ko, J., Sun, J., & Sammons, P. (2022, January). ) How do inequalities exist at the Starting Line?: Baseline Differences in Pre-Academic Readiness of Children at the Kindergarten Entry. International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement: Back to the Future? Problems and Possibilities for Educational Equity, Quality and Sustainability, (virtual), Austrailia.
Fong, Y. (2021, September). Enhancement of Creative and Visual Thinking in Young Children: What Role Does Teaching Instructions Play?. Paper presented at the European Education Research Association (EERA) 2021, Geneva, Switzerland. https://eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/26/contribution/50876/
Cheng, D.P.W., Fong, Y., & Reunamo, J. (2019, August). The role and impact of School Sponsoring Body in Hong Kong kindergartens. The European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction Conference: Thinking Tomorrow's Education: Learning from the past, in the present and for the future., Aachen, Germany.
Ko, J., Fong, Y., & Xie, Q.Q. A. (2019, August). Effective and inspiring teaching in math and science classrooms: Evidence from systematic classroom observation and implications on STEM education. The World Education Research Association 2019 Focal Meeting: Future of Democracy and Education: Realising Equity and Social Justice Worldwide, Tokyo.


Projects
Dialogic Reading Strategies in the Early Childhood Classroom: Cross-cultural comparison between Hong Kong and England
Dialogic reading (DR) is an interactive, evidence-based approach to shared book reading that
promotes children’s language development through scaffolded adult-child dialogue, aligning with
Vygotsky’s (1978) social constructivist framework. While extensive research supports DR’s
efficacy (Whitehurst et al., 1988; Wasik et al., 2016), there are limited examinations on how early
childhood teachers organically incorporate DR strategies into classroom storybook sessions. This
cross-cultural observational study investigates teacher-child dialogic reading interactions by
analyzing how educators employ key DR strategies (e.g., open-ended questions, expansions,
prompts for evaluation).
Using a specifically designed DR coding scheme (developed by Durham University), we will
compare teachers’ strategy use, interaction duration, utterance frequency, and scaffolding
techniques (e.g., contingent feedback). The study will assess cultural variations and shared
practices in DR implementation through systematic video analyses of classroom sessions. Findings
will highlight contextually effective strategies for fostering children’s pre-literacy, offering insights
for teacher training programmes in multilingual (Hong Kong) and predominantly monolingual
(England) settings. Additionally, results may inform curriculum adaptations and innovative
artificial intelligence integration to optimize DR’s pedagogical impact in classrooms. Furthermore,
findings may equip policymakers and education governing bodies with evidence-based insights to
refine early literacy curricula and strategically allocate resources for dialogic reading initiatives.


Project Start Year: 2025, Principal Investigator(s): LAU, Yi Hung, Eva, FONG, Ka Man, Yasmin
SDGs Information: 4 - Quality Education