This study examines the factors influencing language and script choice in instant messaging (IM), a form of real-time computer-mediated communication, in a multilingual setting. Grounded in the New Literacy Studies, the study understands IM as a social practice involving texts, encompassing a range of literacy practices, within which a subset called "text-making practices" is highlighted in this article. Drawing on results from an analysis of chat texts, interviews, and logbooks collected from 19 young people, the author suggests that the text-making practices related to language and writing system choice are guided by the perceived affordances of the IM technology and the available linguistic resources. Seven ecological factors influencing these perceptions have been identified: perceived expressiveness of the language, perceived functions of IM, user familiarity with the language, user identification with the language, technical constraints of inputting methods, speed, and perceived practicality of the writing system. The author argues that these factors often co-occur in real use.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the efficiency of the Hong Kong hospitalisation system based on hospitalisation days.DesignRetrospective study.SettingHospitalisation data (2000–2010) for all government-funded hospitals in Hong Kong.PopulationHospitalisation data for the entire Hong Kong population (7.0 million in 2011).MethodsA decomposition method was used to determine the effects on total hospitalisation days during the period 2000–2010 of the following three factors: (i) hospitalisation rate per person; (ii) the number of visits per patient; and (iii) the mean duration of stay per visit.Main outcome measuresThe decomposition method provides empirical measures of how the three factors contributed to the change in total hospitalisation days during the period 2000–2010 and identifies the most effective way to contain increases in hospitalisation days.ResultsThe results of decomposition analysis show that the decrease in mean duration of stay per visit (reducing from 6.83 to 4.58 days) is the most important factor in the reduction in the total number of hospitalisation days, despite increases in total population size (from 6.7 to 7.0 million), the number of individual hospital admissions (from 583 000 to 664 000) and the number of episodes (from 1.2 to 1.4 million) from 2000 to 2010. Hospitalisation days per person decreased from 1.18 in 2000 to 0.93 in 2010. The decline in the mean duration of stay per visit contributed 200.6% to this reduction but was offset by −51.1% due to a slight growth in the number of visits per patient and by −49.4% as a result of changed hospitalisation rates per person.ConclusionsBetter management of the duration of stay of per visit without compromising patient satisfaction levels or the quality of service is the most important factor for controlling increases in health expenditure in Hong Kong.