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Evidence from the Case Studies.... ________ _____________________

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There is limited direct evidence in the Case Study data to suggest that the NETs concerned had successfully assisted in school-based teacher development. Two instances, from three out of seven schools can be found.

DIRECT EVIDENCE

NETs engage in team teaching with local teachers

In two schools, one practical school (SG) and one primary school (PB), the NET engaged in team teaching with colleagues. It should be noted that the examples of team teaching observed by our field workers, however, could not be considered exemplary practices. One is discussed in the Technical Report, (Section 73.2.4 B) as non-optimal use of the NET.

NETs provide professional development workshops for local teachers

In one primary school, the NET provided informal staff development sessions for local English teachers on the teaching of creative writing.

INDIRECT EVIDENCE

Teacher development through modelling good practice

While there is limited evidence of the collaboration between NETs and locals which would suggest that they had contributed directly to school based teacher development, there is indirect evidence in the Case Study data of NETs contributing to the development of teaching and learning in the school in ways which would impact on local English teachers.

Distinct roles of NETs and Local Teachers with possibilities for cross-fertilisation

It is clear from the data that both local teachers and NETs recognise that each party has distinct roles to play. Examples of these distinct roles have been listed in addressing Research Question

1 and Objective L

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NETs introduce different approaches and orientations which may provide a model of good practice to local teachers

Numerous examples of the contributions which NETs have made, arising from their distinctive roles, are also mentioned above in addressing Research Question 1 and Objective 1. Among these are examples of approaches which may be innovative in the Hong Kong context.

Successful examples of such approaches may provide fresh stimulus for local teachers and give them some impetus to try out these approaches in their own classes* Such approaches might include, for example, introducing drama and creative writing; running the English Comer;

using free writing, newspaper reading and text-based exercises; increasing opportunities to use English for socialisation purposes; emphasising positive affect in communication; placing higher expectations on students; avoiding exam-orientation; focussing on production; avoiding LI use in class; developing autonomy; encouraging -ease of natural communication; and helping students enact different L2 social roles.

NETs appreciate support of other teachers

One NET teacher claimed to have experienced a lack of sense of belonging in the school due to cultural alienation. Another NET experienced interpersonal disharmonies in the workplace. On the other hand, the majority of NETs expressed their appreciation for the support they received from the administration and from other teachers.

COUNTER EVIDENCE

There is evidence in the Case Study data that some reorientation of the implementation of the scheme would be required to enable the second objective to be more completely achieved.

NET and local teacher roles are distinct and separate

There is evidence of conceptualisations from principals and teachers that the NETs play a role which is distinct and separate from that of the local teacher, with the implication that cross-fertilisation would not be deemed useful or necessary. The principal of (PB), for example thought that local English teachers would have difficulty in matching the NETs contributions because no matter how hard they tried, they were constrained by their forma: English learning experience which tended to be traditional and conservative.

Exam skills vs. "fun and games"

There is indirect evidence of lack of cross-fertilisation between local teachers and NETs in the comments of senior form students. One of the distinct roles of the local teachers which is especially valued by senior form students is an exam orientation in their teaching. Students complained that one NET felled to teach exam skills. Other students were strongly resentful at having a NET in their examination year. This serais to suggest that NETs and locals have different views on the best way to prepare students for public examinations and we saw no evidence of attempts to resolve these differences.

Cantonese for clarification vs. Monolingual English

Another clear example provided by students of a serious dichotomy in approaches adopted by local teachers and NETs lies in the use of Chinese in the English lessons. Low to medium ability students express a preference for a local teacher, who can explain concepts to them in Cantonese and of whom they can ask questions in Cantonese, over a monolingual NET, This would represent a sharp difference in teaching philosophy, and we have no evidence of any attempts to resolve or rationalise the differences.

Local teacher as counsellor, advisor, motivator

In a recorded lesson in which the local teacher is teaching, it is evident that the local teacher plays the additional roles of counsellor, advisor, motivator, appealing to LI cultural norms to urge the students to pay attention and do the work in class. Since the students in this school (SG) (a practical school) have serious motivation and learning attitude problems and their L2 proficiency is very low, this kind of role needs to be performed in Cantonese and may be effective in motivating and facilitating learning among these low ability students.

"Differential treatment"

Many primary and secondary teachers said that they were burdened with administrative duties, which the NETs did not need to take up, and- therefore had no time and energy to explore innovative ideas in teaching. It seems that this is seen as a form of "differential treatment" and is a source of grievance which may be a stumbling block in the way of more effective collaboration.

"Unfair" class allocation

Two panel chairs (SD, SF) from medium to low ability schools in our sample expressed concerns about fairness in class allocation. In order to avoid the discipline problems NETs have when teaching poorly motivated low ability students, measures were taken to assign them the relatively better classes. Even though most local teachers interviewed agreed in principle that weak students would not benefit from NET teaching as well as the better students, the allocation of only good classes to the NET was commented upon as a possible bone of contention if it were done on a long-term basis as most teachers would gain less satisfaction or enjoyment from teaching low ability and poorly behaved students.

School effect on the NET

There is evidence from the Case Study of a reverse NET effect which consisted of NETs being influenced by the prevailing culture of the school. This influence was felt in the form of realisation that the best way to handle unacceptable situations in the classroom may be to adopt practices which may conflict with teachers' beliefs and philosophy of teaching but were nevertheless effective. Examples include the NET in SC who reported how she found students in her schools were used to fear and punishment as a motivator to good behaviour and she could only conform to this culture to avoid having a hard time. The NET in SF also admitted that due to large class size and the poor discipline of some students, she very often had to get through the lessons with activities that only generated highly teacher-controlled language production from flie students.

Curriculum development done by NETs in isolation rather than by the Panel in collaboration

Concerns about the lack of curriculum support are expressed by some NETs, particularly those who do not want to depend on prescribed textbooks and worksheets for planning their lessons.

These teachers generally experienced this from the school or from the Education Department.

NET interview data shows a general complaint about the lack of available teaching materials and they feel that they are left on their own to find/design suitable materials, tasks and activities for their classes,

Piecemeal nature of lesson planning

The lack of provision of long-term curriculum resources and planning shows in the piecemeal nature of the lesson planning of some of the case study NETs; e.g., an apparent lack of

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recycling and building up of lesson content reflecting longer term objectives; an apparent lack of continuity between topics in different lessons; a lack of variety of tasks/activities (some students remarked that they soon get tired of their NET's activities as "they are always the same").

Lack of professional sharing and support

Some NETs also complain about the lack of professional sharing and support among colleagues in the school; e.g., local colleagues only focus on doing their own work and there is no exchange of ideas or teaching materials. Some NETs feel that the exam-oriented school curriculum is too constraining.

11.3 Objectives

To enable native-speaking English teachers to enhance the teaching of English by helping to foster an enabling environment for students to speak English and practise their oral skills.

Evidence of the extent to which the third objective of the scheme has been achieved can be identified in the findings of the questionnaire surveys for school personnel and parents and of the Case Study. Given the difficulty in tracing language gain and ascribing it to particular treatments over such a short period of time as the one or two years of the evaluation, this evidence should be accorded due weight.

Nevertheless, the major source of evidence of the extent to which the objective has been achieved lies in the results of the language assessments and of the attitudinal questionnaire for students.

Findings from these four sources of data are provided below.

113.1 Evidence from the Questionnaire Surveys for School Personnel and Parents There are clear indications in the findings of the school personnel and parents* questionnaire of the extent to which NETs have helped to foster an enabling environment for students to speak English and practise their oral skills.

General agreement as to NET role in language development

There is general agreement as to the role of the NETs in attempting to create this enabling environment through a concentration on oral/aural skill development and on elements emphasising language usage in context rather than language knowledge. However, the disagreement of the secondary NETs to the relevance of these focuses signals a possible need for role clarification. (See Section 9 A2 above.)

NETs should focus mostly on oral/aural skitt development

There is strong agreement from parents, secondary school principals,, English panel chairs and other non-EngUsh loc^ teachers, as weU as fi^

allocation for NETs should reflect thek areas of specific expertise, In other words, the NETs should focus on teaching speaking and listening skills. There is however a statistically significant difference between the views of these parties and secondary school NETs themselves. Moreover, secondary school local English teachers tend to agree with the NETs.

We may infer that the local English teachers do not want the NETs to take up only what they

call the "easy" tasks which do not involve a heavy marking load (confirming the case study interview results).

NETs should teach mostly language arts

While primary sector respondents agree, secondary NETs disagree rather strongly with this statement Again, besides signalling a mismatch in perceived roles, this reflects the desire on the part of the NETs to avoid oral-only teaching.

Impact of the NETs on the school

Questionnaire respondents were asked to rate the impact of the NET scheme on the school.

There was general agreement that NETs have created an authentic English-speaking environment for the students. Agreement was most unanimous in the primary schools; among the secondary respondents, the NETs themselves are more sceptical of their effectiveness in this respect Causes for this kind of disagreement are ascribed to a mismatch in perceptions -perhaps the NETs have higher expectations and are disappointed at having been either "spread too thinly" or having concentrated their efforts on two or three classes of students. (See Section 9.4.3 above.)

Perceptions of student language proficiency gain

One section of the questionnaires asks respondents to indicate their perceptions of language gain among students in specific areas including affective areas and language skills.

Perceived improvements in language skills

Similar response patterns are found in the two administrations of the survey questionnaires. In general, both NETs and non-NETs tend to agree or moderately agree that students have become better in speaking, listening and pronunciation, and have more confidence in using English to communicate. Both secondary school NETs and non-NETs tend to be neutral or in disagreement on statements about students' improvement in reading, writing and grammar.

And in general, secondary school local English teachers tend to indicate more disagreement on statements of improvement in the areas of reading and writing than primary school local teachers and NETs. The response patterns confirm the perception that the NET impact is more felt in the speaking and listening areas and their impact is perceived as greater in primary than secondary schools. (See Section 9.4.6 above.)

113.2 Evidence from the Case Study

Several relevant findings have been reported above in relation to Objective 1 & 2. These include the following. (Please refer to Section 3.1.2 above and Section 7.3,2 above.)

School Principals* were satisfied with NET performance in this respect NETs introduced teaching innovations in drama & creative writing. They played an important role in running the English Corner and coaching for competitions and introducing English culture through extracurricular activities. NETs seemed clear and confident about their role. They focus on communicative activities and enhancing classroom atmosphere by providing enjoyable lessons involving lots of games in a less formal, less forbidding approach which pupils love. They employ enjoyment-based activities; have higher expectations of student output and are not exam-oriented. They focus on production and the avoidance of LI use in class. They provide a more accurate and standard pronunciation emphasising ease of natural communication with a more native sounding model using humour in a dynamic approach using a variety of interesting tasks and activities. They are especially appreciated by higher proficiency students and by

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outspoken, outgoing, risk-taking students who are not afraid of making mistakes or being laughed-at, eager to make guesses and attempts to solve communication problems and tolerant of uncertainty. They are effective in apprenticing pupils into the culture of L2 speaking and

"acting" by modelling L2 speech.

Extra curricular activities particularly appreciated

Their work is particularly appreciated through extra-curricular activities, modelling appropriate 1 anguage and c caching s tudents i n c ulturally appropriate b ehaviour. H ere t hey increase both staff and student opportunities to use English for socialisation purposes as well as helping students enact different L2 social roles; modelling, and coaching students in acting, particularly in relations to emotions.

Ease of natural communication

The majority of the students interviewed felt that it was more natural to communicate in English with the NET than with the local teachers. Unless the latter made it a rule for them to do so, the students said that they seldom took the initiative to speak to the local teachers in English.

More native sounding model

A similar mentality was shared by a few students of higher English proficiency from SC. They preferred the teaching of the NET because they felt that the NET provided a better model of 'native-sounding' English.

Focus on listening providing a standard model for students to listen to

A few students from a good class in SD expressed the view that the NET should concentrate on teaching listening while the local teachers should handle the other skills (including oral) because in their opinion, the value of the NET lay in providing a standard model for them to listen to, whereas the local teachers seemed to be more skilful in explaining grammar. It should be noted that this was interpreted by the field workers as a sign of the passivity of the students concerned. They wanted to just listen to the NET and practise speaking with the local teacher who could give them assistance by using Cantonese.

Overall effectiveness in oral language development

The overall conclusion from the Case Study would be that the NETs had enjoyed relative success in their role in helping to foster an enabling environment for students to speak English and practise their oral skills. School personnel, including principals and the NETs themselves agreed that this aspect of their work had been successful,though the NETs are more aware of their own limitations. Students, especially those in the primary sector are appreciative of the effectiveness of the NET in this aspect of their work. There is strong evidence from lesson observations of the effectiveness of a monolingual classroom environment in forcing students to use more English even for administrative functions which are normally conducted in LI.

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