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Developing an English Individual Students

PRINCIPLES

In a school where only a limited number of students need an English programme, the programme can be designed to offer assistance to individual students. It can be adjusted so that it is much more individualised; but the purpose and function of the programme remain unchanged. The principles of such a programme are as follows:

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EM! teachers and English Language teachers collaborate to identify the learning needs of these students according to their previous educational experience, their present English standard and language learning difficulties. The contents of Parts II to V above and Appendices 1-4 offer some criteria for judgement.

Then they draw up a study plan for these students and decide on the role of each EMI teacher in this plan.

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Teaching of the EMI subjects should be geared to cater for the majority of students. The regular lessons should not be disrupted by the presence of the weaker students.

Emphasis should be placed on language and study skills rather than isolated items of knowledge. Skills are transferable and enable students to improve both in and outside the school with and without teacher guidance.

Knowledge of isolated items is not easily transferable.

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Students' motivation, interest and confidence must be sustained and enhanced as far as possible. These qualities are crucial to speedy achievement. Reprimand and overt criticism that may reduce students' motivation, interest and confidence should be avoided.

Encouragement, personal concern and positive advice should to be provided whenever any sign of the need of

such support appears.

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The students using the programme must not be regarded as an alternative group of students. In all schools in Hong Kong, there is a range of abilities among the students. The causes, nature and extent, and teaching requirements of such a range of abilities vary from school to school. The students using an English programme just add to the variety of students' abilities.

Segregation or bias will not help them.

MODE OF OPERATION

The 54 English programme for individual students can include the following:

revisiting concepts associaJed with the terminologies, definitions and formulas taught in Sl-3

To enable individual students to catch up with the class quickly, it is feasible to develop revision materials on the subject matters learnt in S 1-3 for students to prepare themselves for S4. The nature and purpose of such revision materials should be as follows:

.These materials are essentially quick summaries of what students learn in SI-3 in the related areas.

.These materials bring about revisiting of the concepts, terminologies, definitions and formulas through EMI.

.These materials are developed from the materials (such

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as textbooks and worksheets) used in S1-3.

Tasks and activities with plenty of pictorial illustrations and diagrams involving active use of language form t.~e bulk of the materials.

Record cards or checklists are included for individual students to carry out self-monitoring and self-valuation in the course of using the materials.

NOTE:

Revision materillls for individuals or small groups may not be desirable for use in class because the major subject curricula develop from one level to another in breadth and depth. What is covered in

51-3 naturally evolves in 54-5. An English programme on a class basis should refer to the 54 curricula (and not the 51-3 curricula) to cover the necessary language.

immersion and individuaIised learning during lessons

For maximum exposure and learning opportunities, the weaker students can attend the regular EMI lessons together with their classmates.

However they should not be expected to perform like their classmates.

They can watch and be rold briefly what their classmates are doing.

They can also complete other simple tasks during these lessons, such as -listing the major learning points of the lesson and the

activities carried out by the students -guessing what the classmates try to achieve

-guessing what the teacher wants the students to achieve -describing through notes, drawing and referring to the

textbook (and other materials)

-identifying features of the topic which is the focus of the lesson

-identifying the features of certain sound patterns, structural patterns, text-types, etc, that appear frequently during the lessons

-participating in group work as far as possible

-keeping a record of the parts of lesson they can follow (This record may start with zero and should grow to a hundred percent in due course.)

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In all these tasks, the teacher shows awareness and gives encouragement; but there is no need for the teacher to spend time on individualised teaching during lessons for the whole class. T hey should not be encouraged to depend on the teacher's attention.

opponunities of withdrawal

To give the weaker EMI students the necessary support, withdrawals are important and can take place in the following ways:

...teacher or tutor meets individuals or small groups before or after school, during recess or lunch break ...teacher or tutor withdraws individuals or small groups

from some lessons of the subjects in which these individuals or small groups do well. These students may be doing well in these subjects because these subjects do not require a lot of English, such as Mathematics; and their achievement is not affected even if they miss some lessons. (This withdrawal arrangement can be monitored by a teacher with a free period or a senior student. It must be stopped as soon as the teachers of these subjects feel there is a need for the weaker EMI students to attend these lessons.)

...small groups withdrawn from lessons of cultural and practical subjects. (This should not occur for more than one lesson per week for each of these subjects.)

NOTES

#1. Withdrawal should not take place during school or class activities such as sports day, swimming gala, inter-class

debates, class picnics, etc, because all students should be given the opportunity of participating and experiencing major events.

Where possible, small groups are preferable to individuals because small groups enable (a) sharing of interests, (b) support from group members, (c) better relationship and comradeship among group members, (d) reduced demand on the teacher, and (e) more cost-effective use of materials and resources.

#2-40

trdditional learning materials

Additional materials include

.materials to help students to transfer their subject knowledge from the Chinese medium to the English medium, such as glossaries of terminologies and the English .version of theories, formulaS, etc

.materials that help students to master the basic English sound and structural patterns, such as listening tapes and exercises on text-types, sentence structures, etc .assignments that enable practice and development of

basic study skills, such as phonics and spelling, note-taking, dictionary skills, library skills and enquiry skills .materials that help students pick up classroom language

effectively within a short time

.practice of language skills with various text-types common to the EMI subjects

~~elf-access learning

In order not to overtly increase the teacher's workload and to encourage independent learning, students should be taught and encouraged to apply the skills of independent learning including:

..asking for advice and suggestions on how to complete assignments, and taking note of advice and suggestions ..locating information and ideas in a library, study room,

newspapers and magazines, etc

..looking for materials independently for the completion of a certain assignment, and making notes of the data and information in various forms (including charts, tables, time-lines, etc.)

..planning an assignment and adjusting the plan where and when necessary

..completing worksheets and assignments with the help of textbook materials, dictionaries, reference books, etc ..revising work for improvement and correction of

mistakes, perhaps with the help of a sample or model

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finalising and evaluating their own work, perhaps with the help of the teacher, a classmate, model answers, etc

A lot of the self-access learning materials available on the market provide the necessary information and ideas input, worksheets and assignment reports, and model answers for self-marking. These materials can be extended to require students to use the other skills of independent learning.

If there is a self-access centre in the school or its neighbourhood, the students can be told to explore these facilities and learn about topics and themes through the facilities of these centres. This will probably involve the use of information technology and the media, which is interesting, challenging and rewarding.

peer assistance

Students can benefit significantly from peer assistance when the relationship is friendly and cheerful. With their peers, students can be more comfortable, gain greater sympathy and understanding, and behave more naturally than when they are with teachers.

It is often a good policy to ask the better students of a class to stay with the weaker students in the same group and help them in group activities during and after lessons. The better students can benefit from this arrangement because, through lending assistance to others, they further integrate their knowledge in their cognitive framework, apply what they have learnt in real situations, extend their knowledge to the needs of others, and develop other related skills such as reasoning, problem-solving, interpersonal and communication skills.

However teachers should be sensitive to the mood and feelings of the students concerned to ensure that the relationship is beneficial to both sides. Animosity and prejudice must be avoided and eliminated at the first instance. Furthermore the better students should not be (a) overloaded with responsibilities, (b) expected to replace the teacher, or

(c) asked to lose the time they need for their own study.

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graduated (and self-monitored) assessment

In the early weeks of 54, the weaker students cannot be expected to achieve and perform in the same way as the other students. They need special arrangements of tests and assessmentS, such as

@ tasks and exercises instead of the test or assessment that is being completed by the class

@ a short and simplified question paper

@ part(s) of a test or assessment instead of the entire paper

@ permission to use books, dictionary and models during assessment

Instead of the teacher marking the papers, the weaker students can be asked to mark their own papers and record the results of their performance in order to better understand their own progress. The results of the tests and assessments of these students are not useful except to help teachers understand their needs and plan their study. The purpose of asking these students to take part in tests and assessments is

not only to find out the level of their ability, but also to let them have the experience of tests and assessments. The process of marking and recording one's own progress against the learning targets and achievements of the other students provides direction, incentive and encouragement for the students.

The weaker students can be expected to take tests and assessment papers like the other students only when they have mastered the EMI mode of learning. Until then their participation in the class tests and assessments should not be considered as genuine assessment of their abilities.

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PART VIII

LEARNER INDEPENDENCE

Learning is a process of engaging one's mind actively with the learning conte:nt, so that one's framework of knowledge (knowledge, experience and skills) is expanded in the course of learning. When the student is passi've, such intellectual engagement is weak and the learning effec1tiveness is minimal. When the student is active and motivated, such intellectual engagement is strong and the learning effectiveness is maxumised .

It is very important for students to develop, as soon as possible, a sense of re:sponsibility for their own learning, which will motivate them to enga~~e actively and earnestly in their learning.

In developing a sense of responsibility for learning in students, teachers must understand that one of the important aspects of learning is the abilit:y to track one's behaviour and control it. Students should be encouraged to reflect and develop awareness and control of their learning behaviour.

Such awareness and control should be nurtured through gradually incre.lSed delegation of responsibility to the students. For example, students can be asked to choose major assignments, plan their revision timet.lble, check their own work, help classmates, keep record of their own progress, etc. Then they can be asked to plan their learning objectives for a few weeks, choose their own tasks, plan their own learning method, assess their own performance against criteria, reflect on th,eir approach and compare their strategies with those of other stude:nts, etc.

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GROUP PROJECTS

Students should be encouraged to work in groups, arid learn to negotiate, and appreciate, help and understand each other in activities.

Through the process of group work, the better ones can also further internalise their knowledge and skills, and the weaker students can benefit from the experience of their peers.

Group projects is an effective way of ensuring meaningful group work.

Students are arranged in groups, each given a role to play in the group (leader, researcher, reporter, recorder, etc). Project assignments are given to the groups for completion according to a schedule. Teachers should go through the project requirements with the students at the beginning, give advice during the process of the project and comment on the results towards the end of the project. The final products of the different groups can be compared and each should be evaluated in conference with the students concerned.

If there is any relationship problem in a group, action must be taken at once to resolve any misunderstanding, change the group combination, change the roles of the group members, adjust. the nature of the project

(but not to make it very easy or simple) etc.

In evaluating the products, teachers are reminded that

-the learning process is just as important (if not more) as the product

-the role and performance of individual students in the groups should be given .recognition

-the enquiry, communication, negotiation, coordination and other skills developed by each student should be noted

-the differences between the products do not render them better or worse; each may deserve credit for its own reasons

.In promoting team spirit in group projects, teachers should ensure that )0 students know that everybody has different strengths

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and weaknesses, and that these strengths and weaknesses may change

students know that everybody has the potential of improving himself/herself, and that everybody can improve when there is sufficient and well-directed effort and input, and

students' work is checked by the teacher asking questions on how they arrive at the results and commenting on the process in addition to the product.

Students should be led to understand that simply copying the results is of no use. They must improve on their methods and independence.

INTEGRA TED TASKS AND PROJECTS

Since a person's knowledge framework may be systematic and strul:tured but not compartmentalised, it is more efficient for learning proc:esses not to be compartmentalised. Integrated tasks and project work require the integrated use and development of knowledge and skills, drawing upon a student's knowledge framework without distinction and separation of subject areas. They are therefore highly reco,mmended for the S4 English programme.

If plJssible, teachers of different EMI subjects can request students to use'the same information on a common topic, but for slightly different pufJ)oses in the different subjects. For example, collating information and views of news reports on air pollution in Hong Kong from TV, radio and newspapers can provide materials for use in an EP A lesson and a Geography project. The discovery of the cure for a certain disease can provide material for discussion in Biology, Chemistry, EP A and English Language. A recent accident of a child killed at home by some leaking gas can be studied in Human Biology, Chemistry, EP A, English Language, etc.

In another way, common themes and topics of interest, especially those

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discussed in the news reports, can be used in the form of integrated tasks across subjects. The English Language teacher teaches the relevant skills and language items (such as text-type, enquiry skills, sl~ntence patterns, essay format, etc). The EMI teachers teach the rl~lated concepts, methods, and skills. They may also provide the basic information to support formation of a view in relation to the topic.

Appendix 8 provides some suggestions of integrated tasks.

REMINDERS FOR TEACHERS OF EMI SUBJECTS T,eachers of EMI subjects are reminded to

0 orientate their students to the required mode of learning slowly and steadily, confining their language use to the level of the students' abilities

0 allow students sufficient time to gain confidence and the skills of studying in English, allow time for students to get through the language barrier, by going through the topics/textbooks more slowly, using the diCtionary when necessary, repeating the difficult parts, using pictures and other teaching aids frequently, using group arrangement whereby more assistance can be given to the weaker groups, helping the very weak students to take- notes, and asking senior students to lend help to the weaker students after lessons

0 ask students to carry out more tasks involving the use of English, such as listening, reading and discussion, and help students learn and practise study skills and language development skills when the opportunities arise

0 explain and demonstrate clearly the ways of completing exercises and give extra assistance where and when

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