Principles in Curriculum Planning and Development

The following are some of the major principles on which the design of the central English Language curriculum is based. The planning and development of a school-based English Language curriculum should also follow the same principles.

The English Language curriculum:

• is learner-centred, taking into account the diverse needs and background of learners;

• has a balanced coverage of the Learning Targets and Objectives;

• embodies the five fundamental intertwining ways of learning and using knowledge;

• emphasizes the use of English for communicative purposes; and

• reflects an integrative use of English.

3.1.1 A Learner-centred Curriculum

Learning efficiency is enhanced when teachers take into account learners’

needs, interests and abilities, which vary at different stages and in different settings.

Learner-centred instruction may be provided through:

• designing learning activities that suit learners’ age, needs, interests, abilities, learning styles, prior knowledge and experiences;

• engaging learners in group work or pair work for quality interaction and genuine communication;

• applying suitable questioning techniques to stimulate thinking and creativity, to encourage experimentation and to facilitate knowledge construction; and

• encouraging learners to contribute to the learning process by:

− sharing their views and learning experiences;

− playing an active role in consulting the teacher; and

− helping to select learning materials and appropriate activities such as singing, show-and-tell, role-plays, dramas, games, projects and presentations.

3.1.2 A Balanced Curriculum

To ensure that learners are provided with different learning experiences for the development of appropriate knowledge, skills, positive values and attitudes, it is essential, when planning and developing the English Language curriculum within and across year levels, to ensure that there is a balanced and progressive coverage of the:

• Learning Targets in the three Strands: Interpersonal Strand, Knowledge Strand and Experience Strand; and

• Learning Objectives including language forms and communicative functions, language skills, language development strategies, attitudes specific to English Language learning, generic skills, and positive values and attitudes.

Clear and appropriate Learning Targets enable teachers to help learners work towards the overall aims of the curriculum. The Subject Target and the Learning Targets of English Language are stated in Chapter 2. The Learning Targets identify the purposes of learning and using English across all levels of education from Primary 1 to Secondary 5, as well as the more specific ones for each key stage of learning. They are relevant to the functions of English within the Hong Kong context, especially in view of the language needs for personal development, interpersonal relations, further education and work.

To enable learners to achieve the Learning Targets, teachers need to focus on a range of Learning Objectives. They indicate what teachers should teach or foster and what learners are expected to learn or develop in the course of their study.

3.1.3 Five Fundamental Intertwining Ways of Learning and Using Knowledge

In the process of language learning, learners should be given opportunities to acquire, construct and apply knowledge through the following five fundamental intertwining ways of learning and using knowledge:

• communicating

• conceptualizing

• inquiring

• problem-solving

• reasoning

These modes of learning will help learners develop the generic skills:

communication skills, collaboration skills, creativity, critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills and study skills in the context of English Language learning. Generic skills are essential for learners to become independent and lifelong learners. Teachers have to infuse the development of generic skills into the planning, development and implementation of the English Language curriculum. For details of generic skills, please refer to pages 71 - 88.

3.1.4 Communicative Purposes

The purpose of the English Language curriculum is to help learners acquire effective language skills for fulfilling various communicative tasks such as establishing and maintaining relationships, studying and working, and using language for a range of experiential and leisure purposes. In order to enable learners to communicate effectively, language learning activities need to be authentic and purposeful, engaging learners in genuine acts of communication. These activities should also be related to learners’ needs, interests, imagination and daily life experiences as well as appreciation of other cultures of the world.

The use of English in English lessons is, by its very nature, communicative and purposeful, and the experiences of trying to work

out what the teacher and fellow-learners are saying replicate the process of interpersonal communication in real life. Learners are deprived of this exposure and of the opportunities to learn English from it, if they are taught English through their mother tongue. The use of English is therefore insisted upon for all English lessons, except for Primary One learners during their first term.

3.1.5 Integrative Language Use

Language used in real-life situations is almost always integrative, bringing together:

• the three Strands: Interpersonal Strand, Knowledge Strand and Experience Strand;

• the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing;

• a range of language forms and communicative functions such as sentence structures, tenses, etc.; and

• a number of language development strategies.

To ensure that the language that learners acquire is authentic, it is essential that the learning and teaching of English are also integrative. In this regard, language tasks and projects, which involve integrative use of a range of text types, language knowledge, skills and strategies in the process, are effective activities for the development of communicative competence. Learning through these communicative activities enhances learners’ long-term language development.

3.2 Developing and Organizing a School-based English Language