Smooth Transition between Different Key Stages and Multiple Pathways

Teacher-librarians

Teacher-librarians should capitalise on their professional knowledge and experience to promote a reading culture in the school and develop students’ literacy skills, which are indispensable for the development of their learning to learn capabilities.

Teacher-librarians are advised to:

• help students use the library in ways that are conducive to learning to learn such as:

- providing easy access to information in different modes, including e-learning resources,

- developing a variety of resource-based programmes to enhance the independent learning skills of students,

- developing strategies to nurture an interest in reading and to inculcate a regular reading habit in students,

- providing training on locating, retrieving and using information;

• work collaboratively with all teachers in procuring library resources according to school curriculum focuses;

• encourage the use of a wide range of information sources in support of the promotion of reading to learn and RaC;

• work with teachers in implementing KLA-based and cross-KLA activities (e.g. reading programmes, cross-curricular projects, STEM activities) to provide students with positive learning experiences relevant to their needs, interests and abilities;

• facilitate the development of information literacy within the school;

• keep abreast of the latest developments in the promotion of a reading culture and curriculum development in different KLAs; and

• ensure the availability of library resources and teaching aids and that they are maintained.

gaining confidence in using English at each key stage of learning, they will gradually develop their independent learning abilities and good learning habits. The framework of learning targets for the English Language Education curriculum in Appendix 2 is designed to facilitate continuity and a smooth transition across the levels as it reflects the purposes of learning and using English from Primary 1 to Secondary 6, and suggests how the learning and teaching of English should be developed from one key stage to the next.

To ease the transition process and sustain students’ interest in learning English at different stages of schooling, some suggestions are provided below. These suggestions are applicable across key stages and should be introduced based on students’ needs.

Kindergartens

Kindergarten teachers are advised to:

• cultivate children’s interest in language learning and motivate them by creating a stimulating language-rich environment;

• provide opportunities for children to learn the language through multisensory exploration and expose them to pleasurable and age-appropriate English activities (e.g. games, songs, action rhymes, stories) rather than teach it formally;

• engage students in meaningful listening and speaking activities in group settings to develop their confidence in using simple English to interact with people in daily life contexts and facilitate their oracy development;

• introduce the basic concepts of English language (e.g. alphabet knowledge, book and print awareness, phonological awareness) to children progressively through reading aloud and shared reading (i.e. reading to and reading with students); and

• avoid requiring children to memorise spellings of words and doing dictation in a formal manner.

Primary schools Lower Primary (KS1)

While continuing the above suggestions as appropriate, schools can also:

• organise learning and teaching using modules, units and tasks to help students connect their English learning experiences;

• use interesting and meaningful activities (e.g. games, songs, rhymes, stories, role plays) to motivate students;

• introduce a variety of reading materials and teach basic reading skills explicitly to

help students decode words, foster their interest in reading and develop good reading habits (i.e. reading by students);

• introduce phonics skills through reading and task-based learning activities to help students recognise the basic letter-sound relationships and apply such knowledge for reading and spelling (i.e. decoding and encoding words) (see Example 3);

• teach grammar in context through reading materials and adopt task-based activities to develop students’ language skills and generic skills (e.g. communication skills and creativity); and

• avoid pen-and-paper dictation in the first few months of Primary 1 to provide a stress-free learning environment for students to learn English.

Upper Primary (KS2)

While continuing the above suggestions as appropriate, schools can also:

• introduce a greater variety of themes and text types, including information texts, to further develop students’ reading skills and engage them in meaningful interactions with a wide range of print and non-print resources in English (see Example 4);

• provide opportunities for students to communicate and express their own ideas and opinions in different forms (e.g. role plays, spoken response to suggestions, PowerPoint

presentations, journal entries) for a variety of purposes and audience;

• provide opportunities for students to develop their referencing and information skills and practise the integrative use of language for authentic communication in a multimedia environment;

• engage students in extended English learning tasks and projects on an individual or group basis and engage them in self or peer assessment to develop their capabilities to become independent and self-directed learners; and

• enhance grammar learning by providing a wide range of materials and activities in which students have to apply what they have learnt in context, and reduce the use of

mechanical grammar drills.

Secondary schools Junior Secondary (KS3)

While continuing the above suggestions as appropriate, schools can also:

• organise bridging programmes such as pre-Secondary 1 summer English Week or English Day to help students overcome the anxiety of learning English in a new environment and in particular to support those who need to learn content subjects through English;

• include the learning of phonics skills in the school’s regular English lessons by drawing students’attention to the letter-sound relationships in words and help them develop strategies to pronounce and spell less familiar words;

• promote a culture of reading by exposing students to a wide spectrum of reading and viewing materials (both print and non-print) covering a wide range of topics/

themes (ranging from familiar to less familiar topics), and text types with different stylistic elements, information density and abstractness (e.g. information,

literary and imaginative texts);

• promote RaC to provide opportunities for students to develop a wide range of reading skills, extend learning of the content and connect their learning experiences across KLAs;

• facilitate LaC and the integrative use of English to develop students’ generic skills and linguistic competence for effective communication in different contexts;

• make greater use of language arts materials in English Language classes and engage students in literary activities to develop their critical abilities, aesthetic awareness and cultural awareness, as well as to cultivate their interest in studying

Literature in English at the senior secondary level; and

• provide opportunities for students to reflect on and identify their strengths and areas for improvement, and the strategies they find most useful at different stages of the English learning process.

Senior Secondary (KS4)

While continuing with the above suggestions as appropriate, schools can also:

• prepare students for productive use of English through various means (e.g. eliciting and providing vocabulary items through brainstorming, demonstrating how to

organise ideas through constructing a concept map);

• make use of a broad range of activities and materials (including multimodal materials) to enhance students’ motivation and provide opportunities for the integrative use of generic skills to prepare them well for more complicated challenges;

• provide additional support (e.g. materials adaptation, promotion of cross-curricular language learning and self-access language learning) to prepare students for the switch to the English medium of instruction at KS4, if appropriate;

• provide a wide range of life-wide learning and career-related experiences by collaborating with other professionals of different fields, practitioners and people from different cultural backgrounds to organise relevant activities (e.g. visits or talks on specific topics in English) to enhance students’ understanding of the use

of English in the local community and in the work context;

• develop self-directed learning skills to promote independent and lifelong language learning; and

• extend students’ language exposure and use beyond English for general communication, and engage them in the learning of rhetorical functions, text

structures and language items typical of academic texts to raise their academic language awareness and prepare them for tertiary education.

For more information about transitions between kindergarten and primary levels, primary and secondary levels, and junior and senior secondary levels, see Chapter 9 of the Basic Education Curriculum Guide — To Sustain, Deepen and Focus on Learning to Learn (Primary 1 — 6) (2014) and Booklet 8 of the Secondary Education Curriculum Guide (Secondary 1 — 6) (2017).

3.3.2 Supporting Students in Educational and Vocational Pathways

While the six-year primary curriculum focuses on laying the foundation of English language development, the secondary curriculum at both junior and senior levels provides opportunities for the appreciation of the language and its application for various purposes.

Through a coherent school English Language Education curriculum which attaches importance to the progression and deepening of learning experiences, students can be adequately supported to develop the language knowledge and skills essential for a variety of post-secondary educational and career pathways, particularly in the fields of media production, performing arts, education, business, law and social sciences.

There is much to offer in the English Language Education curriculum in preparing students for vocational and professional education and training, and allowing them to explore and develop their potential talents and career interests. For instance, the recommended modular approach allows schools to introduce a number of work-related topics under the suggested unit “Occupations, Careers and Prospects” for KS4. The module “Learning English through Workplace Communication” in the Elective Part of the senior secondary English Language curriculum also opens up further opportunities for students to learn and apply knowledge and skills in the workplace context. Further, the development of the four language skills and language development strategies such as information and reference skills equips students with the essential skills for Applied Learning (ApL) courses (e.g.

courses on “Media and Communication”, one of the areas of studies for ApL) and work in different sectors of the economy.

3.4 Collaboration within the English Language Education KLA and Cross-