Briefing Session
English Language Education Section Curriculum Development Institute
Collaborative Research and Development “Seed” Project: EE0322 Exploring Strategies for Creative and Academic Writing
in the Secondary English Language Curriculum
Aim of the “Seed” Project
To develop teachers’ knowledge and capacity in:
incorporating creative and academic writing elements and strategies into the English Language Curriculum to deepen the learning and teaching of writing and enhance students’ writing skills;
adopting effective teaching strategies to guide students to analyse and produce a range of creative and academic texts; and
developing students’ generic skills, including creative thinking, self-learning and communication skills, through engaging them in a variety of writing and assessment activities.
To explore strategies to enhance secondary students’ creative and academic writing skills
Objectives of the “Seed” Project
Measures to Optimise Senior Secondary English Language Curriculum – In a nutshell
Curriculum
• Adjust the lesson time according to the suggestions in the English Language Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4 - 6) (2021)
• Integrate the Elective Part into the Compulsory Part
• Offer English-related Applied Learning courses
• Promote academic and creative uses of English
Assessment• Refine the writing paper by reducing the number of questions and delinking Part B from the elective modules
• Streamline the SBA by allowing flexibility in the number of texts to be read and
Characteristics of Academic Texts
Formal Objective
Precise
Technical
Nominalisation Academic vocabulary
Hedging words The passive voice Complex sentences
Cohesive devices
Language Features that Help Achieve an Academic Style
Reference:
Text Analysis - Awareness-raising and Noticing Activities
HKDSE Practice Paper Reading (Part A) Title: An Ocean Apart
• To persuade people to support / oppose keeping animals in zoos and aquariums
• To provide reasons and supporting details to justify the arguments/points made
What are the writing purposes of the text? What language features and writing techniques are used to
achieve these rhetorical functions?
Section of the text that supports having zoos & aquariums
Nominalisation:
The noun phrases present the values of zoos and aquariums in a condensed manner to support the argument.
Complex sentences:
The embedded phrase “for…”
provides reasons to support having zoos and aquariums.
Parallelism:
The repeated pattern (magic 3) makes the sentence more catchyand the points and tone more forceful.
Complex sentences:
(1) The embedded phrase “for…”
provides reasons why large animals should not be kept in aquariums.
(2) The relative clause “who…” gives details about the freedom and social life of animals living in the ocean.
supports the argument against keeping animals in aquariums Complex sentences:
“No matter how large” is an emphatic structure to make the tone more forceful.
Quoting an authority:
It makes the argument more authoritative and persuasive.
Analogy:
The comparison between a whale in a tank and a human in a bathtub vividly shows the plight of confined animals to arouse readers’
empathy and sympathy.
makes the argument more persuasive
Section of the text that opposes having zoos & aquariums
Explicit Teaching of Academic Writing Strategies – An Example
Which academic language features can students apply when writing on the following topic?
(2021 HKDSE Writing Paper: Part B Q2)
Analysing and Approaching the Question with Academic Text Types and Writing Purposes in Mind
Discuss why sales of electric vehicles are so low
• To provide reasons for the unpopularity of electric cars To discussthe disadvantages of electric cars
To compare and contrast electric cars and petrol cars
Suggest what can be done to attract more people to drive electric vehicles
• To provide solutions to the problem (i.e. low sales of electric cars)
• To persuade people to drive electric cars
What organising structurecan be used in this text?
Block? Chain?
What language items can be used to achieve these rhetorical functions?
Discuss why sales of electric vehicles are so low
When drivers are asked why they prefer petrol cars to electric cars, most of them will express without a second thought that the need to charge is the ultimate reason.
While drivers of petrol cars can simply fuel their vehicles in any petrol filling station when necessary, accurate estimation and advance planning on the time and locations of charging is required for drivers of electric cars to avoid interruptions to their journeys. To ensure sufficient power of the battery, it may be necessary for drivers of electric cars to plug their vehicles in whenever they are parked.
The passive voice
• to focus on the drivers’ views
Academic vocabulary
• to give one’s views on something
Complex sentences
• adverbial phrase to modify the manner of “express”
Nominalisation
• to condense information
Complex sentences
• subordinating conjunction to indicate time
Hedging words (modal verbs)
• a softer tone
• less forceful
Suggest what can be done to attract more people to drive electric vehicles
Incentives may come in many forms and tax concessions are probably the most common one. A case in point is the entitlement to the first registration tax concessions for owners of electric vehicles in Hong Kong. To encourage the purchase of electric cars, more tax benefits can be provided by increasing tax remission. In addition, toll rates of tunnels can be reduced or even waived for drivers of electric vehicles.
Academic vocabulary
• specific terms
Hedging words (adverbs)
• to be cautious
Nominalisation
• to condense information
• to discuss an abstract concept
The passive voice
• to focus on the actions
Cohesive devices
• signposting words to
present another idea
Hedging words (modal verbs)
• a softer tone
• less forceful Cohesive devices
• signposting words to give examples
What is Creativity?
Transformation – refreshing change (new perspective/presentation) Re-create old things to add a breath of freshness and break conventions
Invention – imaginative ideas + practical know-how Come up with new ideas and present them in original ways
Discovery – new knowledge and understanding (awareness & sensitivity) Realise or find out something unnoticed before
Learning Activities for Students to Explore Creative Use of Language
Example of Activities
Discovery
Close reading and textual analysis (comprehension to appreciation)
• Read texts (e.g. a poem, an advertisement, a flyer) to discuss the themes and give personal responses (e.g. choose the most powerful line / impressive part)
• Analyse how words (e.g. sensory language, rhyming words, pun) and literary devices (e.g. symbolism) are used to convey meaning and create effects
Transformation
Adaptation into another form Rewriting of existing texts
(re-creation and re-presentation)
• Turn an extract from a novel / short story into a script / conversation
• Draw a picture on a poem
• Rewrite the lyrics to present another theme
• Change a part of the story (add a new character, give a new ending)
• Re-write a story using another point of view / narrative voice / plot sequence
Invention
Generation of ideas and presentation in engaging ways
(production of written and multi- modal texts)
• Brainstorm ideas and select quality ones to develop
• Learn and practise using different writing techniques in focused ways
• Edit writing to polish language, add variety and achieve effects
Common Techniques in Creative Writing
Narrative Techniques (Fictional narratives) Literary Devices
• Characterisation (e.g. round or flat characters, portrayal of their look, thoughts, speech and actions)
• Use of setting
• Dialogue
• Narrative perspectives and point of view (e.g. 1st or 3rd person)
• Plot development (e.g. conflict, climax)
• Narrative sequence (e.g. foreshadowing, flashback and flashforward)
• Strategies for opening (e.g. into the middle or from the end of the event) and closing (e.g.
resolution, twist, enigma, cliff-hanger)
•
Imagery (vivid & sensory descriptions)•
Similes and metaphors•
Personification•
Symbolism•
Contrast•
Repetition of words / sentence structures (e.g. parallel structure)•
Pun•
Repetition of sounds (e.g. alliteration, assonance, rhyming words)•
Rhythm (patterns of intonation and stress)Explicit Teaching of Creative Writing Strategies – An Example
(2012 HKDSE Writing Paper: Part B Q7)
What writing techniques and creative language can students apply when writing
on the following topic?
Vivid Descriptions –
Powerful Adjectives & Sensory Language to Appeal to Our Senses
Senses Example
Sight There I saw my brother step out of a fiery red convertible and walked into the classy hotel with white pillars and glowing chandeliers.
He wore a stylish slim-fit suit in smoky grey, looking sleek and smart.
Sound Vroom! His car sped past me and vanished around the corner of the street.
Taste Seeing how well my brother seemed to be doing, I couldn’t help feeling sour and bitter with envy.
Smell As he passed by, a zesty scent surged and waned – I caught a whiff of his exotic cologne.
Touch My brother was clean-shaven and his hair was slicked back with gel,
looking as smooth as an egg tart.
S.T.E.A.L Characterisation
Showing feelings through actions
Exploring Creative Writing Techniques – Crossing over a Range of Text Types
e.g. Using quotes and sayings
To buy or not to buy – that’s the dilemma (To fly or not to fly, to leave or not to leave)
Writing Techniques:
•
Engaging opening and closing
•
Closing echoing the opening
Creative Use of Language:
•
Parallel structures
•
Rhetorical questions
•
Personification
•
Metaphors
(2020 HKDSE Writing Paper: Part B Q6)
Planning & Implementation of the “Seed” Project
2022/23 School Year 2023/24 School Year School Participation: Up to 2 School Years
Class Level S3 - 5
• Conducting the
tryout with at least one class/group of students
• Conducting the tryout with the same/different
class(es)/group(s) of
students
Implementation (1-2 weeks)
• To try out the unit, i.e. the strategies and materials, in at least one class/group of students
Development • To design and develop materials for one unit of work (about 6 – 8 lessons) with the CDI officers
Development
• To design and develop materials for one unit of work (about 8 – 12 lessons) with support from the CDI officers as appropriate
Implementation
(1-2 weeks) • To try out the unit, i.e. the strategies and materials, in at least one class /group of students
Evaluation • To participate in the end-of-the-year evaluation
Planning & Implementation of the “Seed” Project
Phase I (Small Scale)
Phase II
2022/23 s.y.
Implementation (1-2 weeks)
• To try out the unit, i.e. the strategies and materials, in at least one class/group of students
Development • To design and develop materials for one unit of work (about 8 – 12 lessons) with the CDI officers
Development
• To design and develop materials for one unit of work (about 8 – 12 lessons) with support from the CDI officers as appropriate
Implementation
(1-2 weeks) • To try out the unit, i.e. the strategies and materials, in at least one class/group of students
Evaluation • To participate in the end-of-the-year evaluation
Planning & Implementation of the “Seed” Project
Phase I
Phase II
2023/24 s.y.
nominate one experienced and committed English teacher to be the school project coordinator, and where possible, identify more teachers to be the members of the project team;
build on the school’s existing reading / writing programmes and incorporate the tryout into the school-based English
Language curriculum; and
School Project
Team
School project coordinator
Project teachers
The “Seed” School is Expected to:
assist in the collection of evidence (by supporting classroom observations,
including video-recording the tryout lessons and interviewing students / teacher(s)) on the impact on student learning.
Role of the School Project Team
Identifying entry point(s) for the “Seed” Project
Working in collaboration with the CDI officers to identify suitable texts and resources for the units of tasks/learning activities
Developing and trying out teaching strategies, tasks and materials
Producing deliverables including four units of tasks to enhance students’
creative and academic writing skills in the secondary English classroom
Collecting evidence (by supporting classroom observations, including video- recording tryout lessons and interviewing students / teacher(s)) on the impact on student learning
Disseminating good practices for teachers’ professional development
School Project Team
OfficersCDI
“Seed”
Project
Benefits for the “Seed” School
The “Seed” school will
build up the capacity of the English Panel in enhancing students’ creative and academic writing skills in the secondary English classroom; and
gain an insight into how to enhance the learning and teaching of writing and develop a holistic plan for curriculum development.
Teachers from the “Seed” school will
develop the competence in developing effective strategies and resources to enhance students’ creative and academic writing skills.
Application
School Application Form
Education Bureau Circular Memorandum No.1/2022 Staff Interflow Schemes 2022 (Appendix C in duplicate)
Submit a Project Proposal including the following:
- title of “Seed” project with project code - school particulars
- proposal details
(provide details on A4 sheets)
Appendix C (pp.68 & 69 of CM 1/2022)
https://applications.edb.gov.hk/circular/upload/EDBCM/EDBCM22001E.pdf
Deadline for Application 10 March 2022 (Thursday)
EDB Human Resource Management Unit, 4/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices,
2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong (Application for Staff Interflow Schemes 2022)
Return the application form (Appendix C) with
a project proposalto:
Drop-in Box
(Box No.: EDB03 - Staff Interflow Schemes 2022) Located at 2/F Entrance,
East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar,
Hong Kong
By post By hand
or
Enquiries
Project Specific
Ms Elizabeth WONG
English Language Education Section 2892 5873
General
