Curriculum Leadership Series – Ongoing Renewal of
the School Curriculum (Primary)
(English teachers)
January 2018
English Language Education Section Curriculum Development Institute Education Bureau
1. To introduce the major updates of the English Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide (P1-S6) (2017);
2. To provide suggestions on the learning and teaching activities, strategies and resources for incorporating the major updates in the school English language curriculum;
and
3. To share good practices on designing meaningful learning activities to enhance learning and teaching effectiveness in the English classroom
OBJECTIVES
2
2:00 - 3:45 p.m.
Part I
• Ongoing renewal of the school curriculum
• Major updates of the English Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide (Primary 1 – Secondary 6) (2017)
• Suggestions on the L&T activities, strategies and resources
• The roles of an English Language teacher as a curriculum leader
3:45 - 4:00 p.m.
Break
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Part II
• Sharing of good practices
Delia English Primary School & Kindergarten
Today’s Programme
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Ongoing Renewal of the School Curriculum
Respond to local, regional and global
contextual changes
Build on existing strengths and
practices of schools
Curriculum
enhancement to benefit student
learning
BECG (2002) / SSCG (2009) (2009)
8 KLA Curriculum Guides (2002)
Various Subject Curriculum Guides Learning to Learn Report (2001)
SECG 2017 (S1-S6)
(2017 onwards)
KLA Curriculum Guides
&
Subject curriculum guides/
supplements
BECG 2014 (P1-P6)
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Ongoing Renewal of the
School Curriculum
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Updating of the ELE KLACG
http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-edu/curriculum-documents.html (CDC, 2002)
(P1 – S3)
(CDC, 2004) (CDC, 1999) (CDC & HKEAA, 2007)
9 years
(CDC, 2017)
(P1 – S6)
12 years
(CDC, 2004) (TBC) (CDC & HKEAA, 2007) with updates in 2015 Supplement
to ELE KLACG
(JS)
Major Updates of the ELE KLACG (P1-S6)
Catering for the Needs of SEN and Gifted Students in the Mainstream English Classroom
Learning and Teaching of Text Grammar Extending from Assessment for Learning to Assessment as Learning
Integrative Use of Generic Skills Literacy Development
Values Education
STEM Education (including entrepreneurial spirit) & Reading across the Curriculum e-Learning & Information Literacy
ELE KLACG (P1-S6)(2017)
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Components of a School
English Language Curriculum at the Primary Level
60% of English lesson time
40% of English lesson time
English Language Curriculum Guide (Primary 1-6) (CDC, 2004)
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Reading Journey across Key Stages Junior
Secondary
• Exposure to a wide range of text types (both print and non- print)
• Introduce elements of Language Arts
• Extensive reading and viewing
Senior Secondary
• Exposure to a wider range of more complex text
(both print and non-print)
• Elective modules
(Language Arts & Non- Language Arts)
Primary
• Exposure to a range of text types (both print and non-print)
• Incorporation of Reading Workshops into the School-based English Language
Curriculum
Using real books with a variety of text types
Using non-print reading resources
Connecting students’ reading and writing experiences
Promoting Reading across the
Curriculum
Text Types
Examples of Text Types for Key Stage 1 Additional Examples of Text Types for Key Stage 2
Advertisements
Cartoons and comics
Captions
Cards
Charts
Conversations
Coupons
Diaries
Directions
Fables and fairy tales
Forms
Illustrations
Instructions
Labels
Leaflets
Lists
Menus
Notes and messages
Notices
Personal descriptions
Personal letters
Personal recounts
Picture dictionaries
Poems
Postcards
Posters
Product information
Rhymes
Riddles
Rules
Signs
Songs
Stories
Tables
Timetables
Accounts
Announcements
Autobiographies
Biographies
Blogs
Brochures
Catalogues
Children’s encyclopaedias
Dictionaries
Directories
Discussions
Emails
Explanations of how and why
Formal letters
Informational reports
Jokes
Journals
Maps and legends
Myths
News reports
Pamphlets
Plays
Procedures
Questionnaires
Recipes
Telephone conversations
Tongue twisters
Weather reports
Web pages
English Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide (Primary 1 – Secondary 6) (CDC, 2017) (Draft)
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Using Non-print Reading Resources
Digital Multimodal Texts
(e.g. Interactive books, audio books)
Animations and/or audio files with narrations (reading texts provided)
Technological features (e.g. interactive tools, embedded video clips, built-in dictionary, interactive activities)
Basic interactions which allow students to have more control in the reading process
Examples:
PEER http://peer.edb.hkedcity.net/
Free apps for tablets
Non-print paired books of related themes
Naxos Spoken Word Library (HK Public Library)
Free audio books online
http://lightupyourbrain.com/stories/
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From Reading to Writing
Enhancing the
implementation of READING Workshops
Ensuring progressive development of reading skills and strategies
Providing opportunities for students to develop their creativity and critical thinking skills
Introducing the features of different text types explicitly
Connecting students’
READING and
WRITING experiences
Making alignment between the GE programme and Reading Workshops to design writing tasks with meaningful contexts
Exposing students to authentic readers to enrich
their writing ideas and language used
e-Learning refers to an open and flexible learning mode involving the use of the electronic media, including the use of digital resources and communication tools to achieve the learning objectives.
“Pedagogy empowered by digital technology"
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http://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/edu-system/primary-secondary/applicable-to-primary-secondary/it-in-edu/IL_for_HK_Student_2016(Draft)_Eng_20161116.pdf
Information Literacy Framework for HK Students 2016
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Interacting with a variety of texts
Producing messages using different modes of
communication
Access information from a variety of sources
To develop learning, teaching and assessment activities for a unit of work:
Understand the ideas in the multimodal texts under
teachers’ guidance Analyse and explore how
messages are presented
Evaluate the messages and values embedded in the
multimodal texts Express and create messages using different modes of communication
Pedagogy to Enhance Literacy Development
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E-books, websites
Pearson Bug Club PEER
Starfall.com
Oxford Owl Free Kids Books
Free Guided Reading
Epic…
Storybird
Voting and interactive
tools
Mentimeter PingPong
Kahoot
Vote Everywhere
Zeetings
Socrative
Others…
Templates / graphic organisers
Read Write Think
Class Tools
Educreations
bubble.us
Coogle
Popplet
Others… Reference
Tools
Google translate Voki
Google images
Flikr
learnersdictionary .com
Wolfra-Alpha
Others…
Creative tools
Toondoo Makebeliefs
Story Jumper
Explain Everything
Puppet Pals 2
Glogster
My Little Bird Tale
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Integrative use of generic skills
Two examples of integrative use of generic skills:
-Holistic thinking skills: involving the use of critical thinking skills, problem solving skills and creativity
-Collaborative problem solving skills: involving the use of
collaboration skills, communication skills and problem solving
skills
National Identity
Values Education
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Integrity Perseverance
Commitment
Respect for Others
Responsibility
Care for Others
Seven Priority Values and Attitudes
Values education in different domains
Basic Law education
Life education
Media education education Sex
Human rights education
Health &
anti-drug education Environmental
education Road
safety education
Moral and Civic
education
An example – What if Everybody Did That?
(Positive values: Be considerate, self-discipline, responsibility, respect for others)
• Connecting learning experiences between GE Programme & Reading Workshops (P4 Modules: We can be better! / Good habits)
• Prediction: Reading the page on the left and guessing the impact brought by the bad behavior
• Analysing the consequences of the bad behaviour
• Suggesting what should be done to correct the bad behavior
• Designing a booklet about good behavior in different settings Incorporating Values Education into the
School English Language Curriculum
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Listening
Speaking Writing
Reading
Language across
the Curriculum
• Reading across the curriculum (RaC) is a component within Language across the Curriculum
• RaC
– reading as a fundamental mode of learning
– explicit teaching of reading to be
integrated with teaching the curriculum – students learning to read
• the subject matter of pedagogic texts
• the associated language patterns
(Martin & Rose, 2005) Academic
content awareness
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Academic language awareness
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Maximise students’
exposure to text types to increase awareness of the structures and features of
different text types
Develop students’ ability in understanding and producing English texts for a variety of purposes
Collaborate with
teachers of other KLAs
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Whole-school initiative:
STEM education
ELE KLA supports the implementation of STEM education through RaC/LaC activities, e.g.
- introduce STEM-related reading materials
- design tasks, activities and projects to create new things or work out innovative solutions to problems
- connect learning experiences through life-wide learning
- infuse elements that help nurture an
entrepreneurial spirit
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different KLAs/subjects
Achieving the aims of education
Life-long Learning and Whole-person Development
Reading across the Curriculum at the Primary Level
Major Concern of the school
English Language
Nurturing positive values and attitudes through reading and
identifying values, attitudes and beliefs expressed in the text
An example – Reader’s Handbook (Yellow)
(A reference reading for teachers/KS2 students to connect their reading and writing experiences)
• Reading non-fiction, e.g. a magazine article about earthquake
• Reading fiction
• Making connection and self-reflection using graphic organisers
• Showing practical examples to help students develop reading
strategies, e.g. pause and reflect, making notes, asking questions and making evaluation
Reading across the Curriculum at the Primary Level
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3. Making an evaluation about the magazine article
1. Making notes 2. Self-questioning
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Grammar in Context or Text Grammar?
Grammar in
Context
ComplementaryConcepts
Text Grammar
• beyond the sentence level
• grammar items typical of a particular text type
• how grammar contributes to the coherence & the structure of a text
• how to apply grammar knowledge to create texts of different text types
• the link between form and function and how grammar makes
meaning and varies in different contexts
• how contexts shape the choice of
language used
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• Automatising the grammar rule and using it naturally
Automatising
Structuring and Restructuring
• Structuring the grammar rule in mind
• Restructuring it and applying it in new contexts
Reasoning &
Hypothesising
• Hypothesising the grammar rule
Noticing
• Noticing the specific
language patterns in texts
Hedge, T. (2000) Teaching and learning in the language classroom . Oxford University Press.
Inductive/
Discovery Approach
Process of Learning Grammar
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Purposes of Assessment
Purpose Key Assessor
Assessment for/as
Learning (AfL / AaL)
• Quality feedback for learners, which entails timely support and enrichment
• Information for teachers to review the learning objectives, lesson plans and teaching strategies
• Students’ self-monitoring & self-correction or adjustment
Teacher / Students
Assessment of Learning (AoL)
• Assessment of learners’ performance and progress against the learning targets and objectives
• Judgments about placement, promotion and attainment
Teacher
Learner Independence
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Promoting Assessment
for/as Learning
Strengthening AfL:
- Adopting diversified modes of assessment - Making use of various assessment tools
- Making effective use of assessment data
Extending from AfL to AaL:
- Enhancing learners’ self- directed learning
capabilities through
introducing metacognitive
strategies
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Different modes of Assessment in
Schools
Questioning
Shared Writing &
Process Writing
Dictation Projects
Portfolios
Examinations
Quizzes/
Tests Homework
Oral Presentations Conferencing Learning
Tasks &
Activities (e.g.
performance tasks)
etc.
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Extending from AfL to AaL:
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Learning styles
Visual (Learn best by seeing) Auditory
(Learn best by hearing)
Kinesthetic (Learn best by doing)
Characteristics
maturity, gender, personality,
aspiration, interest, learning motivation
Abilities Gifted Special
education needs Prior knowledge
Level of readiness
Social Economic
Cultural Backgrounds
NCSNAC
CBS Low family
income
Catering for Diverse Learning Needs and Styles
Learners' diversity exists naturally
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Supporting Students with
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Adopt a multi- sensory approach
Differentiate in terms of content, process, product &
learning
environment
Encourage personalised learning goals based on
students’ own needs
Content - what students need to learn or how the student will get access to the information
Process - activities in which the students engage in to master the content
Product - work in which students demonstrate their learning
Learning Environment - the operation of the classroom
Suggestions:
- Organising a variety of activities
- Each activity lasts for 10 – 15 minutes
- Allowing time for students to learn and explore
independently using e- resources
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Strategies to Cater for Learner Diversity
Promoting assessment for/as learning
- giving verbal and written feedback in lessons / for homework
- guiding students to understand their performance and setting goals
Catering for learner diversity Administrative Measures
Early Identification - Understanding the
weakness and strength of students - Understanding their learning background
Time-tabling for different programmes
- Organising enrichment programme for more able and gifted learners
- Organising intervention programmes for SEN students
Diversified assessments - Formative, e.g. student
learning profile,
differentiated dictation - Summative (not only limited to pen-and-paper) - Recognising non-
academic achievements in report cards
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Professional Development
Human Resource Deployment
Flexible grouping - Providing timely support
- Providing quality feedback
- Engaging students in a variety of learning
activities
- Mixed ability grouping - Streaming students according to abilities - Grouping students
according to the purposes and requirements of tasks
- PDPs provided by
education psychologists - PDPs on curriculum planning
- PDPs on teaching strategies
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In groups, share a school-based initiative of your school which has incorporated plans to address the curriculum updates.
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Time for discussion:
15 minutes
Time for sharing:
10 minutes
Writing Task: Producing an e-book about their dream job for display on the school Open Day
Pre-writing Task 1 Engaging students in
a jigsaw reading activity to find out
the important qualities to become
a successful person
Pre-writing Task 2
• Identifying and researching on
student’s own dream jobs
• Compare and
contrast the choices and select the best one
• Learning to use the features of the app to produce an e-book
Writing Task Producing an e- book about their
dream job for display on the
school Open Day
Integrative use of generic skills and development of new literacy
Application of new knowledge and skills Values
Education
Creation of a multimodal text
Level: Lower/Upper Primary
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e-Learning & Information Literacy Values Education
Integrative Use of Generic Skills
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Reading input
Teaching focus in English lessons
• Concepts of a balanced diet
• Facts about the diet of an athlete
• Text types: a pamphlet, a leaflet and a profile
• Language structures: the use of the simple present and simple past tense to talk about facts and past events respectively
• Vocabulary about food items and nutrients
Connecting students’ learning experiences in different subjects, e.g. General Studies and Physical Education
Task: Design a healthy menu for the
athlete you admire and give reasons
• Providing students with the
opportunity to apply and integrate the knowledge/skills learnt and learning experiences
gained in different KLAs
Level: Upper Primary
Major Concern of the School:
Living a healthy life
Reading across the Curriculum
A unit about food and drink in English
textbook
A pamphlet about
calorie and energy A profile of
Michael Phelps A leaflet about
meals for athletes
A unit about Growth and Health in General Studies textbook
Values Education Literacy Development
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You are a classmate of Peppa Pig. Your school held the Sports Day last week.
You and your classmates enjoyed it very much. Peppa Pig has become so keen on sports that she decides to join a relay race in the Inter-school Sports Day next month. However, only two of her classmates are going to join the race with her. She needs one more team member.
Help Peppa Pig choose ONE member for her team and write a description about the new team member by explaining why he/she should be chosen.
Module: Happy Days Unit: Sports Days
Level: Upper Primary
Learning and Teaching of Text Grammar e-Learning & Information Literacy
Values Education
• Viewing/reading different texts, including a blog entry in the textbook and a video clip to gain some exposure to the target language items/structures (i.e.
adjectives, comparative and superlative adjectives) and learn the vocabulary items about sports
Exposure
• Identifying and categorising the forms/patterns of the target language
items/structures
• Practising the target language items/structures in an
information gap activity about identifying the winners of the Sports Day
Noticing and
Practice • Choosing ONE animal from the four given to be Peppa Pig’s new team member
• Writing a description about the new team member and explaining the reasons for choosing him/her by using the target language
items/structures
Structuring
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• Viewing/reading different texts, including a blog entry in the textbook and a video clip to gain some exposure to the target language items/structures (i.e. adjectives, comparative and
superlative adjectives) and learn the vocabulary items about sports
Exposure
• Identifying and categorising the forms/patterns of the target language items/structures
• Practising the target language
items/structures in an information gap activity about identifying the winners of the Sports Day
Noticing and Practice
• Choosing ONE animal from the four given to be Peppa Pig’s new team member
• Writing a description about the new team member and
explaining the reasons for choosing him/her by using the target language items/structures
Structuring
Learning and teaching grammar at text level (illustrating how grammar makes meaning beyond sentence level in
different contexts) Using multimodal
learning and teaching
aids and materials Providing opportunities for students to practise and reinforce the form of the target grammar items
Raising students’
awareness of the
forms/patterns and the connections between form and meaning
Applying the
understanding of the use of the target language items and structures in another context
Providing students with the autonomy to complete the task
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Writing Task: Writing about a surprise party for a special person
Pre-writing Task 1
• Helping students learn the present perfect tense through reading different
stories/recounts about parties, e.g. an e-book about a special birthday present, a party for a dog
Pre-writing Task 2
• Helping students learn the vocabulary items about organising a
party through a variety of learning activities
• Learning about the setting of a
story/recount
• Helping students to reflect on their
learning using 3-2-1 summariser
Writing Task
• Conducting group writing to help
students develop ideas and
collaborate in groups
• Writing a creative story about a
birthday
celebration with a special person
Catering for the needs of students in
the mainstream English classroom Assessment for/as learning e-learning
Level: Upper Primary
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e-Learning & Information Literacy
Catering for the Needs of SEN and Gifted Students in the Mainstream English Classroom
Extending from Assessment for Learning to Assessment as Learning
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Supplementary Resources
2. A Surprise Party
•setting of a story
•sentence building
•vocabulary building
•learning of language items
3. A Surprise Party for a Dog, ‘Bibi’
•present perfect
tense in context 4. A Party Planner
•surprise elements
•word collocation
Textbook unit:
Primary 5 Having fun together Theme: A Surprise Party
Adaptations:
Exposing students to more narrative texts to familiarise
them with the features of a story
Creating a new writing task
1. An e-book about a birthday gift
•introducing the theme
•present perfect tense in context
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1. Making use of graphic organisers and visual aids
Vocabulary building Understanding the setting of a story
2. Enhancing students’ participation through kinesthetic learning activities
Whole class activity:
Matching game
Individual work:
Graphic organiser
Group work:
Pelmanism
game
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3. Making use of the text features of a story to help
students understand/construct the story
4. Appropriate scaffolding for less able students and greater flexibility for more able students
Open-ended Task:
Creative story writing about a special party
Lost the present / no present
picnic
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◊ Greater learner autonomy
For more able students
Product
◊ All students achieve the learning objectives / targets
◊ The products varied in breadth and depth
For less able students
◊ Break into steps
◊ Provide prompts
Provide scaffolding
Support to students:
Writing Tips:
•To remind students what they need to achieve in every paragraph of the writing
•Part of the self
assessment and peer assessment
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48 Extending from Assessment for Learning to Assessment as Learning
Role of teacher: Role of students:
- Identifying students’
strengths and weaknesses - Providing
constructive feedback
- Making reflection on their own
learning, especially the writing skills
- Making
improvement
based on feedback from teachers and peers
Sharing learning intentions and success criteria with
learners
Checklist:
• Assessment rubrics summed up from have been taught in the lessons
• Raising students’
awareness of the
requirements of the writing task
Assessment AS learning occurs when students reflect on and monitor their progress to inform their future learning goals.
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Setting learning goals
Specific learning goals
• Short term goals within the over-arching context of a particular unit/module in the learning process
• Relate to learning output
• e.g. use 5 adjectives learnt in the article, use the
simple past tense and present perfect tense correctly in the story
Generic learning goals
• More general goals and of longer term
• Continued to be addressed across several units/areas and over time
• e.g. listen when my friends talk, read longer books
- from more able student
- from less able student
Some reflection strategies
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Graphic
Organisers
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Some reflection strategies
“Traffic Light”
Have students examine their work and highlight where they feel
• stopped
• cautious
• they can go straight ahead
“Concept Circle”
Instruct students to
• sketch a concept circle with as many spikes as they like;
• brainstorm and recall the key concepts/ideas learnt;
• highlight, or draw a box around, any concept that they have trouble understanding; and
• write down who/where to resort to in order to solve the problems
“Feedback Sandwich”
(Good news) “I did really well on …”
(Bad news) “I think …need to be changed because…”
(Good news) “Some ways I can improve this are…”
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What is the role of an English teacher?
Going beyond the role as a major provider of linguistic input to helping students make sense of language data;
Capitalize on students’ existing and diversified resources – make school experience positive;
let students develop a sense of achievements;
Share learning experiences, identify critical facilitative/debilitative features, and demonstrate effective strategies in the processes of becoming an effective language user.
Prof Jasmine LUK, Faculty of Education, HKU EDB Empowerment Workshop on Effective English Language Learning
at Primary Level, March 2015
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Failure to learn well
Four major factors/questions:
Interest (Do students enjoy learning English?)
Relevance (Do students find the learning relevant to their immediate and long-term goals?)
Identity (Do students feel that learning English contributes to their desired/imagined identity?)
Resources (Do students possess the valued resources to learn English well?)
Prof Jasmine LUK, Faculty of Education, HKU EDB Empowerment Workshop on Effective English Language Learning
at Primary Level, March 2015
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What makes English learning interesting?
Popular culture with audio-visual stimulus
Games (with the elements of competition)
Prof Jasmine LUK, Faculty of Education, HKU EDB Empowerment Workshop on Effective English Language Learning
at Primary Level, March 2015
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What makes English learning relevant?
Immediate goals
- To make sense of fun things presented in English in everyday life?;
- Taking tests and exams?
Long-term goals
- Higher education?
- International communication?
- Career prospects?
Prof Jasmine LUK, Faculty of Education, HKU EDB Empowerment Workshop on Effective English Language Learning
at Primary Level, March 2015
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