UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM
FOR NEW ENGLISH TEACHERS
English Language Education Section Curriculum Development Institute Education Bureau
WARM-UP ACTIVITY
In groups, discuss the following:
How far do you agree with the following statements?
1. Students should do more past exam papers in class in order to get good results in the HKDSE examinations.
2. Teachers are required to teach 3 elective modules in the Elective Part.
3. Since the elective modules are not properly assessed in the HKDSE examination, they need not be taught.
4. There is a huge gap between the JS and the SS
curricula.
BY THE END OF THE WORKSHOP, YOU WILL HAVE
a better understanding of the design and the features of the English Language curriculum with an emphasis on the senior secondary level;
a brief idea about the major updates of the ELE KLACG (P1-S6) with a particular focus on RaC
explored strategies for curriculum planning and implementation; and
designed task-based activities for senior secondary
students.
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
Reading across the Curriculum & STEM Education (including entrepreneurial spirit) e-Learning & Information Literacy
Examples
THE SENIOR SECONDARY
ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM
S6
S5
S4
Elective Part (25%) Compulsory
Part
(75%)
THE COMPULSORY PART
The learning and teaching of:
The four language skills
Language items and communicative functions
Vocabulary Text types
ModuleUnit 1
Task 1.1 Task 1.2
Unit 2
Task 2.1
Organising structure of M-U-T
THE ELECTIVE PART
While Modules, Units and Tasks are to be adopted for organising learning and teaching in the Compulsory Part, the modules in the Elective Part may not necessarily follow the M-U-T structure. However, the general approach to teaching the modules in the Elective Part remains task-based – that is, teachers are encouraged to continue with the principles and practices associated with task-based learning, namely using learner-centred instruction, providing opportunities for meaningful and purposeful communication and promoting integrative and creative uses of language.
English Language Curriculum and Assessment Guide (Secondary 4-6), p.54
FEATURES OF A TASK
Involves learners in thinking and doing
Requires learners to draw upon a
framework of
knowledge and skills
Product Purpose
Context
Adapted from Enhancing English Vocabulary Learning and Teaching at Secondary Level (2012)
ADOPTING A TASK-BASED APPROACH IN LESSON DESIGN
Module
Cultures of the World
Task 1
Reading an email from the teacher-
in-charge of the
“Hong Kong’s Heritage Excursion”
Task 2 Listening to an interview with the
Executive Secretary of the
Antiquities and Monuments Office
Task 4 Making
recommendations for the heritage
tour
Final Task
Writing a proposal and designing a poster Heritage ConservationUnit
Task 3
Reading leaflets about some heritage sites in
Hong Kong
Provides contexts for:
• integrated use of language skills
• meaningful and purposeful use of English for communication
Facilitates effective grammar and vocabulary learning and teaching
Uses learning and teaching resources of a variety of text types
Promotes a learner-centred approach
Primary curriculum
• laying the foundation of English Language development
INTERFACE BETWEEN KEY STAGES
Primary curriculum
• laying the foundation of English Language development Junior Secondary curriculum
• providing chances for the application of English for various everyday learning and developmental purposes
Senior Secondary curriculum
• providing chances for the application of English for various everyday learning and developmental purposes
• consolidating what students have learnt through P1-S3 and broadening and deepening their learning experiences
Junior Secondary curriculum
• providing chances for the application of English for various everyday learning and developmental purposes
Junior Secondary
•Exposure to a wide range of print and non-print texts
•Extensive reading and RaC
•Further development of reading skills and strategies
Senior Secondary
•Exposure to a widened range of more complex text types
•School-based
Assessment: critical and imaginative responses to texts
•Comprehension of more complex messages in more formal/academic texts
Primary
•Exposure to a range of text types
•Incorporation of Reading Workshops into the School-based English Language
Curriculum
•Development of basic reading skills and
strategies
LEARNING EXPERIENCE ACROSS KEY STAGES
Junior Secondary
•Exposure to a wide range of print and non-print texts
•Extensive reading and RaC
•Further development of reading skills and strategies
Senior Secondary
•Exposure to a widened range of more complex text types
•School-based
Assessment: critical and imaginative responses to texts
•Comprehension of more complex messages in more formal/academic texts
Primary
•Exposure to a range of text types
•Incorporation of Reading Workshops into the School-based English Language
Curriculum
•Development of basic reading skills and
strategies
LEARNING EXPERIENCE ACROSS KEY STAGES
T
EXPOSURE TO A WIDE RANGE OF TEXT TYPES
Text Types for Key Stage 1
Additional Text Types for Key Stage 2
Additional Text Types for Key Stage 3
Additional Text Types for Key Stage 4
• Advertisements
• Captions
• Cards
• Cartoons/comics
• Charts
• Diaries
• Fables/fairy tales
• Forms
• Illustrations
• Leaflets
• Lists
• Menus
• Notes and messages
• Notices
• Personal letters
• Poems
• …
• Announcements
• Autobiographies
• Biographies
• Blogs
• Brochures
• Children’s
encyclopaedias
• Discussions
• Emails
• Formal letters
• Informational reports
• Jokes
• Maps and legends
• News reports
• Plays
• Questionnaires
• …
• Book
reviews/reports
• Encyclopaedias
• Film reviews
• Interviews
• Itineraries
• Letters to the editor
• Manuals
• Memoranda
• Newspaper/
Magazine articles
• Presentations
• Short films
• Short novels
• Social media texts
• Talks
• …
• Abstracts/synopses
• Agendas
• Debates
• Documentaries
• Editorials
• Essays
• Feature articles
• Films
• Minutes
• Novels
• Proposals
• Speeches
• Resumes
• Thesauri
Junior Secondary
•Exposure to a wide range of print and non-print texts
•Extensive reading and RaC
•Further development of reading skills and strategies
Senior Secondary
•Exposure to a widened range of more complex text types
•School-based
Assessment: critical and imaginative responses to texts Comprehension of more complex messages in more formal/academic texts
Primary
•Exposure to a range of text types
•Incorporation of Reading Workshops into the School-based English Language
Curriculum
•Development of basic reading skills and
strategies
LEARNING EXPERIENCE ACROSS KEY STAGES
Listening
Speaking Writing
Reading
Language across
the Curriculum
Academic content Awareness
+
Academic language awareness
• Reading across the curriculum (RaC) is a component within Language across the
Curriculum
• Through engaging in purposeful and meaningful reading,
students are guided to connect reading texts related to various KLAs with their previous
knowledge and life experience
(SECG, 2017, Chap.6B, p.9)
GROUNDWORK FOR PROMOTING RAC:
• Enhancing the reading atmosphere on campus
• Fostering collaboration among teachers
Understanding students’ interest Encouragement for students Making RaC an emphasis Quality reading materials Context for application
School-based reading curriculum Favourable reading environment Whole-school reading scheme
Collaboration – (1) Collaboration – (1) Skill-based
Liberal Studies English
Language History
Letter to
the editor Editorial Editorial Cartoon
Points to note:
1. The reading materials do not necessarily need to be thematically related.
2. English Language teachers reminds students that the same reading strategies and skills can be employed when reading texts of other subjects.
3. L.S. & History teachers should also emphasise the key reading strategies and skills.
Sept-Nov Jan-Mar Apr-Jun
Skills • Understand the use
of discourse markers
• Recognise the rhetorical functions performed by
sentences in the development of a text
• Make use of
knowledge of the world to make sense of the text
• Use linguistic and contextual clues, knowledge of
features of different text types to
determine the
meaning of the text.
• Differentiate fact from opinion
• Understand and appreciate the tone, mood and intention of the writer and his/her attitude to the theme or topic
Related KLA / subject English Language,
Physics, History English Language,
Geography English Language, LS, History
Text types Experiment procedures,
news, documentaries Feature Articles, essays Letters to the editor, editorials, editorial cartoons
Chinese Language
Collaboration – (2) Collaboration – (2) Theme-based
Information and Communication Technology Curriculum and Assessment Guide (Secondary 4 - 6), 2015
English Language Information and Communication
Technology Websites
(http://www.infosec.gov.
hk/english/main.html)
Interpret how linguistic and structural devices as well as visual elements achieve certain effects
Magazine articles –
cyber bullying Use linguistic and contextual clues,
knowledge of features of different text types and knowledge of the world to determine the meaning of the text
Points to note:
1. English Language teachers
• provide students with guidance on reading different text types related to the themes; and
• train students’ thinking skills by guiding them to connect their learning
experiences with their personal lives.
2. ICT teachers relate the topic to the texts students have read to strengthen their understanding.
RaC is an effective means to promote cross-curricular activities with different themes such as:
1) Chinese history and culture 2) Healthy living
3) STEM education 4) Moral education
Collaboration – (2) Theme-based
EBD’s suggested themes for promotion of reading in the
2018/19 s.y.
(EDB Circular No. 10/2018)
Collaboration (3) Project Learning
Secondary Education Curriculum Guide, 2017, Booklet 6C, p.10
Cross KLAs / subjects collaboration
English Language Curriculum and Assessment Guide (Secondary 4 - 6), 2015, p.60
Skill-based Theme-based
Project Learning
Junior Secondary
•Exposure to a wide range of print and non-print texts
•Extensive reading and RaC
•Further development of reading skills and strategies
Senior Secondary
•Exposure to a widened range of more complex text types
•School-based
Assessment: critical and imaginative responses to texts
•Comprehension of more complex messages in more formal/academic texts
Primary
•Exposure to a range of text types
•Incorporation of Reading Workshops into the School-based English Language
Curriculum
•Development of basic reading skills and
strategies
LEARNING EXPERIENCE ACROSS KEY STAGES
Depth of Processing
Range and application of reading strategies
Text complexity
Abstractness
Organisation Density of information
Understanding
- Locating information
- Working out meaning of words and phrases
- Connecting ideas
- Identifying main ideas and supporting details
- Distinguishing facts from opinions - Organising information and ideas
Inferring
- Inferring feelings
- Deducing information and ideas
- Comparing information and ideas
- Working out main ideas and themes
Interpreting
- Analysing information and ideas
- Synthesising - Evaluating - Justifying
Reading Skills and Strategies
- Activating learners’ prior knowledge and experiences
- Selection of a wide range of texts of appropriate lengths and different topics - Interplay between texts and tasks
- The provision of teacher support and the need to promote learner independence
Underlying principles
COMPLEXITY OF TEXTS
Easier texts More difficult texts Abstractness
Ideas and information explicitlystated
Straightforward & factual information
Ideas and information implicitly stated
Meaning hidden between lines or beyond lines
Organisation
Well-defined text structure Organisation of paragraphs following sequence of events, logical progression (general to specific)
Use of short paragraphs,
subheadings & cohesive devices
Lack of well-defined text structure, mix of text-types
Organisation of paragraphs not following a common pattern (problem-solution)
Lack of signposts to facilitate understanding of texts
Density of information
Most sentences/paragraphs containing one piece of information
Sentence structures and
language largely simple, with occasional use of complex structures
High lexical density – with a large amount of information- carrying words
A wide range of complex sentence structures and language
IMPLICATIONS FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING
• To expose students to a wide range of reading materials of different subject areas and connect reading with their learning and daily lives
• To teach reading strategies explicitly
• To review the reading assessment items (e.g. levels of difficulty, range of reading skills)
• To set the right questions / tasks
• To ask appropriate questions for different pedagogical purposes
• To provide feedback to students on their reading skills
development
PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE SENIOR SECONDARY
ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM
THE SENIOR SECONDARY
ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM
S6
S5
S4
Elective Part (25%) Compulsory
Part
(75%)
THE ELECTIVE PART
• Adds variety to the English Language curriculum
• Caters for students’ diverse needs and interests
• Broadens students’ learning experiences
• Provides them with opportunities to apply
what they have learnt in the Compulsory
Part
Language Arts Non-Language Arts
8 Elective Modules
Learning English through Drama
Learning English through Short Stories
Learning English through Poems and Songs
Learning English through Popular Culture
Learning English through Social Issues
Learning English through Debating
Learning English through Sports Communication Learning English through Workplace Communication
THE ELECTIVE PART
Choices of module, considering:
Learners’ background, needs, interests and abilities
Teachers’ expertise and readiness to teach the module
Learning objectives and content of the modules
Resources available, both inside and outside school
THE ELECTIVE PART
Compulsory Part
Reading/ Writing Listening/ Speaking
Vocabulary
Text Types
Grammar Forms &
Communicative Functions
Speaking Skills
• pronunciation
• stress
• rhythm &
intonation
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
THE COMPULSORY AND ELECTIVE PARTS
(AN ILLUSTRATION WITH THE DRAMA MODULE)
Elective Part (Drama module)
Dramatised Reading
Role play / Drama performance Text Types
• dialogues
• stories
Extension, application and consolidation of what has been learned
• stress &
intonation
• expression of emotions and feelings
• short scene writing
• production of an original script
PLANNING THE ELECTIVE MODULE IN CONTEXT (KEY CONSIDERATIONS)
• Approaches to implementing the elective module (as a standalone module or integrated with other curriculum and assessment components)
• Adaptations of the S.O.W.
(e.g. selecting appropriate learning focuses)
• Sources of learning and teaching materials
(e.g. textbooks, school-based materials, resource packages, the media)
• Teacher deployment
• Interface with the JS curriculum
• Timetabling
INTEGRATING VARIOUS CURRICULUM COMPONENTS
Compulsory Part and Elective Part Elective Part and SBA
Elective Modules
COMPULSORY PART AND ELECTIVE PART
ELECTIVE PART AND SBA
Examining the content, language and stylistic features
of advertisements
-Examining an issue from different perspectives
-Using language functions that signal
cause and effect
Producing a leaflet giving advice on how
to be a wise and sensible consumer
INTEGRATION OF ELECTIVE MODULES
Popular Culture
Social Issues
Final
Product
ACTIVITY
• In groups, design three tasks set against a particular context to develop or consolidate the target
knowledge and skills pertaining to any two modules
in the Elective Part.
EXPERIENCE SHARING
In your group, share with others your experience in planning and/or implementing the senior secondary curriculum. You may want to talk about:
• if your school integrates different curriculum components;
• the challenges you encountered/you anticipate in planning and delivering the curriculum; and
• how you overcame the challenges/you think the challenges could be
tackled.
USEFUL RESOURCES FOR THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE CURRICULUM
USEFUL WEBSITES
• Professional development programmes (PDP)
Information on PDP by Curriculum Development Institute, EDB http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-
edu/professional-development-programmes.html
Application and Details
http://tcs.edb.gov.hk
USEFUL WEBSITES
• Learning and teaching resources
Curriculum Documents http://www.edb.gov.hk/elecg
One-stop Portal for Learning and Teaching Resources http://minisite.proj.hkedcity.net/edbosp-eng/eng/home.html
References & Resources
http://www.edb.gov.hk/eleresources
ETV Programmes
http://etv.edb.gov.hk/home.aspx
Radio Programmes
http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeID=4034&langno=1
USEFUL WEBSITES
• Other useful websites
Central Resources Centre by Curriculum Development Institute, EDB http://www.edb.gov.hk/crc
Language Learning Support Section, EDB
https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/primary-secondary/applicable-to- primary-secondary/sbss/language-learning-support/index.html
NET Section, EDB
https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/resource- support/net/index.html
The English Campus of HK Education City
http://www.hkedcity.net/english/
e-Learning and Information Literacy
• e-Learning Series: Media Literacy in the Junior Secondary English Classroom – Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills through the Use of Digital Texts
• e-Learning Series: Effective Use of e-Resources for Communication – Tapping into Secondary Students’ Creativity, Critical Thinking and Problem-solving Abilities
• e-Learning Series: Effective Use of Multimodal Materials in Language Arts to Enhance the Learning and Teaching of English at the Junior Secondary Level
Language across the Curriculum
• Enriching and Extending Students’ Learning Experiences through Reading and Writing across the Curriculum at the Secondary Level
PDPS FOR 2018/19 S.Y.
Catering for Learner Diversity
• Catering for Learner Diversity Series: Adopting e-Learning to Cater for Students with Special Educational Needs in the Junior Secondary English Classroom
• Catering for Learner Diversity Series: Effective Strategies for Accommodating the Diverse Needs of Students in the Secondary English Classroom
• Catering for Learner Diversity Series: Stretching the Potentials of Advanced Learners in the Secondary English Language Classroom
Learning and Teaching of Grammar and Language Skills
• Adopting an Inductive Approach to Enhance Secondary Students’ Grammar Knowledge and Promote Self-directed Learning
• Grammar as Choice: The Role of Grammar in Enhancing Students’ Writing in the Senior Secondary English Language Classroom