Collaborative Research & Development (“Seed”) Project for 2021/22
Section Native-speaking English Teacher (NET) Section
Title of the Project Glocalisation: Developing Students’ Language and Intercultural Competence through a Multicultural Language Arts Programme in KS2
Class Level
(Please check and √ the appropriate box.)
□ Kindergarten
Primary□ Secondary □ Primary and Secondary Please specify levels: P4-6
Brief Description
(e.g. Objectives, expected outcomes)
Communication in the world we live in now has changed in the 21st century. Through media and technology the world has become a “small village” , and people are more connected than ever before (Spitzberg, 2000). For this reason, when we encounter people from different places and cultural backgrounds, it is important to develop a level of intercultural competence that enables us to appropriately communicate with them. Multicultural literature serves as a powerful tool in enabling students to gain a better understanding of both their own culture and the cultures of others. Through this deeper knowledge, relationships can be strengthened, bridging the gap between students from diverse cultural backgrounds (Hseu & Hetzel, 2000). As students of the 21st century are global participants, it is important that they possess cultural sensitivity.
As set out in the CDC English Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide (Primary 1 – Secondary 6) (2017), every student should be provided with opportunities for extending their knowledge and experience of the cultures of other people. When students vicariously experience the feelings and emotions of others through literature, they are encouraged to look critically at the world and gain a greater understanding of the global community (Monobe & Son, 2014). With a wider perspective comes a unique set of circumstances for nurturing students’ abilities to reflect on and apply their beliefs, including identifying, clarifying and evaluating values and attitudes in different situations, and adopt positive values and attitudes as the guiding principles in making judgements and decisions. Through the appreciation of quality literary works, teachers can not only guide students to develop critical thinking skills, empathy, and self-worth, but also provide them with opportunities to practise their language skills in meaningful contexts.
This “Seed” project aims to:
explore the links between language and culture and how these can foster students’
intercultural understanding and develop their awareness of becoming a global citizen;
develop students’ literacy skills, positive values and intercultural competence;
enhance teachers’ capacity to integrate language arts that are rich in cultural
elements into the school-based English language curriculum to broaden students’
understanding of the world and enrich their literacy experiences; and
collaborate with teachers to plan and devise appropriate English learning activities that promote critical thinking, creativity and cultural awareness with suitable multimodal and multigenre resources; and
create learning communities through the use of different online platforms to allow students to share their knowledge, ideas and learning outcomes at their own time and pace.
Key Emphases
(Please check and √ the appropriate box(es).
You can choose more than one box.)
Dimension Curriculum planning Learning and Teaching Assessment
Focus
Values Education (including MCE, BLE& NSE)
□ Chinese history & Chinese culture
Reading / Language across the Curriculum
□ STEM & IT Education
□ Entrepreneurial Spirit
□ Life-wide Learning
□ Gifted Education
□ L&T of Chinese as a second language
Catering for Learner Diversity
Self-directed Learning
Whole-person Development
□ Others (please specify *) Deliverables
(Please check and √ the appropriate box(es).
You can choose more than one box.)
□ Exemplars to be used for curriculum documents
Learning & teaching packages, self-learning packages for teachers
Workshops and seminars
□ Others (please specify) : Duration and
Nature of the Project
From 09 mm 2021 yy to 08 mm 2022 yy
New □ Ongoing (started from mm yy)
Name of Advisor(s) /
Consultant(s) to be invited
NA
Officer i/c Name: Ms Winnie CHEUNG Post: CDO(NET)4 Tel No.: 3549 8366 Fax No.: 2334 8707
# Please use a separate sheet for each project.
References
Spitzberg, Brian, H. (2000). Intercultural Communication: A Reader Eight Edition (by Larry A.
Samovar & Richard E. Porter, 1997). Chapter 7: A model of intercultural communication competence, p. 379-391. Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Hseu, M., & Hetzel, J. (2000). Bridging the Cultural Divide Through Multicultural Children’s Literature.
Retrieved from http://buddies.org/articles/Literature.html.
Monobe, G., & Son, E. H. (2014). Using Children’s Literature and Drama to Explore Children’s Lives in the Context of Global Conflicts. The Social Studies, 105(2), 69-74.
