Hong Kong SAR

Reading Instruction in the Primary Grades

Instructional Materials

Before the 2000 Education Reform Act, the chief focus of teaching centered on proceeding systematically through prescribed texts, with most Chinese language teachers tending to rely on textbooks prescribed by the school. About six to seven periods per week were assigned for Chinese language teaching, during which Chinese language teachers tend to use most of their lesson time explaining texts, providing background information about the authors of the texts, reviewing vocabulary, and discussing the themes of paragraphs and the use of rhetoric. Following the reform act in 2000, the Curriculum Development Council suggested the widening of teaching materials to include Web-based and audiovisual materials. In addition to reading materials recommended by the Education Bureau, schools were advised to allow students to choose what they want to read in class, and to read materials covering a variety of theme and text types from different sources.³¹

Use of Technology

The introduction of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has enabled students to access information independently at their own pace and at a time of their own choosing at home and in school. Teachers are encouraged to help students develop relevant knowledge, ICT skills, and appropriate attitudes toward using ICT, the Internet, and educational software. Many computer literacy programs can give instant feedback and record the user’s learning progress, enabling personal assessment and monitoring of progress and learning.³² One example of ICT reading instruction is the HK Reading City website set up by Hong Kong Education City. This website helps schools promote a rich reading culture by providing an online reading service and experience to students. It recommends books and other reading resources for teachers and school librarians, and offers the latest information on reading materials to the public.³³ In the latest update of the curriculum guide, schools are encouraged to implement cross-curricular reading programs that enrich students’ reading experiences, broaden their horizons, and develop a broad spectrum of interests and abilities.

Role of Reading Specialists

Language teachers and teacher-librarians are chiefly responsible for teaching reading, having received special training on initial and in-service teacher training courses. However, the concept of “Reading Across the Curriculum” implies that teachers of subjects besides literacy will accept a measure of responsibility for helping students learn vocabulary and conventions associated with specialized texts used in subjects across the curriculum. These include ICT specialist conventions and language usage, map reading, historical date charts, mathematical and science formulas, tables and charts, and specialized vocabulary.

Second Language Instruction

When Hong Kong was under British colonial rule, most schools in the colony used English as the medium of instruction (MOI). When Hong Kong became a special autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China in 1997, the new government raised the status of the mother tongue. There still is support for the learning of English, mainly on the grounds that English is a most useful second language for worldwide communication and commercial trading. Hence, although Chinese is the MOI in the majority of primary schools, English is taught as a core subject from Primary 1 onward. In fact, although schools have officially been encouraged to adopt Chinese as the MOI, many are reluctant to move away from using English because of parental preferences for children to learn English. Although Chinese is the first language for most students in Hong Kong, school enrollment statistics indicate an increasing number of ethnic minority students. Few of these students know Chinese; the usual languages spoken at home include Urdu, English, Nepali, Tagalog, and Hindi. These students generally are referred to as non-Chinese speaking students.”³⁴ In this sense, Chinese is their second language. With this in mind, the Education Bureau has issued a supplementary guide to the Chinese language curriculum for non‑Chinese speaking students, providing suggestions and resources for schools to help these children learn Chinese. A research team from the University of Hong Kong has developed for schools teaching packages designed to help non‑Chinese speaking students learn Chinese. Teaching strategies are demonstrated at regularly conducted seminars and workshops for teachers.

The government is committed to encouraging and supporting the integration of non-Chinese speaking students into the community, including facilitating their early adaptation to the local education system and mastery of the Chinese language. As a support measure provided by the Education Bureau for schools and non-Chinese speaking students to learn the Chinese language, the Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework has been implemented starting from the 2014–2015 school year. In essence, the learning framework provides a systematic set of objectives and expected learning outcomes that apply to the learning progress of non-Chinese speaking students at different stages. Teachers and curriculum overseers in such schools are encouraged to set progressive learning targets, learning progress markers, and expected learning outcomes. These generally are monitored using a “small step” learning approach to map and enhance the learning effectiveness of non‑Chinese speaking students. In parallel, module exemplars, assessment tools, and supporting learning and teaching materials are provided to help Chinese language teachers systematically adjust the Chinese language curriculum in a progressive manner based on individual learners’ needs. Such curriculum adjustments hopefully will help non‑Chinese speaking students overcome the difficulties of learning Chinese as a second language.³⁵

Accommodation Policies for Instruction and Testing

The Education Bureau jointly collaborates with tertiary institutions and other parties to provide multiple pathways for non-Chinese speaking students. For non-Chinese speaking students who have a late start in learning the Chinese language or have not been given full opportunities to learn the local Chinese language curriculum, Chinese examinations as part of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), and General Certificate of Education (GCE) are recognized as alternative Chinese qualifications for consideration under the Joint University Programmes Admissions System and for enrollment in sub-degree programs.^36,37

Starting in 2017, new special arrangements for non-Chinese speaking students, newly arrived children (students emigrating from mainland China), and students with special educational needs will be provided for within the Territory System Assessment. For details on the TSA, please refer to the Monitoring Students’ Progress in Reading section in this chapter. Special arrangements for non-Chinese speaking students to take part in the TSA Chinese Language Assessments include the following:³⁸

• A bilingual instruction sheet will be provided to non-Chinese speaking students in all sub-papers of Chinese language assessments. These students will be assessed in a separate classroom.
• For audiovisual and listening assessments, a special version of audio-visual media with questions and options to be read aloud will be prepared for non-Chinese speaking test takers.
• For reading assessments, an extra package with instructions for reading aloud to non‑Chinese speaking test takers will be provided.
• For writing assessments, an extra package will be prepared for reading aloud the writing topic for non‑Chinese speaking students. These students will be assessed in a separate classroom.