Under the current policy of medium of instruction, schools in Hong Kong may use either Cantonese or Putonghua to teach Chinese Language subject. In this research, different media of instruction have been designed based on literature review and were imposed in five classes of primary one student studied in the same school. This study aims to examine the impact on using Putonghua, Cantonese or diglossia as the medium of instruction in Chinese language learning and teaching as well as the development of students’ general Chinese competence. Data were collected from multiple sources, validated and checked for consistency using triangulation. Quantitative analyses were conducted via quasi-experimental study and questionnaire surveys to examine the impact on the development of students’ general Chinese competence as well as students’ learning. Qualitative analyses were executed via multiple case studies, classroom observation, teacher-student interviews and text analysis of transcripts of interview protocols to examine the impact on teaching and learning. The research results show that, using different media of instruction have no negative impact on teaching and learning. Among those media of instruction, Cantonese, the mother tongue, is the preference of teachers and students. Nevertheless, qualified and experienced teachers and well-planned lessons and curriculum are the prerequisites for using Putonghua, Cantonese and Diglossia as the medium of instruction of Chinese language learning. The research results show that there are positive impacts on the Chinese language development of students. However, students have different performances in the mastery of mental lexicons, writing and reading abilities among the five classes. These results reflect that the teaching goals, strategies and the allocation of teaching time are affected by the different media of instruction. In brief, this study is a basic research that provides information for future studies on the media of instruction of Chinese language learning and teaching. Moreover, the result of this study can also serve as a reference to policy makers and teachers in making their decision in selecting the medium of instruction of Chinese language learning. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

This research is a journey of mine, as a CSL (Chinese as second language) teacher, using autoethnographical method to explore my own emotions and professional growth in the teaching of Chinese language to EM students. This research is a study of self-exploration. To make it simple, the autoethnography is written in accordance to the natural sequence of my self-exploration. First, I have chosen to report some of my raw experiences over the two-and-half years of teaching with the 2009 and 2010 cohorts of EM students (S2 and S1) as significant critical incidents that form the basis of my layers of reflection. They form the primary domain of the study. The writing is structured according to the classification suggested by Schon: 1. Reflection in Action: This part of the writing provides rich description of a series of critical incidents or episodes and my thoughts and feelings in the incidents. In writing each incident, the memory brings me back to the time and some instant reflection (usually filled, with some heavy emotions, confusion which needs clarity) may also be added to the description. The ‘Reflection in Action’ with the 2 cohorts of students is reported in two separate chapters. 2. Reflection on Action: After each ‘Reflection in Action’ chapter (which is mainly narratives of the critical incidents), there is a ‘Reflection on Action’ chapter which provides more in-depth analysis and reflection of my experience. With the 2009 cohort (S2 students), the associated ‘Reflection on Action’ is structured around the various emotions and relations experienced. And then with the 2010 cohort (S1 students), the associated ‘Reflection on Action’ is structured around my roles, values and cultural conflicts in the experience. 3. ‘Reflection for Action’: After I have completed ‘Reflection on Action’ on my experience to these two groups of students, I then make an overall reflection. The intention is to develop a better conceptualization of the whole experience and develop some theory that can serve as direction for my future practice, or hypothesis for consideration and future research by others. Before writing this final ‘Reflection for Action’, to provide a more valid and reliable basis for it, I interview some students (those involved in some of the significant incidents), three teachers from my school and three other teachers from other educational institutions. (One is a teaching staff working at the University of Hong Kong, one is from a Band 2 secondary school with lot of EM students, and the last one is a teaching staff working in a subsidized secondary school with some EM students.) Having the private talk with students can give me more insight on how some issues are seen from the students’ side. In the interviews, the critical incidents are used as stimulus together with questions which are designed for sharing emotions and enhancing understanding. After the final ‘Reflection for Action’, I will reflect on how the process of autoethographic writing and try to share with readers its values in teacher growth and other practical knowledge on using this methodology, including its strengths and limitations. In reflecting on my interaction, relation and emotions with students, I found my weaknesses; but I also came to realize fear existed in most of us. The way we handled our fear reflects our values and attitudes and in turn affected the fear of others. Our students also had their fear. The cultures of my students and me, and the differences, had made a great impact on our understanding of each other, and hence our emotional feelings towards each perceptions on cultural identity, and I tried to match the cultural strategies I learnt from literature with the cultural strategies practiced by me and my students. I also began to question how I saw (and would need to see) myself as their teacher, and respond to the differences between us. The issue of a teacher’s self and its formation in intercultural teaching then also became the focus of the study. In the end, you may ask, ‘what do you get from writing this autoethnographic research? In this teaching journey: teaching Chinese to the non-Chinese, you may ask, is teaching pedagogy very important fro students to learn better? Yes. But apart from teaching pedagogy, we need to take other issues into consideration. The issue of emotions and intercultural difference often emerges during the process of teaching and learning especially when teaching with ethnic minority students and this we need to take it into consideration to make the teaching of ethnic minority more smooth. To make the teaching of ethnic minority successful, we also need to understand our limitations and be accommodating, positive and show understanding to our students. In short, in the process of autoethnographic study, I have learned from lived experience. Through layers of reflection in different perspectives and different timing: reflection, it allows me to have some space to understand myself, show respect to others: students, parents and colleagues. We learn when we teach and we grow when we nurture our students with understanding and teach them with the virtue of gratitude. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

This study explored the learning experience of Chinese heritage language learners, focusing on the interaction of their multiple goals, their emotional responses, as well as the influence of their experience in their family and formal school contexts. The settings of this study were the sixth to eighth grade classes at two local community Chinese schools. Data were collected from multiple sources including students' responses to a self-report questionnaire, interviews with teachers, interviews with 19 focal students and their parents, and a semester-long retrospective observation journal. Data were analyzed using coding procedures suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1998) from a grounded theory qualitative approach. Results indicated that perceptions of Chinese school learning affected students' motivational goals and their emotional responses in the Chinese learning experience. These perceptions included (a) perceptions of the Chinese learning environment (instructional methods, teachers' characteristics, and peer influence), (b) perceptions of their ability, (c) perceptions of values and beliefs, and (d) perceptions of their available time and schedule. Students in this study reported having both learning intention goals (categorized as integrative and instrumental goals) as well as well-being (social and work-avoidance) goals. Students also reported experiencing both positive emotions (enjoyment, pride) and negative emotions (boredom, anger) in the Chinese learning context. The contextual factors, including students' formal school experience and their family experience also seemed to influence directly or indirectly students' perceptions of Chinese school learning as well as their motivational goals and emotional responses. How students balanced their multiple goals and their multiple emotions determined the extent of students' willingness to attend Chinese school, the extent of their engagement in learning Chinese, as well as the extent of their acknowledgement of their Chinese identity. Implications for research and practice are discussed. / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using graphic organizers during prereading, reading, and postreading positions of the comprehension and retention of Chinese sixth-grade students who were identified as below-average or above-average readers. Chinese sixth graders from one school were first administered The Michigan Chinese Reading Test to identify reading level. Subjects were then assigned to one of the four treatment groups: traditional Chinese social studies method, graphic preorganizers, graphic organizers as a reading guide, and graphic post organizers.Two practice passages were first used to familiarize the subjects with how graphic organizers were utilized in instruction before reading on experimental passage. The dependent measure, 45 multiple-choice questions based on the experimental passage, was administered twice: the next day after the instructional sessions were concluded and again seven days later.The principal analysis to test the three null hypotheses was a 2 x 4 x 2 ANOVA with repeated measures on the last factor corresponding to the two administrations of the test. Two follow-up analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to test for differences in treatment condition sepa-rately for above-average readers and below-average readers, using the average of the immediate and the seven-day delayed tests. One Scheffe test was applied to find the location of significant differences among the four treatment conditions for above-average readers. Finally, four follow-up t-tests were used to test for differences in reading level at each of the four treatment levels.Three conclusions were drawn from the statistical analyses of the data: 1) graphic organizers had a significant effect on comprehension and retention only when above-average readers were required to process the organizers during reading; 2) graphic organizers did not produce significantly better comprehension and recall performance of below-average readers; and 3) the effect of graphic organizers was equal to that of the traditional Chinese social studies method in maintaining comprehension and recall for both above-average readers and below-average readers over a one-week delay. / Department of Elementary Education

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 284-301). / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xxiv, 301 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Touted as the future of language teaching, task-based pedagogy is grounded in current Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theories, and is in line with the trend of learner-centeredness in general education. However, the method has yet to be fully embraced by the language teaching community due to the lack of 1) clear delineation of pedagogical procedures, and 2) quality research on implementation and evaluation of task-based programs. In this study, two different task-based teaching methods, namely, task-based language teaching (TBLT) and task-supported language teaching (TSLT), were implemented in a college-level Chinese class for beginners (n=41) for 14 weeks. The effects of each instructional approach were evaluated and their relative effectiveness compared. The study also contributes to the thorny debate of how grammar is most effectively learned and taught in foreign language classrooms.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education