The main purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of the picture book teaching method on reading motivation and basic reading literacy (word recognition) of primary first grade students. This research is going to analyze the effect of picture book on primary first grade students according to the basic reading literacy (word recognition) under a tailor-made reading curriculum. The pre-test and post-test of reading comprehension will be given to P.1 students before and after the intervention. The researcher will compare the result of the pre-test and post-test of reading comprehension in order to assess the effective of the picture book teaching method. Questionnaires and interviews will be held before and after the picture book curriculum so as to explore the impact of the picture book teaching method on students’ interest of reading picture book. 本研究主要目的在於探究圖畫書閱讀教學對學生閱讀動機和閱讀識字能力的影響。本研究從校本設計的圖畫書閱讀課程中，分析圖畫書對低年級學生在閱讀理解第一個層次---識字能力上的成效；以純文字篇章之閱讀理解和圖畫書作讀本之閱讀理解作前後測，比較學生前後測的分數，評估圖畫書閱讀教學的成效；再輔以問卷及訪談訪問學生，進一步瞭解圖畫書教學課程對學生閱讀圖畫書的興趣之影響。 / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

本論文是針對博客應用於對外漢語教學進行的一次探索。以香港一間國際學校15位就讀于國際文憑課程中文語言B的12年級學生為研究對象，透過問卷調查、觀察以及面談的研究方法，瞭解博客輔助對外漢語教學的可行性以及在教學過程中對教師存在的挑戰，從而為未來對外漢語教師運用博客支援教學提供參考。 研究結果表明，利用博客輔助對外漢語教學，學生們對博客的參與情況普遍較好，博客可以作為其中文習作發佈的平臺，便於師生和同儕之間的互動交流、協作學習，學生們的中文寫作興趣和寫作動機也都因此有所提高，因而更加樂於學習中文。同時，在學生們進行博客寫作的過程中，教師博客對於學生們來說也具有一定的作用和意義，為學生們的網誌創作提供寫作素材。不過，在使用博客輔助對外漢語教學的過程中，教師同時也會面臨很多挑戰，教師要處理好博客可能會出現的技術問題以及合理設計在博客教學過程中所採用的中文課程，以加強學生的對外漢語學習動機。 由此，未來對外漢語教師在運用博客支援教學的時候，應謹慎選擇博客建立的網路平臺，對學生使用博客寫作進行適當的培訓和指導，同時亦可考慮將博客教學和正規對外漢語教學有機地結合起來。 This paper is an exploration of using a blog in classes of teaching Chinese as a second language. Fifteen Year 12 students who study in the Chinese Language B course of the International Baccalaureate curriculum from one Hong Kong International School are examined. Through questionnaires, observations and interviews, the study reveals the feasibility of using the blog in classes of teaching Chinese as a second language as well as the challenges that the teacher may face accordingly. Furthermore, the paper has also provided some teaching support for future teachers who want to apply blogs in teaching Chinese as a second language. The results show that students generally have a good participation in the blog. The blog, therefore, can serve as a platform to enable students to publish their Chinese work, and to interact and collaborate with teachers and peers. Students’ interests and motivations in Chinese writing are both increased. Meanwhile, when the students carry out the process of blog writing, the teacher’s blog has also played a role as providing writing materials to inspire students. Nevertheless, when using the blog to assist the Chinese as a second language teaching, teachers accordingly will face many challenges. As teachers, we should handle the blog’s technical problems properly and design appropriate Chinese language courses which can be perfectly combined with the normal Chinese teaching. Referring to the above results, the future teachers, who want to use the blog in classes of teaching Chinese as a second language, should carefully select the network platform to establish the blog. Also, some training and guidance related to blog writing should be given to students beforehand. Finally, teachers need to consider the way of combining blogs and the regular Chinese teaching together. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

在國際文憑課程教學領域內，有關漢語A文學教學的研究剛剛起步。本研究探討中學項目九年級學生在文學教學過程中，初學文學評論的表現以及相關策略的運用。本研究以一所國際文憑組織成員學校中學項目九年級的學生為對象，通過問卷調查和小說單元的欣賞教學實驗及研究分析，發現： 1. 學生普遍具有閱讀文學作品的興趣，具備評價文學作品的意識。2. 文學教學促使一些學生突破以往閱讀思維的局限，視野更為開闊，更多關注作品所傳遞的更為豐富的文化信息以及作者駕馭作品的方式與技巧。3. 中文水準較弱和普通的一些學生，在文學評論的組織與表達方面尚有明顯不足。中文水準優秀的學生已經熟練掌握文學評論的寫作方法和技巧，能自如地聯係課外閱讀經驗，對不同作家作品進行比較、分析。據此結果，現時中學項目的漢語文學教學應該拓展閱讀面，增加知識積累，加強文學評論的寫作指引和訓練，為大學預科項目的文學學習做好銜接準備。 Little scholarship has been done regarding the teaching of “Language A Chinese" from the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). The present study focuses on the topic of Chinese Language A teaching to Grade 9 students, in particular, who are in the fourth year of MYP Language A. The study looks at student progress as they undertake this course as well as appropriate teaching strategies to maximize success. Drawing on Grade 9 students survey data from an IBO World School as well as the reseacher’s practical classroom experience, the major findings of this study are as follows: 1. Students are interested in reading literary works and enjoy evaluating literature. 2. The teaching of literature has prompted some students to pay more attention to cultural aspects of readings and has opened their mind to new ideas. 3. Lower- achieving Chinese Language students continue to have difficulties understanding the organization and expression of the literature commentary. In contrast, higher- achieving students have shown the ability to not only comprehend deeper organization and meaning in the literature, but they are also able to identify writing methods, and compare and analyze the work of different writers. Given the study findings, it is recommended that more MYP Chinese literature teaching should be focused on reading and writing in order to increase student knowledge and awareness, but also to strengthen their ability to succeed in the next stages of their schooling. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

“整體化學習”（ Holistic Learning）是國際文憑教育中學項目（MYP）的一大主要概念。它的目的是實現個人全面發展，要求教師在教學中打破單一的課程知識體系，實現學科之間的交叉和滲透。這種教學理念和實踐要求對教師提出了極大的挑戰。通過調查顯示：目前教師在實施整體化學習的教學中，最大的困惑是如何尋找學科之間的連接點以及如何保證各個學科的協調發展。本次研究就是針對這一困難去尋找相應的策略方法。 本人借助中文和中國文化與藝術這兩門課程來實施整體化學習的教學。在教學中結合學生實際，設定了明確的教學目標和具體的教學過程；在尋找學科的連結點以及整合學科的步驟環節等方面作出了一些特別的安排，並且結合海外遊學為教學創設了一系列生活化的教學情境和任務。 本階段的教學不僅較好地完成了各科的教學目標，而且綜合提升了學生的各種能力，為學生的全面發展提供了可能。 通過本階段教學的實踐和總結，本人認為在實施整體化學習的教學中，以下幾個方面是極為重要的： 1、把握學科特點，確定不同學科之間的連接點。 2、尋找學科與生活的聯繫，促進學生的全面發展。 3、教學活動要情境化、生活化，具有挑戰性、可操作性和系統性。 4、教師指導與評估指向相結合，促進學生有效地學習。 本次研究非常有限，有關整體化教學還有很多值得探討的問題，比如教師合作問題、針對學生的個性特點進行差異化教學的問題等等都還有待深入研究。 "Holistic Learning" is one of the major ideas in MYP. It aims to realize comprehensive development of individuals by chanllenging the teachers to break the mono subject system and fulfill the intersection and infiltration among different subjects, thus setting higher tasks for teachers. According to the survey, the biggest puzzle of the teachers in Holistic Learning teaching is how to find out the connecting point among subjects and keep the coordinative development of different subjects. And the research intends to find out strategies to the problem. I teach both Chinese subject and Chinese Culture and Arts subject with Holistic Learning. I set clear teaching task and specific teaching process according to the students' situations in teaching. I have special arrangement and create a series of teaching situations and tasks based on overseas study in finding out the connecting point and integrate the steps of subjects. This stage of teaching not only fulfills teaching tasks of different subjects, but also improves students' different abilities, providing all possibilities for students' comprehensive development. According to teaching practice and conclusions of this stage, I think the following aspects are very important in Holistic Learning teaching . (1) Grasp chracteristics of subiects and decide connecting points among different subjects. (2) Find out relations between subjects and life, promoting students' comprehensive development. (3) Design teaching activities according to situations and life ,making them chanllenging ,operative and systematic. (4) Combine teacher's guide with evaluation, promoting student's effective study. Finally, I have to say there is much to be studied in Holistic Learning teaching, like cooperation among teachers, differences in students' personalities and so on. All these need further research and survey. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

教育改革时不时会顺应社会变迁与经济转型而进行，新加坡也不例外。新加坡教育部为了顺应新一代学生与社会需求的转变，于2004 年进行了华文教育改革。改革的传播与推广直接地影响改革成效，是实施课程改革的过程中举足轻重的一环。本研究便希望能够通过新加坡国际学校（香港）的个案研究，探讨并评估新加坡教育部推广与传播华文课程改革的策略，以及新加坡国际学校（香港）实施教育改革与新课程的成效。 本研究以课程推广与传播及教育改革的基本理论为基础，着重研究新加坡教育部推广新课程到新加坡国际学校（香港）的过程，以及新加坡国际学校（香港）内部如何推广新课程，从中总结归纳影响今次推广与传播课程改革策略的不同因素。研究中采用质性与量性的研究法，如访谈、问卷调查、文件分析、课堂观察等，从多方面建构个案。 Education reviews often take place as a result of societal changes and economic developments, and education reviews in Singapore is no exception. The background of this study stems from the latest Singaporean Chinese Language Curriculum Review in 2004. The dissemination of education reviews has a direct impact on the effective implementation of the reviewed curriculum; hence it is important to learn about how dissemination takes place in a review cycle. This study aims to discuss and evaluate the strategies of dissemination and diffusion used by the Singapore Ministry of Education in disseminating educational to the Singapore International School (Hong Kong).(HKSIS) This study is based on the theories of curriculum dissemination and diffusion , together with theories of educational change, and is focused on the dissemination process of the new Primary Chinese Language Curriculum to HKSIS , and the diffusion process within HKSIS, so as to discover the different factors affecting the effectiveness of dissemination and diffusion for HKSIS. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative research method to build a multi-faceted case study, such as interviews, text analysis, classroom observation and questionnaire surveys. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Chinese orthography is morphosyllabic and its script differs in unique ways from other alphabetic, phonemic syllabic and morphemic scripts. Hence the teaching of Chinese literacy is challenging and requires considerable practice on the part of learners. This thesis reviews the methods which have been used to teach Chinese literacy during preschool years. By searching the electronic databases, we classify various articles into different types, introducing “importance of learning early literacy”, “key elements of learning Chinese literacy”, “school-based teaching methods of Chinese literacy” and “home-based teaching method of Chinese literacy”. The study analyzes that core components of learning Chinese literacy are “oral language”, “morphological awareness”, “orthographic skills,” “learning the sound, semantics and shape of the character” and “providing meaningful literacy experience”. Also the study finds three main types of school-based teaching methods, namely “bottom-up teaching method”, “whole to part teaching method” and “integrated teaching method”, of which “integrated teaching method” is the most appropriate one in enhancing Chinese literacy learning. For home-based method, the study finds that “dialogic reading with morphologic training” and “games of learning the characters by components” are the appropriate ways to provide early literacy learning at home. The study concludes that systematical learning sequence is needed in learning Chinese literacy. But it is difficult to implement a systematical sequence of learning Chinese in an integrated curriculum model. Educators need to find out an appropriate way to implement a systematical sequence of learning Chinese in an integrated curriculum model. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

本文通过个案研究，探究两位在香港国际学校任教中学一年级的华文教师，在实施现行与新华文课程的实际情况。研究主要通过课堂录像、教师访问与观课记录，阐述教师在实施新课程时的转变。本文也希望找出一些重要和具启发性的现象，进而总结影响教师转变的因素。本文综合运用了Fullan（1993）和Pennington（1995）的研究理论，以此为依据来设计理论架构。本研究发现在教师发展的过程中，三个阶段会同时间出现，特别是处于第一和第二阶段的时间。本研究也发现，教师实施新课程的时候，对教学目标格外重视，而且在教材选择与使用方面，以及教学活动的设计，都有明显的转变。针对影响教师转变的因素，研究显示课程的修订常促使教师在实际教学中有所调整。其次，教师积极参与新课程的筹备和教学工作，也能促进教师对新课程的理解与接受。当然，学生在课堂上的反应是直接影响教师转变的必要因素之一。本研究的结果可以帮助校方在全面推行新课程之前，预先了解教师在新课程实施方面所需的准备。学校行政人员也可以借鉴此研究的相关成果，为往后学校推行新课程作铺垫。 Using a case study approach, this paper explores the changes in two teachers when implementing the existing and new Chinese Language curriculum in the Secondary One level of an international school in Hong Kong. According to the findings yielded from several video-recordings, interviews and classroom observations, this study hopes to investigate the changes in the teachers when implementing the new curriculum. It also highlights some significant areas of concern, and concludes the critical factors that affect teachers’ change. The integration of Fullan’s (1993) and Pennington’s (1995) theories have been adopted as the theoretical framework for this study. Findings have shown that the three stages of teachers’ change can actually co-exist, and this is especially so for Stage One and Stage Two. Moreover, findings also show that the teachers began to place a greater emphasis on the teaching objectives. Significant teacher change is also observed in terms of the selection and application of teaching materials, as well as the design of learning activities. As for the critical factors which influence teacher change, the researcher found that the revision of the existing curriculum has encouraged teachers to adapt and adopt the changes. The active involvement of the teachers in the preparation and implementation of the new curriculum have also promoted a deeper understanding and hence, enabled teachers to better accept the new curriculum change. Inevitably, the students’ reaction in the classroom is a direct factor which affects teacher change. This study hopes to shed some light on the participating school about the situation that teachers will face when a new curriculum is in place. The results of this study will in turn enable the school to better prepare the other Chinese Language teachers in carrying out the new curriculum effectively. The administrative staff can also gain relevant experience which maybe helpful in the next round of curriculum review. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Increased worldwide mobility has led to a rise in the number of interlingual parents attempting to transmit their native languages to their children. Within the related fields of heritage language acquisition and bilingualism, there is a lack of research focusing on sequential language acquisition. This exploratory longitudinal case study investigates a four-year-old girl’s sequential acquisition of French, her mother’s language, within the context of an expatriate community in Hong Kong in which English, her father’s language, was predominant. Spontaneous speech samples were collected from different learning environments and interviews were conducted to elucidate the impact of the learner’s various experiences on her L2 acquisition. Results indicated a lack of L2 confidence that was perhaps under-estimated by her parents and teachers. The change in maternal input patterns provoked a frequently angry reaction in the learner and resulted in a high proportion of code-switching in her output. Findings indicated tentative support for Muranaka-Vuletich’s (2002) suggestion that child code-switching rates may not always be influenced by the parents and that it may sometimes be the reverse. The bilingual nature of the French community in Hong Kong made it difficult to immerse the learner in truly monolingual L2 environments. However, the combination of the child’s educational and social experiences seem to have contributed to her increased L2 output by the study’s conclusion. The present study may have worrying implications for those parents unable to provide the requisite conditions for L2 acquisition at home and who do not have access to heritage language education or expensive immersion trips. / published_or_final_version / Applied English Studies / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the roles that assessment plays in promoting learning. Formative assessment is considered to be a powerful device for improving students’ learning. However, its learning potential has been less extensively explored in contexts where summative assessment dominates, as summative assessment is considered to undermine the effective implementation of formative assessment. Abandoning summative assessment completely in real classrooms is not possible; therefore, how to implement formative assessment along with summative assessment becomes important. This study explores students’ responses to classroom English assessment in the Chinese high school context, a context typically dominated by summative assessment, in an attempt to identify features of formative assessment, and to examine whether and to what extent summative assessment can be used formatively. The study chooses to explore classroom assessment mainly from the perspectives of students, as they are a critical factor in the learning process. A qualitative approach was adopted to investigate this topic in five classes from two high schools in China. Participants were six teachers teaching five different classes and their forty-eight secondary students (aged 16-18). Data were collected from multiple sources, including classroom observations, the draw-a-picture technique and interviews. The study identified various assessments in classrooms, from informal ones integrated into the classroom teaching to formal tests. This thesis focuses on the three most prominent assessments in the two schools: oral presentations, dictation, and tests and related test follow-up. The in-depth exploration of these three methods reveals students’ affective responses to assessment and their understandings of the relationship between assessment and learning. Assessment was found to be an emotionally charged issue, and students responded to it with both negative and positive feelings. The complex roles of assessment have also been unraveled. At the informal end, students did not distinguish clearly between assessment and learning activities. At the formal end, tests were considered to be a tool to summarize students’ language learning achievement; and there was also the potential to use summative tests formatively, in particular through test follow-up. On the basis of the findings presented in the thesis, this study identifies three key related issues which form the framework of this research, namely, assessment tasks, feedback or judgment, and potential follow-up actions. This framework presents the assessment process and how assessment could be used to improve student learning. Central to this framework is students’ active engagement with assessment. The significance of this study is threefold. First, it contributes to the theoretical understanding of formative assessment, including the potential variations of classroom assessment and the potential interplay between formative and summative assessment. Second, it provides insights into students’ responses to assessment, including their affective responses, what they perceive assessments are, how and to what extent assessments contribute to their learning and factors affecting their perceptions. Finally, situated in a context dominated by high-stakes tests, this study uses empirical evidence to develop a contextual perspective of formative assessment; hence, the findings enrich our knowledge about implementing formative assessment in a context dominated by summative assessment. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In the context of social and economic globalisation, the nature and uses of literacy have been profoundly impacted by information technologies, giving rise to an increasing variety of multimodal, digitally mediated texts, practices and relationships called new literacies. This study explores how new literacies were taken up by teachers and students in English Language (English as a Second/Foreign Language) classrooms in Hong Kong primary schools. Set within a government funded project aimed at promoting new literacies in Hong Kong schools, the study specifically explores the discursive tensions amongst the English Language curriculum and new literacies practices and pedagogies, and how students and teachers negotiated these tensions and appropriated new literacies practices as they planned and enacted a new literacies task within a curriculum unit. The research design involved a critical policy text analysis and a multi-case study within a poststructuralist discourse analytic approach illuminated by Lacanian psychoanalytic theories of fantasy and enjoyment. Extracts of key policy texts and New Literacies Project texts were selected for critical discourse analysis. The multi-case study of three new literacies curriculum units, enacted by three classes of students and their teachers in two local Hong Kong primary schools, focussed on various new literacies practices. Data collected for the multi-case study included recordings of lessons and planning meetings, participant observation with field notes, observations of material and virtual contexts such as computer labs and online sites, students’ classroom work and digital products, and teacher and student interviews. In the process of mapping the discursive constructions, tensions and contradictions of new literacies across policy texts and classroom enactments, three ‘economies’ emerged in the findings. Tensions between the knowledge economy of globalised educational and curriculum policies emphasising language forms and linguistic skills, and the attention economy of new literacies involving students’ creative multimodal production and consumption and the accumulation of attention in online interactions, were negotiated by students, teachers and the Project researcher (myself) in the three school cases. A key, if unanticipated finding, however, was the emergence of an economy of enjoyment, involving the transgression of classroom social norms and the subversion of symbolic authority in students’ digital products and online interactions. Enjoyment was also found in the ways some students were captivated by online interactions and the pursuit of celebrity identities, and in teachers’ intense commitments to and anxieties around particular discourses and subjectivities. The study concludes with a discussion of the significance of psychoanalytic notions of enjoyment in new literacies in curriculum policy and practice, and suggests implications for research and practice of new literacies in the context of globalised educational policies. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy