published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Applied Geosciences / Master / Master of Science

 The main goal of this paper is to study the difficulties Hong Kong secondary school students have using adjective patterns correctly in their writing. It also aims to explore the effectiveness of teaching strategies employed to improve their use of this aspect of English and to test the hypothesis that learners who are taught the concept of linking meaning and pattern in adjectives will be better able to use adjective patterns correctly in writing. 　　A case study of 60 Hong Kong Form 5 students’ writing was carried out. The data come from their exam essays, pre-test, post-test, questionnaire and interviews. To assist them in improving their use of adjective patterns in writing, workshops were run for the students who were divided into a control group and an experimental group of 30 students each. The findings suggest that the students had three main difficulties using adjective patterns correctly in writing: not knowing which grammatical structure to use, blending or mixing up two adjective patterns and not knowing which preposition to use. The findings also suggest that the teaching strategies had a beneficial effect on the correct use of adjective patterns in the 60 Form 5 students’ writing. In addition, the hypothesis posed seems to be somewhat tenable. 　　This paper ends by summarizing the main findings and pointing out the limitations of the study like time and logistic constraints. Also, it suggests possible implications for classroom teaching and for future research such as the need for larger-scale research on other aspects like underuse of adjective patterns in Hong Kong secondary school students’ writing. / published_or_final_version / Applied English Studies / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

As in many parts of Asia, the learning of English is highly valued by parents in Hong Kong as it is regarded as a path to upward social mobility. Children in Hong Kong who speak Chinese as a first language typically begin to learn English when they start kindergarten at age 3. This study investigated the teaching and learning of English in Hong Kong kindergartens through two interrelated studies. The objective of Study 1 was to examine the patterns of English language teaching in different kindergartens. On the basis of the findings of Study 1, three kindergarten teachers were selected for a multiple case study in Study 2 to gain a deeper understanding of their English teaching practices and their students? engagement in the learning of English. About 38 % (n=256) of the kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-nurseries in Hong Kong were surveyed in Study 1. The results from the survey indicated that (i) the teaching of English to 5-year-olds was widespread and there were many cases of teaching of English to 3-year-olds; (ii) the English instruction time was relatively limited; (iii) English as a specific subject was taught by “specialist” English teachers with varying academic and professional backgrounds; (iv) in schools that allocated relatively less time for English instruction, teachers did not usually have professional qualifications to teach preschool children and/or English; (v) there were varying degrees of collaboration between “specialist” English teachers and local non-English speaking teachers; (vi) a wide variety of teaching materials and pedagogies were deployed; (vii) written homework assignments to improve children’s English were common; and (viii) teachers exerted efforts to create a bilingual (Chinese – English) environment at school. Study 2 was a multiple case study in which three teachers - one with a professional qualification in early childhood education, one with professional qualifications to teach English as a Second Language, and one untrained - were purposefully sampled. Six English lessons of each of the three teachers amounting to a total of 475 minutes of teaching were videotaped. Their teaching practices and the children’s engagement in learning were observed, and the classroom learning environment was assessed. Teachers were interviewed individually, parents completed questionnaires about the home language learning environment, and children’s English proficiency was assessed in individual sessions. Teachers’ pedagogies were found to be related to a host of contextual factors. Teachers’ professional training was associated with the extent to which they implemented a child-centered pedagogy. Part-time English teachers had limited collaboration with local teachers, which in turn affected their teaching preparation and practice. A textbook-led English teaching schedule and the relatively limited instruction time induced a product-oriented pedagogy. Children’s limited English proficiency coupled with the minimal language support at home formed a vicious cycle reinforcing the product-oriented pedagogy, which adversely influenced children’s engagement in learning. This study contributes significant knowledge to the field by illustrating the challenges in teaching English in Hong Kong kindergartens. Implications of the findings for early childhood language policy, teacher training and classroom practices are discussed, and future research directions are suggested. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The reformed Hong Kong mathematics curriculum for the 21st century consists of three components, namely generic skills, values and attitudes and, lastly, traditional cognitive development. The first two are newly emphasized and expanded. Theoretically, these components correspond closely with communication, socioculture and constructivism respectively, which are the central concepts of dialogic learning (DL). In DL, students are autonomously engaged in egalitarian dialogue, in which they share, reflect and form a learning community. Through DL, a student is expected to develop into an all-rounded and life-long learner. Contrary to the reform, dialogue is still deficient in mathematics classrooms. The role of this study is to present examples of students’ experiences in DL, found in the mathematics club of a secondary girls’ school. This study aims to explore and investigate: (1) the existence of DL in the club, (2) what the members learnt and (3) how they did it. This is an ethnographic research, which emphasizes first hand understanding, grounded theories and thorough intricacies. Therefore, I observed the students’ activities as a participant, interviewed them, and then described, analyzed and interpreted my findings accordingly. Based on my synthesis of relevant literature and the insight I gained from decades of teaching and otherwise interacting with students, I constructed a pentahedral framework to help investigate DL in a more comprehensive and intensive way. It involves the development of various generic skills and the cultivation of values and attitudes, which are usually unrecognized in examination syllabuses and the old curriculum. It consists of five facets, concerning cognitive knowledge, sharing and negotiation, learning skills, metacognition and values and attitudes. And here are the findings. All significant elements of DL from literature have been identified to exist in the club. As for what the students learnt, they recalled fruitful experiences in all five facets of the DL pentahedron. These findings were then combined with the learning histories of three subjects to yield four representative learning patterns, namely those of a ‘cognitive developer’, a ‘communicative daily life explorer’, a ‘eureka torchbearer’ and a ‘frustrated sharer-explorer’. These 4 learning patterns were further combined with (i) the purposes for mathematics study from pure examination results to ‘liberation’ and (ii) the understanding of mathematics learning from pure cognitive knowledge to inclusion of generic skills and values and attitude, to form a conceptual model of learning styles. The styles of the ‘eureka torchbearer’ and the ‘communicative daily life explorer’ were found to be exemplars of the ideals of people who favour the most liberal implementation of the curriculum reform. The ‘frustrated sharer-explorer’ was stuck with the style favoured by conservatives who are against hasty reforms. The ‘cognitive developer’ was somewhere in between. These findings may contribute to the framework of policy debate on mathematics education. In the school and classroom level, they may help teachers overcome learning disaffection and other difficulties, in both theory and practice. Organizers of extracurricular activities may also be inspired by the students’ rich experiences of dialogic learning. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

The reaction rate of a chemical process, and the factors that affect it, is an important concept in the secondary school chemistry curriculum. A number of studies have indicated that students have different conceptions of the reaction rate phenomenon, e.g. that volume is an influential factor. The way in which the teacher structures the lesson content and the students experience the lesson is important in helping students to develop appropriate conceptions. This study explores the efficacy of using variation theory as a pedagogical tool to improve student understanding of chemical reaction rates at the Secondary 4 level through group-based scientific investigation. A design-based research approach with a pretest and posttest was chosen, and phenomenography and variation theory were adopted as the theoretical framework. Learning is defined as a change in the way of experiencing something. What is to be learnt is defined as the “object of learning”, and aspects that are crucial to appropriating the object of learning are defined as “critical aspects”. To bring out the critical aspects that are to be discerned by students, certain patterns of variation, namely, generalization, contrast, separation and fusion, must be constituted. Two Secondary 4 chemistry classes in the same school were taught by one teacher. Lessons comprised three sections: a single period for introduction, a double period for experimentation and a single period for debriefing. The two classes were taught in the same way during the introduction and experimentation, but different debriefing sequences were used after the students’ experimental work. During the introduction and experimentation, “separation” was employed to help students develop a fair test concept and design an experiment to follow the progress of a chemical reaction. During experimentation, they were guided in how to discern the factors that affect two aspects of a reaction, i.e. the reaction rate and amount of products formed. In the debriefing session of the pilot and main studies, different “sequences of factors” and “sequences of aspects” were followed, respectively. Comparison was made between the pretest and posttest to trace students’ understanding of the reaction aspects. The quantitative data were analysed and triangulated with the post-lesson interview data and verbatim lesson record. The students’ learning outcomes showed that there had been substantial improvement in understanding of the skills and concepts involved, with the gap between the low- and high-score groups narrowing. A specific debriefing sequence was found to be conducive to learning. Further, discussing the interrelated factors tested in the experimental conditions consecutively and separating the two reaction aspects while fusing the factors appeared effective in highlighting the part-part and part-whole relationships. Here, “whole” refers to a reaction consisting of the “parts” constituted by the reaction rate and amount of products which in turn depend on various factors. The findings of this study suggest that variation theory is a powerful pedagogical tool in improving the understanding of students of lower academic ability. They thus have important implications for the planning of teaching-learning sequences in practical science lessons, particularly in scientific investigations that involve different task-pool results. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Integrated language skills have been examined in Paper Five of HKCEE Chinese Language since 2007, in the hope of developing students’ integrated language skills regarding reading, writing and listening. This study discerns the criteria which highlight skills examinees should master in Paper Five and uses this summative assessment as an entry point to explore the performance of students of diverse abilities in Chinese integrated skills and processes of completing Paper Five. Qualitative research design is introduced in this study. Document analysis, text analysis by using Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL), think aloud protocol and interview were included. First of all, documentations of integrated language skills examined in Hong Kong and overseas are studied to explore the performances examinee are required. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather opinions from curriculum stakeholders including experienced teachers heavily involved in public examination and curriculum development. To analyze the features of products, 60 examinee’ scripts of 2007 Public examination marked from level 1 to level 5* were collected and fall into three categories, namely high (level 5 and 5*), medium (level 3 and 4) and low (level 1 and 2). To further explore the process of composing written task with diversified level, six F.5 students of different levels of language competency (i.e. high, medium and low) were invited to think aloud while completing Paper Five individually under video-taping. Afterwards, they participated in one-to-one, semi-structured interviews about their experiences of the method. These interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed qualitatively. The written works of the students of different levels of performance (i.e. high, medium, low) were analyzed for triangulation. The study revealed that high level scripts could echo the context of situation as well as the context of culture of the task by choosing appropriate expressions, genre and information. Some of them even show their unique thoughts on making suggestions. However, lower level scripts fails to make coherence among the content, format and the context of the writing task. According to the findings of think aloud protocol and interviews, students with high level products could make awareness on field, tenor and mode of writing task during assessing, planning and writing while others manage to handle some of them. To conclude, language is the vehicle of thoughts and feeling. Students are expected to master integrated language skills including reading, listening and writing in order to satisfy learning, living and future working needs. However, students are different. By analyzing the features of the products and the processes of completing Paper five, it gives information to teachers and the curriculum leaders on the features of students’ products and the way they could assist students to improve their performance. 為了配合課程改革，自 2007 年開始香港中學會考中國語文科公開考試在 讀、寫、聽、說四卷之外，加入綜合語文能力考核的試卷五，稱為「綜合能力考 核卷」(下簡稱卷五)。本研究先從理念的層面先探究綜合語文能力涵義，然後從 總結性評估及完成卷五的過程兩個層面搜集實證，以了解學生在完成卷五的過 程。 本研究屬於質性研究。首先，本研究通過文獻回顧了本地及外地第一語言教 學課程文件、評估文件，分析卷五所評核的綜合語文能力。除此以外，本研究更 訪問參與課程及卷五考評工作多年的的持分者，包括卷五助理試卷主席、課程議 會成員、資深語文工作者，以印證課程及評估指引中對綜合語文能力的評估要 求。此外，為了解不同能力學生在卷五的表現特點，本研究向考試及評核局申請 索取不同能力水平考生的答卷，共60 卷，借助系統語言功能學的理論分析，闡 釋不同能力學生在卷五寫作成果所反映的表現特徵。為進一步探索學生完成卷五 的過程，本研究邀請六位中五學生(兩位來自學生能力較高的第一組別學校；兩 位來自學生能力較低的第三組別學校)，在鏡頭面前以大聲想完成卷五測試卷。 最後，借助系統語言功能語言學文本分析、訪談等研究方法，深入了解不同綜合 語文能力的考生在卷五的表現特點。通過大聲想觀察不同能力學生完成卷五過程 的表現特徵。 本研究發現表現較佳的作品往往能緊扣寫作任務的情景語境、以至文化語境 的要求，而表較稍遜的作品每每執一廢百。從大聲想及訪問發現，表現較佳的學 生往往能運用策略廓清寫作任務的情景語境、寫作要求，並依此制定寫作計劃； 選取資料、拓展文意、提出見解等都是依據語境。至於表現稍遜的當然在辨識寫 作任務、制定計劃及執行計劃時往往顧此失彼。 總結而言，語言是思維及情感的載體。學生須要駕馭讀、寫、聽等綜合語文 能力，以應付日後學習及工作需要。然而，學生的表現千差萬別。本研究通過多 種研究方法，剖析不同表現的卷五作品特點以及不同作品表現學生的完卷過程， 旨在剖析學生表現特徵，為教育工作者提供豐富的參考資料，協助學生尋求提升 綜合語文能力的方向。 / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

“Career-related Experiences (CRE)” is one of the components of Other Learning Experiences (OLE) within the New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum system. This research is a multiple case study to investigate the impacts of CRE on career education and guidance practices at NSS level. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with the career masters, class teachers, subject teachers and Secondary 5 students from three aided schools of varying academic levels. The results of interviews reveal that school management and teachers are in general positive towards the implementation of CRE. Correspondingly, changes are brought to the preexisting practices of career education and guidance, which include the adoption of developmental approach, and increased diversity of activities and allocation of resources. However in terms of students’ career development, the impacts on self-understanding and perception of future career are relatively shallow, when compared to the effort made by the career team. It is suggested that higher concerns should be placed on the depth of programmes so as to help students internalise their learning through career education. While the value of CRE is to a certain extent confirmed in this study, practical suggestions for implementing of CRE are made. Topics for further research are also proposed with regard to the limitations of this research. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study aims to further enhance and develop an ��English Corner�� program implemented at a Hong Kong Chinese-as-the-medium-of-instruction (CMI) primary school. The ��English Corner�� in this particular school refers to an area in the playground where students can voluntarily participate during recess in speaking English to their peers that are previously selected and identified by the English teachers as more competent in their oral proficiency. This research with an evaluative approach focuses on: (1) the participation level in lower and upper primary grades (2) why the students in lower and upper primary grades choose to participate (3) English teachers�� perceptions and effectiveness of the program (4) the quality of the oral interactions in lower and upper primary grades In order to answer these questions, questionnaires were distributed to two classes of students, one in lower primary and one in upper primary. Focus group interviews with students were also conducted. In addition, interactions in the ��English Corner�� were observed, audio-recorded and transcribed. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with English teachers in the school. A variety of linguistics and interactional features such as the types of questions, the use of feedback and negotiating strategies during communication breakdown are deliberately focused in determining the quality of the oral interactions between younger and older learners. The findings, first of all, revealed the unavailability of a vast percentage of the non-participating students among the older learners which reflects the importance of having a more thorough and considerate planning before carrying out such program. The results also reflect the differences not only in motivational styles among younger and older learners but also their reactions towards rewards. Moreover, even though the English teachers are all supportive of this school-based curricular implementation, a lack of clear objective is evidently discovered. Various teaching beliefs have also led to different perceptions of the practicality of the program which further prove the need for adjustment and more thorough planning in the near future. Finally, the conversations in upper primary levels were found to be comparatively more communicative and meaningful with a higher percentage of referential questions, more probing used, equal participation, more feedback and the significance of mutual understanding in communication breakdown which imply that younger learners may not be ready when it comes to this kind of free-style conversational activity. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education