This study investigates critical thinking skills of secondary school students in Hong Kong. It focuses on one specific subject of Liberal Studies, that has been one of the four core subjects in the New Senior Secondary curriculum since 2009. Most Hong Kong schools that use English Language as the medium of instruction conduct the lesson and assessment in the students’ second language. The assessments (public examination) include two written examinations (Paper 1: Data-based questions and Paper 2: Extended-response questions) and one Independent Enquiry Studies task accomplished under the guidance of a teacher. Critical thinking is regarded as one of the core skills that students need to master and demonstrate during the lessons and assessments (CDC, 2007). According to the Curriculum guide (CDC, 2007), the design of the curriculum and assessment framework for this subject “has taken into account overseas experiences in cross-disciplinary studies, pertaining in particular to critical thinking, life education, values education and civic education, with due consideration given to their relevance in the Hong Kong context”. Yet, the guide fails to examine the possible difficulties and challenges for Hong Kong students to acquire and demonstrate critical thinking through their second language. This study attempts to analyze whether predominantly Cantonese-speaking students can acquire and express critical thinking in an English-medium classroom. One of the central arguments of this paper is that while the mastery of critical thinking is rather abstract, whether a student can acquire critical thinking skills is assessed by more concrete measurements (written public examinations) which are largely dependable on the student’s ability to communicate effectively in English. Therefore, this study draws on first-hand data from the 2013 Liberal Studies Practice Paper. Sample scripts chosen by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority and the relevant marking guidelines are employed to aid the discussion. / published_or_final_version / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The period 2005-2014 was the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Many countries, especially those in European and North America have been implementing or looking for ways to implement education for sustainable development (ESD) in their education system. In Hong Kong, Liberal Studies (LS) is an important new channel for ESD. It is the only compulsory subject in secondary schools which required students to learn about sustainable development (SD). There are a lot of similarities between LS and ESD in terms of goal, perspectives, values and attitudes, pedagogy and the development of skills, however, both LS and SD are new to many LS teachers. This study aims to examine LS teachers’ perception of SD and ESD and the ways they implement ESD through LS in order to identify opportunities and constraints for implementing ESD through LS and find out what can be done to further promote SD in schools. Apart from desktop research, first-hand data were collected mainly from questionnaires and interviews with LS teachers. Interviews were also conducted with some relevant government officers and LS teacher educators working at universities. This study finds that LS teachers generally support SD and ESD and have developed some common understandings on SD and ESD. They pay special attention to preservation and conservation and the controversial nature of SD issues. They put special emphasis on helping students see SD issues from multi-perspectives and balance different interests. They are able to recognize the importance of experiential learning, place-based education and active and participative learning approaches to ESD. LS teachers generally agree that LS is a very important channel for ESD as it raises students’ awareness and sensitivity to current SD issues and can help students think about SD across modules by applying the concept on different geographical and time scales. However, there are a number of factors limiting the effectiveness of ESD in LS. This study shows that there are four major types of constraints affecting the implementation of ESD through LS, including conceptual constraints, LS curriculum constraints, resource constraints and the over-reliance on LS. This study also identifies some opportunities to improve ESD in LS. Base on the study findings, some general recommendations for improving ESD in the Hong Kong education system are made followed by some specific recommendations for improving ESD in LS. / published_or_final_version / Kadoorie Institute / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics