• Welcome by Mr. Bruce Bolin, Deputy Project Director
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Presenting certificates to teacher presenters by Ms Betty Leung, Chief School Development Officer

The teaching of language arts is still a challenging area for many schools. Examination-oriented students may fail to appreciate the relevance of such activities and teachers may have limited experience in using language arts materials. Finding suitable materials and integrating them into the curriculum can also be a problem for busy teachers. In this case, teachers from NLSI Lui Kwok Pat Fong College and SKH St Mary's Church Mok Hing Yiu College describe how they have tackled these issues and prepare students for the NSS through holistic planning to introduce language arts in the junior forms.

Students and teachers have gained experience of language arts activities and value the enrichment brought to teaching and learning. Connections have also been made between the formal and informal curricula which have enhanced the English-rich environment of the schools.

Due to the challenges posed by the introduction of the NSS, more holistic and systematic mapping of components of the English curriculum is crucial for laying a good foundation for students at junior secondary level to foster a smooth interface with the senior secondary curriculum. Teachers from three schools, Ling Liang Church E Wun Secondary School, Pui Ching Middle School and Shau Kei Wan Government Secondary School were especially concerned about how to provide students with exposure to language arts and non-language arts components to help them in choosing electives.

They therefore mapped out different language arts and non-language arts components and integrated them into the whole year plans. Using social issues and language arts as entry points, they aim to develop students¡¦ thinking skills for writing and debating skills for speaking. The pilot projects conducted are also used to enhance teachers¡¦ capacity in curriculum planning and to foster a smooth interface with the NSS.

The incorporation of a school-based assessment component into the New HKCEE has had an impact upon the productive language skills of students. To foster speaking in English among students is not easy in Hong Kong and it is an even more challenging task to encourage students who are less motivated to conduct discussion on their reading. To teach students good discussion skills and, at the same time, increase their motivation to read, teachers from Kiangsu Chekiang College (Shatin) show how they prepare students for SBA in junior forms through Literature Circles.

Results indicate that with effective pedagogy and skills training, students are able to perform different roles in Literature Circles, interact more with each other, learn basic social and discussion skills, and find themselves more motivated to read. In doing this they also get themselves ready for school-based assessment activities in S4.

The Standards-referenced Assessment (SRA) and School-based Assessment (SBA) of the new senior secondary curriculum enable teachers to make use of performance standards to inform teaching and learning and to align assessment and curriculum. However, teachers often find it difficult to make use of assessment to facilitate understanding of learner progress and plan for further improvement. Teachers at Tsang Pik Shan Secondary School share how they have prepared for the new senior secondary curriculum through the promotion of assessment literacy over the past three years.

They discuss how they diagnose students¡¦ strengths and weaknesses by analyzing TSA and internal assessment data, to inform teaching and learning and plan the curriculum more holistically, thus enhancing the interface between junior secondary and the new senior secondary English language curriculum.

Implementing the New English Language Curriculum: Multiple Entry Points, Multiple Strategies