Successful learner characteristics

Strategies

Students prefer to work independently and to learn new language and technical skills by themselves.

Leung Kau Kui interview_1.wmv

Teachers often fear that students will not be able to handle tasks such as making videos and rehearsing by themselves. To overcome potential difficulties, teachers at Stewards Pooi Tun Secondary School provided language support for students on demand. It was found that, while some students often sought help from teachers for pronunciation difficulties, others were able to use online dictionaries to solve the problems by themselves.

Similarly, technical support from the IT technician was made available for students, but only when they requested it. This provided a “safety net” for students who were less confident in their IT skills. However, teachers found that most students did not request help, preferring to do the filming and editing by themselves.

To help students handle the language needed for the task, the project was integrated with the core part of the unit, in which vocabulary and language structures were taught. These could be recycled by students in their advertising tasks.

They can improve their communication and collaboration skills by using them in the process of carrying out the project.

Leung Kau Kui interview_2.wmv

Teachers are sometimes reluctant to ask weaker students to engage in group work because they fear that discipline will deteriorate and students will not be able to complete the tasks successfully because of poor collaboration skills. To facilitate the smooth running of group work, teachers at Buddhist Kok Kwong Secondary School used structured tasks with clear goals, such as sequencing and matching, as an introduction to group work.  Teachers also monitored the group work closely, making sure students remained on task and encouraging them by asking questions.

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To provide students with necessary scaffolding for language, the project was linked to the topic in the textbook, with the products advertised being remedies for teenage problems.This helped students to recyclevocabulary and grammar items.Students also brainstormed teenage problems and ideas for products to solve them. This provided them with a variety of ideas to choose from when deciding what kind of product to advertise and what advertising strategies to use.

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They are aware of their strengths and weaknesses as learners, and can ask for appropriate challenges to help them to improve.

Leung Kau Kui interview_3.wmv

In order to improve their performance in any area, students need to understand their present strengths and weaknesses. In this way they will understand how to move forward.  To develop this kind of self-awareness, students need to receive feedback on their work. They also need opportunities to reflect on their own progress and that of others.  Teachers at Buddhist Kok Kwong Secondary School asked their weaker students to act out their advertisements for the video camera and then watch and comment on the video before going on to perform for the class. In this way, they became more aware of how to improve their performance.  Assessment criteria were explained carefully by the teacher before the activity, and feedback was provided by a number of critical friends, including teachers, peers and the LLSS officer.

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In order to increase students’ motivation and confidence, teachers at NLSI Lui Kwok Pat Fong College gave students a choice of whether to produce their advertisement as a stage show or as a video.  Students appreciated the element of choice and were able to select the medium according to their own strengths.  This helped to cater for learner diversity.

Lui Kwok Pat Fong interview.wmv

Teachers at STFA Leung Kau Kui College asked students to add to their videos by making comments on their experience of the project and the learning process. This helped them to acknowledge what they had learned and reflect on how they could do better in future.

Forever Fan.wmv