Language Learning Support Section

Abstract

R & D Background

Purpose & Design

Action Plan

Findings & Analysis

Implications

Remarks

> R & D Background

Background information

I. R & D Background

English teachers at this school have discerned that exploring relevant issues or social issues in task-based units will not only foster students’ language development but also positive values development. Social issues such as obesity and having poor eating habits are some prevalent phenomena among primary students that are worth exploring. Teachers have found that many students enjoy eating junk food and ignore the importance of forming good eating habits. Through touching on such issues or social issues, students find learning English more interesting and relevant to their lives. In fact, integrating real life issues into the curriculum makes learning more relevant to students and effectively engages them in the learning process (Newman F. and Wehlage, G... 1995). Students can be actively involved when they critically think about or discuss real life issues. The use of everyday issues or social issues also offers meaningful contexts for students to reflect on and develop critical thinking skills. Such abilities are deemed important for goal setting and developing positive values and attitudes.

Students at this school display rather good language abilities. However, the problem of learner diversity in individual classes is quite acute. In the past, there were few chances for students to reflect on their own or classmates’ work in English lessons. They also rarely set goals or made plans for improvement based on evidence or data. English teachers therefore went beyond just vocabulary building and language skills and included some issues for students to explore in the unit “Food – Healthy Meals & Eating Habits”. Students would have to conduct a mini-study on their own eating habits by doing reflection logs over a period of time, examining the data and obtaining classmates’ and teachers’ feedback. In doing so, students would become more conscious of their own health and develop positive values and attitudes. They would also change their wrong concepts about food and improve their poor eating habits.

II. Teachers' Concerns

When designing the unit, English teachers showed the following concerns:

How to foster students' ability to reflect and develop positive values and attitudes?
How to design different English activities inside and outside the classroom to explore everyday issues or social issues in the school-based English language curriculum?
Purpose and Design