Catering for students' diverse needs through fostering proper values and strengthening cultural knowledge in a Language across the Curriculum project


Background

In order to improve students' English standards and use through cross-curricular collaboration, as well as promote positive education in the school, which are the two major concerns of SKH Li Ping Secondary School in the 2022/23 school year, cross-curricular projects were conducted among English Language subject and other non-language subjects. Under the fine-tuned Medium of Instruction (MOI) arrangements, this school adopts Chinese as the MOI (CMI) for non-language subjects. In order to improve the school's English learning environment and provide students with more exposure to English and opportunities to use the language, the school dedicated up to 25% of the total lesson time (excluding the lesson time for the English Language subject) to conducting extended learning activities (ELA) in English in non-language subjects. Thus, collaborating with the English Language subject, some parts in Geography and History were taught in English. In addition to catering for students' diverse needs, it was hoped that a culture of positivity in the school campus could be created, and that the hands-on and authentic learning activities designed could serve as an added incentive for students to learn.


Level

S1


Strategies used

  1. Catering for students' diverse learning needs
    In order to increase students' learning motivation and accommodate their learning needs, a series of learning activities was designed based on the "Five Dimensions of Differentiation" (Reis & Renzulli, 2018).

    Dimensions

    Details

    Learning activities designed

    1

    Content

    Differentiating teaching content

    Two versions of worksheets and learning booklets were designed.

    2

    Instructional strategies

    Using different instructional strategies

    Individual work, group work, discussion, small group activities, and whole class activities were included.

    3

    The classroom

    Differentiating the learning environment

    Various learning environments were included, such as the English classroom, the cookery room for learning English and cooking skills, and The Mills as the site of a field trip.

    4

    Products

    Giving students options

    Students could choose between conducting a face-to-face presentation or video-taping their presentation and uploading it to Flip.

    5

    The teacher

    Catering for learner diversity in dimensions 1 to 4 by considering students' interests, abilities and learning styles

    Examples are shown in dimensions 1 to 4.

    The "Five Dimensions of Differentiation" (Reis & Renzulli, 2018)

  2. Adopting an activity-based learning approach to increase students' learning interests
    According to Mustapha et al. (2021), learners would have a better performance when they are engaged in hands-on activities as students seem to be more motivated and participate more actively in hands-on activities than in ordinary lectures. Thus, to increase students' interest in learning different topics, an activity-based learning approach was adopted. A series of activities was designed to diversify their learning tasks inside and outside the classrooms to make lessons relevant to students' lives. Students were engaged in life-wide learning (LWL) and cross-curricular activities, putting learning into contexts and thus making the experiences more meaningful. Through these learning activities, students' intrinsic motivation was increased and was evident in their responses and participation in learning activities.

  3. Cultivating proper values and strengthening cultural knowledge in students
    The school curriculum is intended to be guided by values, which are considered fundamental to the overall culture of a school community (Rowley & Cooper, 2009). Thus, some proper values were infused into the projects. While the curriculum provided ample opportunities for students to learn about values in the lessons, they were also engaged in hands-on and authentic learning activities that allowed them to develop these values in the cognitive, affect and action domains. Opportunities were provided for students to practise and demonstrate appropriate and good behaviour on the school campus.

  4. Fostering cross-curricular collaboration among different non-language subjects
    Incorporating a cross-curricular approach to learning facilitates the exploration of a wider range of topics and scope, which is usually not seen in subject-based lessons (Rowley & Cooper, 2009). Thus, to increase students' learning opportunities and to facilitate collaboration among English Language, History, Geography and Chinese Language, cross-curricular links were established, and curriculum mapping was conducted in various topics among different subjects in the planning stage.


What happened

Three projects were implemented progressively, allowing both teachers and students to gradually adjust to the new approach to learning and teaching. Below is a brief summary of the three projects:

Project One

Strategies on catering for learner diversity were employed in reading and writing tasks in English. Teachers were given the opportunity to develop and apply the skills that were crucial in facilitating subsequent Language across the Curriculum (LaC) projects.

Project Two

An LaC project was conducted between English Language (Unit 7 of the English textbook "Exploring My City") and Geography (Module: "Urban Planning"). In order to enrich students' learning experiences and increase their learning motivation, a visit to The Mills was organised for all S1 students.

Project Three

The second LaC project was conducted between English Language (Unit 5 of the English textbook "Time to Celebrate") and History (Module: "Cultural Heritage"). To raise students' awareness of cultural heritage and traditions, the English Language, History and Chinese Language teachers worked together and organised some cross-curricular activities, e.g. a cooking workshop.

 

The "Five Dimensions of Differentiation" manifested themselves in the following ways across all three projects.


Dimension 1: Differentiating teaching content

Two versions of worksheets and learning booklets were designed in order to cater for students’ learning needs.

 

For more able students

For less able students

Tasks

Catering for learner diversity by varying the …

Reading text
1. syntactic complexity

“With the juicy lobster, avocado salsa, and creamy scrambled eggs on top of the bread, it is wonderfully flavoured.”

“With the lobster, avocado salsa, and scrambled eggs on top of the bread, it has a wonderful flavour.”
2. semantic complexity

“Dessert always marks the end of a meal. This banana split crepe is composed of …”

“I ended this meal with a dessert – this banana split crepe contains …”

Comprehension questions
1. number of distractors

MC questions with 4 options

MC questions with 3 options
2. level of guidance

With no guiding words

With some guiding words
3. expected output (answers)

Long or short answers

Circling the correct answer

Writing input
1. vocabulary and phrases provided

More advanced

More commonly used
2. length of paragraph

Longer

Shorter


Dimension 2: Using different instructional strategies

  1. Individual work

Speaking activities, e.g. students shared their learning in an LWL activity

  1. Group activities

Group discussion:
While-reading tasks, e.g. students discussed and identified the main ideas and supporting details of a paragraph in Projects Two and Three

Hands-on activities:
About 15 students participated in the cooking workshop and three students were engaged in an interview in Project Three.

  1. Whole class activities

Learning activities in the lessons under teachers’ guidance, e.g. students learnt the skills in reading, writing and speaking in the classroom; students participated in the LWL activity in Project Two

Dimension 3: Differentiating the learning environment

  1. Classroom

Students learnt the target knowledge and language skills in the classrooms.

In Project Two, students were taught reading skills, such as identifying main ideas and locating supporting details in English lessons. Students learnt that topic sentences could appear at the beginning (most of the time), and/or at the end, and in the middle of a paragraph.

Students then practised the target reading skills in Geography lessons using an article about Hong Kong’s future development.

Students were asked to identify the main idea(s) of a paragraph and look for supporting details:


In Project Three, as a continuation and consolidation of their learning in Project Two, the target reading skills (identifying main idea and locating supporting details) were revisited in English lessons. Students then identified the main idea(s) of each paragraph of a text about the Cheung Chau Bun Festival in History lessons.

  1. Home

In Project Two, before the LWL activity, students had a virtual tour of The Mills and completed a pre-trip task at home by answering some questions related to its history and land uses.

Google Forms (Pre-trip task)

  1. Outside school – The Mills

In the LWL activity, students went to The Mills to explore its land uses, development and its role in sustainable development. The bilingual guided tour increased students’ exposure to English usage and strengthened their knowledge of The Mills.

The curator of the tour explained the development of The Mills.

  1. School campus

In Project Three, students were asked to make some wishes on paper Ping On buns.

An example of the wishes written by a student

To promote intangible Chinese cultural heritage, the paper Ping On buns were then decorated as a paper Ping On tower on a movable board to promote Chinese culture in the school campus.



A movable board for Cheung Chau Bun Festival

  1. Cookery Room at school

In Project Three, a Ping On bun cooking class was organised. Students completed a recipe for Ping On buns with the cohesive devices they had learnt. The English Language teacher reinforced students’ vocabulary learning during the cooking workshop. The workshop started with a brief explanation of the history and value of Ping On buns by a Chinese Language teacher who demonstrated how to make the steamed buns from scratch. Students successfully made the Ping On buns under teachers’ guidance. The hands-on activity acted as an authentic learning experience in which students put their learning into practice.

Students shared some Ping On buns with the janitors as a token of thanks for their contribution to the school. Students learnt to show respect and care for them. An interview was conducted before and after the activities. Students shared what they had learnt and how they felt.

The English Language teacher revisited the cooking steps and cohesive devices, and enriched students’ vocabulary by teaching them the ingredients and cooking utensils needed.

The Chinese Language teacher explained the origins of Cheung Chau Bun Festival and the steps involved in making the buns from scratch.

Students put the Ping On stamps on the finished buns by themselves.

The janitors received the Ping On buns from students.

Students shared what they had learnt and how they felt during the process.

Dimension 4: Giving students options

Students shared what they had learnt in the field trip in a speaking activity by practising the use of topic sentences and giving supporting details. To cater for students' diverse abilities, they could also choose to talk about another field trip experience. Students' confidence in speaking English was also taken into account. Students could choose their own modes of expressions to demonstrate what they have learnt by doing a face-to-face sharing or pre-recording their presentation and uploading it to Flip.

Some students uploaded their presentations to Flip.

Dimension 5: Considering students' interests, abilities and learning styles

Teachers differentiated students' learning tasks based on their learning styles, interests, abilities and expression styles. As a result, a wide range of learning activities was seen in dimensions 1 to 4.


Impact

Student level

  1. Students' diverse needs were addressed and language skills were developed.
    The projects provided ample opportunities for students to learn and use English. During the process, students were given learning materials tailored to their diverse language abilities. They utilised the acquired language skills in reading and speaking tasks, thereby solidifying their learning outcomes.

  2. Students' intrinsic motivation was nurtured and a growing interest in Chinese culture was found.
    Before and after the Project Three activities, two student representatives were interviewed. One of them expressed their enjoyment of the Ping On bun-making activity and expressed a desire to participate in lantern-making in the future. This showed that the student found the learning activities meaningful and his curiosity about different Chinese cultural traditions was translated into intrinsic motivation for further learning.

  3. Proper values and attitudes were cultivated.
    Following their visit to The Mills, students learnt to appreciate the historical values of old buildings in Hong Kong. They also learnt the importance of sustainable development in Project Two. Subsequently, in Project Three, through making steamed buns, students learnt about proper values and the significance of festive foods to Chinese culture. Moreover, they seized the opportunity to express gratitude and respect to the janitors by sharing Ping On buns as a gesture of appreciation and care.


Teacher level

  1. LWL and values education were infused into the school English Language curriculum.
    To enrich students' learning experiences and make stronger connections between their learning and daily life, a series of learning activities was organised outside the classroom. These projects helped teachers better understand how LWL and values education could be integrated into the school English Language curriculum.

  2. Teachers' skills in catering for learner diversity were enhanced.
    In Project One, the English Language teachers dedicated their time to honing their abilities to accommodate diverse learners' needs in reading and writing assignments. This facilitated the development of the learning and teaching materials in the subsequent LaC projects.


Curriculum level

The LaC projects provided a platform for cross-curricular collaboration among teachers of English Language, History, Chinese Language and Geography. The English Language teachers gained insights into enhancing students' language learning by integrating English Language elements into the LaC projects. Other non-language subject teachers also gained a better understanding of the importance of inter-departmental collaboration. More communication was found among the teachers of different subjects through curriculum mapping, learning materials development and joint learning activities. Thus, a solid foundation of LaC was established.


School level

By sharing Ping On buns with janitors, students fostered a culture of positivity within the school campus, with the hopeful expectation that students will extend their gratitude and respect towards others within the school and the wider community.


Conclusion

The following facilitating factors were found to be essential for the planning and implementation of the LaC projects.

  1. Clear school development goals
    The major concerns of this school were explicitly defined, serving as a driving force for teachers to undertake the LaC projects. With a clear goal, teachers collaborated to create different learning opportunities that facilitated students' acquisition and application of the English language. With the help of non-language subject teachers, cross-curricular projects were conducted successfully, enabling students to not only learn English during designated English lessons but also engage with language-focused tasks within History and Geography lessons, and cross-curricular activities.

  2. A cohesive team of teachers
    The teachers involved possessed a collaborative mindset and displayed positive attitudes. They actively participated in the planning stage, and eagerly shared and exchanged their innovative ideas. All of them played a vital role in the implementation stage by shouldering various responsibilities in teaching, and conducting activities outside the classroom and the school. It was their collective effort and dedication that facilitated the successful execution of the project.

Students' use of English in non-language subjects increased and their cultural knowledge was broadened as a result of the LaC projects. To sustain the positive changes, the school continued the LaC projects in the following school year (i.e. 2023/24) and it was hoped that the LaC projects could be extended to S2-3 in the coming years, with more language skills being incorporated into the learning tasks.


Bibliography

Mustapha, M. A., Gana, I. A., Waziri, M., Bukar, M. G., & Buba, M. A. (2021). Use of Activity-Based Learning to Improve Students' Outcomes in Basic Education Subjects. SSRN Electronic Journal. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3774169

Reis, S. M., & Renzulli, J. S. (2018). The five dimensions of differentiation. International Journal for Talent Development and Creativity, 6, 87-94. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1296874.pdf

Rowley, C., & Cooper, H. (2009). Cross-Curricular Approaches to Teaching and Learning. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.



SKH Li Ping Secondary School
Rachel LI (Language Support Officer)