A comparison of English and Chinese reading proficiency of primary school Chinese students

A comparison of English and Chinese reading proficiency of primary school Chinese students

• Tse, Shek Kam Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong
• Loh, Elizabeth Ka Yee Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong
• Lam, Raymond Yu Hong Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong
• Lam, Joseph Wai Ip Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong

Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31(2), 181-199, 2010

Routledge

2010

• G Curriculum, Teaching & Learning: Specific Disciplines
  • GJ Interdisciplinary

Bilingual Reading Language Achievement Medium of Instruction PIRLS Foreign-Language Individual-Differences Linguistics Language & Linguistics

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Primary Education

Hong Kong children's comprehension of Chinese and English text is of concern to parents and teachers since school leavers need to be proficient readers both of Chinese and English. Although Chinese has been officially designated the medium of instruction in most secondary schools, many parents want their children to be taught in English-medium schools for, although Hong Kong is now a Chinese region, being literate in English is still highly prized by the public. A comparison was made of the bilingual reading attainment of Hong Kong primary students, using instruments and procedures used in the 2001 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. The average standard of reading English was below the international average, and only 70% of the average standard of reading in Chinese. Only 7% of students read English as well as age-related peers in English-speaking countries. Whereas this minority can be taught via English to no academic detriment, most students understand text much less well in English than in Chinese. The best readers were good both in English and Chinese, the poor readers being particularly weak readers of English. Being taught via English enhanced students' general English reading ability, and being taught in Cantonese enhanced their Chinese reading ability.
[Copyright of Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01434630903514212]

• English

Journal Articles

• 01434632

• 10.1080/01434630903514212

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/0e7806ac

2010-11-28