There are about 17,000 kindergarteners (for 3 to 6 years old) learning Chinese as a second language (CSL) in Hong Kong (HK). Research shows that these children’s Chinese language (CL) ability is at least 3 years behind their native Chinese counterparts while encountering difficulties in learning (Tse & Loh, 2014). It is also a challenge for the teachers to cater for such huge learning diversity, as HK kindergartens mainly use the theme-based approach without deliberate consideration of CL curriculum (HK Education Bureau, 2006). Without professional training in CSL teaching, teachers have little knowledge of how to provide these students with adequate support. The present study aims to examine the possibility and effectiveness of implementing a CSL curriculum for CSL students in “content and language integrated learning” (CLIL) classrooms where Chinese is used as the medium of instruction (Lin, 2013; Lin & Wu, 2015; Lin & He, 2017), and how well it works with the existing themebased curriculum. “Dynamic Enrichment Learning Mode” (DELM) was developed and implemented in six kindergartens with 131 CSL learners. This CSL-focused DELM was designed based on the Second Language Acquisition (Krashen, 1982) and CL orthographic (Leong et al., 2011) theories and comprises the following: (1) tailormade individual (one 30-minute session every fortnight) and group (two 30-minute sessions every week) enrichment learning activities; (2) using both CSL and mainstream theme-based curricula; (3) authentic learning materials (e.g. picture books and specially written children’s songs based on the learning objectives of each unit); (4) diversified learning activities (e.g. interactive language games, matching games, free writing games etc.). CSL students learn together during the enrichment activities, and then return to their ordinary classes to learn with their native Chinese classmates to benefit from both the CSL and theme-based curricula. This enables them to immerse in a safe, comfortable

There is about 17,000 kindergarteners (i.e. young kids aged 3 to 6 years old) learning Chinese as a second language (CSL) in Hong Kong (HK). Previous research shows that these children’s Chinese language (CL) ability is at least 3 years behind their native Chinese counterparts while encountering difficulties in learning. It is also a challenge for the teachers to cater for such huge learning diversity, as HK kindergartens (for 3- to 6-year-olds) mainly use the theme-based approach without deliberate consideration of CL curriculum (HKEDB, 2006). Without professional training in CSL teaching, teachers have little knowledge of how to provide these students with adequate support. The present study aims to examine the possibility and effectiveness of implementing a CSL curriculum for CSL students, and how well it works with the existing theme-based curriculum. “Dynamic Enrichment Learning Mode” (DELM) was developed and implemented in six kindergartens with 131 CSL learners. This CSL-focused DELM was designed based on the Second Language Acquisition (Krashen, 1982) and CL orthographic (Leong et al., 2011) theories and comprises the following: (1) tailor-made individual (one 30-minute session every fortnight) and group (two 30-minute sessions every week) enrichment learning activities; (2) using both CSL and mainstream theme-based curricula; (3) authentic learning materials (e.g., picture books and specially written children’s songs based on the learning objectives of each unit); (4) diversified learning activities (e.g., interactive language games, matching games, free writing games etc.). CSL students learn together during the enrichment activities, and then return to their ordinary classes to learn with their native Chinese classmates to benefit from both the CSL and theme-based curricula. This enables them to immerse in a safe, comfortable environment with rich target language input while not having to separate from their Chinese counterparts. Quasi-experiments,

Scaffolding in education refers to the strategies of support which facilitates student development and aims at assisting them to learn effectively. When students are able to learn independently, the scaffolding can be withdrawn. This paper aims at analyzing how effective scaffolding is to the non-Chinese specking students in learning Chinese through video-recording of actual classroom teaching of three periods in a Hong Kong primary school. Research methods include observing classroom teaching and analyzing video-recording-turned scripts. The research finds out that teachers and students can communicate through the target language (Cantonese) without the need for translating. This implies it is feasible to apply immersion method in the teaching Chinese as the second language. The research also finds out that teachers applied eight scaffolding strategies in helping students to learn Chinese, namely: 1. recall scaffolding; 2. language scaffolding, including dialogue scaffolding, sentence pattern scaffolding and dominant language scaffolding; 3. predictable book scaffolding; 4. concept scaffolding; 5. “directed reading-thinking activity” structure scaffolding; 6. peer scaffolding; 7. demonstration scaffolding; 8. multi-media scaffolding. Most of the scaffolding strategies are effective in helping students to learn Chinese. However, a few of them are not running effectively and need to be improved.