This paper aims to show that the implementation of school-based assessment (SBA) has proved to have positive impact on the performance of students in the public oral examination. An SBA component was introduced to the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination English Language Examination in 2007. This consists of a reading / viewing programme where students need to read / view texts, write up some comments and personal reflections, and then take part in a discussion with classmates on the texts they have read / viewed, or make an individual presentation and respond to questions. The assessment is based on the student’s oral performance. The 2007 experience has shown that the speaking ability of students can be reliably assessed in school by their own teachers. Statistically, the SBA component has proved to be as reliable as the speaking examination. The beneficial washback of SBA can be seen in the results of the speaking examination. Candidates from schools that submitted SBA marks had a lower absentee rate than candidates from schools not submitting SBA marks. They also performed better in the speaking examination.
本文旨在顯示推行校本評核證實對學生在公開考試的口試表現有正面影響。香港中學會考英國語文科在2007年引進校本評核，學生須閱讀或閱覽各種文本，包括小說類及非小說類的書籍及影片，並寫下評論及個人感想，然後與同學進行小組討論，或作個人短講並回答提問。旨在評核學生的說話能力。根據2007年的體驗，老師能可靠地評核學生的說話能力。統計資料亦顯示校本評核和口試的信度相若。校本評核的正面影響可見於公開口試的成績 ，於進行校本評核的學校就讀的考生缺席率較低，成績也較佳。
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The implementation of the New Senior Secondary system from 2009 onwards has brought along changes in content and new demands in all subjects. This paper examines the nature of the new curriculum for Geography and the challenges which teachers and students have to face. These challenges are discussed as possibilities for broadening students' horizons and improving the quality of learning outcomes. The conclusion is that both teachers and students should make appropriate changes to their teaching and learning processes as the Education Bureau and Examinations and Assessment Authority should fine-tune their decisions from time to time to improve the curriculum and assessment process.
2009年開始推行的新高中學制已為所有科目的內容和要求帶來變化。本文審視地理科新課程的性質及教師和學生須要面對的挑戰。在作出討論時，這些挑戰被視為擴闊學習範圍及改善學習成果質素的機會。結論是教師和學生都應就著教授和學習過程作出適當改變。同時，教育局及考評局也應就著課程和評核過程持續作出改善。
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Linguistic theories distinguish between human faculty for language, for any language, and the realization of that capacity through the use of particular language in particular situations. There exists a fundamental contradiction between the linguist's endorsement of the human faculty for language that inevitably emerges equally in all of us and the popular belief of the different worth of varying ways of speaking. Regrettably, this latter belief is as unfortunate as it is real. While linguists have to contend with the political realities of labeling speech as languages and dialects, as standard languages or jargons, as mixed or not, there is no room in their theory for degrees of adequacy for the human language faculty. It is a matter of dogma in linguistics that human beings have the same potentials for expression and that capacity for language matures fully in each individual (with the exception of individuals who have been raised in inhumane conditions) and it finds its realization – its expression -- in an individuals' proficiency of use of some variety of language. There is no contradiction between this dogma, with its implication that varieties of language are adequate for the purposes of expression to which they have been put, and the obvious fact that individuals a) conform to social norms that also embrace language expression and b) strive for better expression to suit particular purposes of expression. What then should these norms be and what is better expression?
In this note, I will attempt some partial answers. My main point will be that individuals will accomplish adequate communication quite happily through participation in communicative interaction that is meaningful to them. I base this point on my fundamental belief that learners as any other communicating individuals manage their speaking so as to note and adjust inadequacies, relative to the interactive situation they find themselves in.
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Most in-service teachers find curriculum modules difficult to understand when they are studying for a part-time degree in education. In teaching in-service teachers about curriculum, the author first encountered difficulty in catering for their different needs arising from their diversified backgrounds. The condition gradually improved when cooperative learning was used as the main teaching strategy. In this paper, the author attempts to share his experience of using Jigsaw II to teach in-service teachers. The successful implementation of Jigsaw II is discussed, including skilful handling of participants' requests, clearing their misunderstanding of the concept of Jigsaw II, and allowing time for the participants to appreciate the beauty of Jigsaw II.
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Most teachers believe that providing students with effective feedback on their writing is vital as it helps students to correct their own mistakes and be more independent writers, which will in turn train them to become better writers. However, some research studies on the effectiveness of teacher feedback on ESL students' writing report a grim picture (Hendrickson, 1980; Semke, 1984; Robb et. al, 1986; Truscott, 1996) as teachers' feedback does not seem helpful for students to improve their writing. This paper presents the results of a classroom research study that examines factors that affect the effectiveness of teacher feedback by analyzing students' preferences for and responses to teacher feedback on their writing. It is suggested that the ineffectiveness of teacher feedback may not lie in the feedback itself, but in the way how feedback is delivered to students. The study also provides several implications for teachers when giving effective feedback to students.
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"Reading to learn" has been one of the four key learning strategies in the curriculum reforms implemented by the government (CDC, 2002). Local schools have strengthened reading across curriculum and the teaching of reading strategies. However, apart from integrating reading as a component of curriculum, most of the schools ignore the other functions of reading. Inspired by the theory of Bibliotherapy, a reading program is launched as a strategy to communicate with misbehaving students in a local secondary school. The objective of this study is to find out if Bibliotherapy has a positive effect on a misbehaving student, when implemented by a content subject teacher. Understanding the role of reading inside and outside the classroom, and mastering the strategies of teaching reading should be a professional competency of all local teachers. The function of reading outside the regular classroom will be explored in this paper. How a teacher brought his teaching professionalism into full play by applying reading instruction for correcting a student' s misbehavior will be investigated as well. The results in the study clearly show that reading can improve a student' s behavior because it can help the student to shift from cognitive knowledge to consciousness of awareness and reflective attitude by making analogy between the reading topic and his misbehavior. The observation in this study can provide significant reference for the future development of reading curriculum and teacher professionalism.
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This is a report on an action research project which investigates the extent to which dictation can help pupils learn English as their second language in a local government-subsidized Chinese primary school. It documents a teacher-initiated, classroom-based action research which turned English dictation exercises from the traditional types into innovative ones in three upper primary classes. Respondents came from a sample of 97 average-ability pupils from three primary four to six classes in the school. The researcher compared pupils' perspectives before and after the study and reported the consequent changes in pupils' perceptions of their dictation lessons. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected through two sets of structured questionnaires, two semi-structured interviews and teacher's class observation.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]