Mark Shiu Kee Shum

Which Agenda? Medium of Instruction Policy in Post-1997 Hong Kong

The mandatory use of mother tongue education in Hong Kong after 1997 met strong objections from the local community. While the government put forward a comprehensive educational agenda to justify the implementation of the policy, this paper raises the question of whether the change in language policy was mainly driven by an educational agenda, or whether there were other underlying agendas. To address the question, the history of the medium of instruction in Hong Kong is reviewed, and the experience of three decolonised Asian countries, Malaysia, Singapore and India, is discussed. The paper suggests that the political agenda has always played an important role in language policy formulation and implementation. In view of the important role that language plays in nation building and social reconstruction, it is inevitable that Chinese medium instruction will become more and more important. How the government will balance the need to strengthen the national identity of Hong Kong people and the need to maint...

Enhancing learners’ self-directed use of technology for language learning: the effectiveness of an online training platform

Enhancing self-directed use of technology for language learning is essential for maximizing the potential of technology for language learning. Understanding how to construct learner training to promote this critical competency is of great significance. This study examined the effectiveness of an online training platform aimed at enhancing the willingness and necessary knowledge and skill set of learners to engage in self-directed use of technology for language learning through equipping them with the pedagogical rationales for self-directed technology use for learning, the strategic base for matching technology selection with learning goals and processes, and the tactics for using technological resources and tools effectively for language learning. A group of undergraduate students participated in the 12-week training. Analyses of students’ survey responses prior to and after the training indicated that the training program was effective in inducing a greater frequency of self-directed use of technology for language learning and in promoting a greater willingness and stronger knowledge and skill base in support of such learning behaviors.

International mindedness in an Asian context: the case of the International Baccalaureate in Hong Kong

Background: Embedding the concept of ‘international mindedness’ in teaching across a range of subject matter is seen as increasingly important in today’s education. Understanding the situated challenges that teachers may encounter in doing this is critical to the development of effective professional development in different socio-cultural and instructional contexts. Purpose: This study examined the enactment of international mindedness in International Baccalaureate diploma programmes (IBDP) in the Hong Kong context, focusing on the subject of Chinese language teaching. Sample: Nine experienced Chinese language teachers in IBDP programmes from six International Baccalaureate schools participated in the study. The schools were selected on the basis that they had some variety in student demographic profiles and organisational structures and had been offering the IBDP programmes for several years. Participant teachers either had several years of teaching IBDP Chinese or were holding leadership roles in the Chinese department and were very familiar with IBDP Chinese teaching. Design and methods: Individual, semi-structured interviews of approximately an hour’s duration were conducted with participant teachers. A thematic analysis technique was used to analyse the interview data both deductively and inductively. Findings: Analysis revealed a set of internal and external challenges that were described as arising from the characteristics of the individual teachers, the curriculum and the teaching contexts. Challenges internal to the teachers included their educational experience, pedagogical beliefs and interpretations of the concept of international mindedness in teaching. External challenges included the characteristics of the IBDP curriculum, the subject matter and schools’ and parents’ expectations concerning international mindedness. Teachers and schools were found to utilise various strategies in order to enhance the perceived compatibility and relevancy of international mindedness in the curriculum. Strategies included balancing educational approaches and curriculum demands, enhancing communication with the school community around international mindedness, and providing school-based on-site training and monitoring. Conclusions: The study highlighted the need to take a localised approach which focuses on supporting schools and teachers to identify different models and pedagogies that are appropriate for their particular teaching contexts.

Unlocking the racialized and gendered educational experiences of South Asian females in Hong Kong: the case study of Pakistani girls

Educating South Asians with different language and cultural backgrounds and integrating them into mainstream society have been a challenge for the educational system of Hong Kong. This study documents the educational experiences of a group of Pakistani girls in the contexts of home, community, and school in Hong Kong. Using ethnographic methods, data collection is based on interviews evoking their life stories. These stories recount how Pakistani girls attempt to negotiate with traditional customs, religion and mainstream stereotypes and to construct racialized and gendered schooling experiences. This study highlights the importance of mainstream engagement in regard to critical learning about cultural and linguistic diversity. It is claimed that minorities have an active role as agents in social transformation and change in achieving racial and gender equality, in this case for the most disadvantaged minority females, within the asymmetrical power relationships between local Chinese and South Asian minorities in Hong Kong.

Exploring an Approach for Teaching Subject Specific Genres in Chinese: The Case of Post-Colonial Hong Kong.

Mark Shiu Kee Shum, The University of Hong Kong Mark S.K. Shum is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education in the University of Hong Kong. He is currently Director of the Support Centre for Teachers Using Chinese as the Medium of Instruction (CMI Centre) at the University of Hong Kong. His teaching interests and major fields of research are Chinese language education, systemic functional linguistics and its application to language education, subject-specific genre and Chinese across the curriculum.

The Introduction of a Computerised Network to Support Educational Change in Hong Kong

In 1998, there was a major shift in the medium of instruction in Hong Kong secondary schools from English to Chinese. This change had many educational advantages. However, its implementation was not without problems, and many of the problems were non-trivial. This article reports the work of a computer network, specifically established to support the educational change and discuss about the strategy to provide effective support to educational changes through computer networking, including issues on service positions, content provision and the development of network culture interaction.

Early event-related potentials differences in orthographic processing of native and non-native Chinese readers

Efficient Chinese character reading requires rapid access to orthographic representations of radical form and position. This study identified the temporal sequence of radical form, radical position and lexicality processing in adult first language (L1) and intermediate second language (L2) Chinese readers. Event-related potential responses in a one-back repetition detection task were submitted to linear mixed-effects models. Violation of radical position produced P100 effects that were left-lateralized for L1 readers and right-lateralized for L2 readers. When controlling for P100 activation, radical position produced a left-lateralized effect at the N170 for L2 readers but no additional activities for L1 readers. Radical form effects were found at the N270 for L1 readers, where radical form violation produced larger N270. Results suggested that radical representations are position-specific in initial orthographic processing for both groups. However, different temporal dynamics and topographic distributions suggested divergent radical processing for native versus non-native readers from the beginning.

Teaching Chinese Report Writing: Melbourne and Hong Kong

Globalisation has resulted in curriculum reform, particularly at matriculation level, in many educational jurisdictions. When Victoria (Australia) and Hong Kong reformed their curricula, both claimed that their reforms were intended to develop students’ critical, independent and high-order thinking skills, and to foster their ability to learn independently. The question of whether the almost identical reform rhetoric has been translated into identical classroom practice was investigated in a comparative case study of the implementation of the reforms of Chinese writing curricula, specifically relating to report writing, in one classroom in Melbourne (Victoria) and one in Hong Kong. The study considered the following aspects: teaching cycles; classroom interaction patterns; teachers’ views, goals and strategies; students’ expectations and, through an analysis of students’ writing, the relationship between teaching and learning. It is shown that despite similar educational objectives and rhetoric, major differences arose when it came to implementation in classrooms with diverse cultural, social and linguistic contexts. In conclusion, factors are presented, which curriculum designers must take into consideration if the goal of global curriculum sharing is to be achieved.