Literacy challenges and students’ strategic language learning efforts during the primary-secondary transition

Principal Investigator

Dr. Andy Xuesong Gao, The University of Hong Kong

 

Co-Investigator

Dr. Li Yongyan, The University of Hong Kong

 

Objectives

Many students in Hong Kong face the challenge of transiting from Chinese Medium Instruction (CMI) in primary schooling to English Medium Instruction (EMI) in secondary schooling. With the implementation of fine-tuning mother tongue education policy, the number of  students who have to face this challenge has increased significantly as Chinese medium secondary schools are now permitted to use English as a medium of instruction for 25% of their curriculum time. The objectives of this study are:

1. To explore the literacy (reading and writing) challenges secondary Form 1 (F1) students face as they undergo the transition from learning through CMI to EMI;
2. To investigate the strategies (successful and unsuccessful) that they use to deal with these challenges during their first year of secondary schooling.

To achieve these two objectives, the project will conduct the following:

1. An analysis of  the English language curricula, textbooks, teaching activities and assessment in primary and secondary schools to identify the challenges that they face in switching from reading and writing through CMI to through EMI;
2. A survey of F1 students to examine how these students respond to these literacy challenges as well as how successful and less successful participants differ in terms of their motivation, beliefs, and orchestration of learning strategies;
3. A follow-up inquiry, involving student participants (of different achievements and mixed genders) and teachers (both English and content subject), to understand how individual student participants have developed different sets of capabilities and motivation for strategic learning.

 

Significance for Hong Kong and beyond

The findings will allow teachers to gain a better understanding of young language learners’ strategic learning efforts and to design teaching interventions in the classroom. The project’s findings will also inform the development of effective English language teaching methods for primary-secondary transition in Hong Kong as well as in other jurisdictions with similar language in education policies.