Using TSA data to enhance curriculum planning English Language Education Section Curriculum Development Institute Education Bureau

Listening Some Suggestions of the Way Forward: Expose pupils to more authentic listening materials covering a range of text types (e.g. advertisements, announcements, telephone conversations) to prepare pupils for listening to English in real-life situations Use poems, songs and rhymes to help pupils develop sensitivity towards the sounds and rhythm of the English language Draw pupils’ attention to the use of spoken English in their daily life (e.g. conversations with the NETs, announcements on the MTR) Make use of activities like storytelling, reading aloud and shared reading to develop pupils’ listening skills Design activities which provide pupils a clear purpose for listening listening skills can be taught together with reading skills, which can give them more language input for listening comprehension and enable them to infer meaning and locate information Ask pupils to read aloud continuous prose so that they can comprehend more meaningful chunks instead of discrete items only

Listening Some Suggestions of the Way Forward: Teach the skills explicitly rather than just playing the tape/CD and checking answers Help pupils anticipate the content of the listening text and tune in Develop in pupils the good habit of listening to the whole recording once to get the gist or main ideas the first time they listen. In subsequent listening, guide pupils to locate and understand specific details Help pupils develop their simple note-taking skills Review the problems when pupils fail to identify the information required and guide pupils how to get the answers Increase in complexity the content of the listening materials as pupils progress from KS1 to KS2 (e.g. providing opportunities for pupils to listen to extended texts rather than merely short and discrete items)

Reading Some Suggestions of the Way Forward: Expose pupils to a range of text types Use multi-media resources to boost pupils’ interest and confidence in reading Teach pupils different reading skills explicitly instead of just explaining the meaning of the vocabulary Guide pupils to read for meaning (i.e. understand the main ideas/gist of the whole text before learning how to locate specific information) Use effective questioning techniques to help pupils develop reading skills as well as critical thinking skills and creativity Allow ‘wait time’ for pupils to formulate their responses

Writing Some Suggestions of the Way Forward: Expose pupils to a variety of text types Discuss the topic for the writing task, clarify the purpose and audience, discuss the format, conventions and language features whenever appropriate Ask more open-ended questions to stimulate pupils’ critical thinking and creativity Guide pupils how to organise ideas with the use of mind maps and appropriate cohesive devices Provide opportunities for the application of the language items and structures learnt Encourage pupils to use a variety of language structures and vocabulary - not just assigning writing tasks to pupils as homework without teaching

Writing Some Suggestions of the Way Forward: Help pupils develop the habit of reviewing their own work to avoid careless spelling and grammatical mistakes Give quality feedback to pupils on how they can improve their writing (apart from acknowledging pupils’ efforts and give encouraging remarks) Foster a good learning culture in class by demonstrating examples of good pupil writing and highlighting pupils’ strengths Gradually reduce the support to help pupils progress from the stage of controlled writing to guided writing and to independent writing - not just assigning writing tasks to pupils as homework without teaching

Speaking Some Suggestions of the Way Forward: Encourage pupils to apply the phonics skills in reading aloud Provide more practice on giving presentations or rehearsed speech (e.g. show-and-tell) Provide more practice on interactive activities (not just answering teacher’s questions) Encourage pupils to talk with the NETs or English teachers in English both inside and outside the classroom Encourage and guide pupils to give appropriate elaborations Develop pupils’ confidence in speaking up (emphasis on fluency before accuracy) Teach the communication strategies explicitly

Marking – Writing / Speaking Some Suggestions of the Way Forward: Use holistic marking Identify the focus of the task Decide on the marking criteria which can cover the different aspects (e.g. content, language and organisation for writing) Practise consensus marking to gain a common understanding of pupils’ performance and facilitate the provision of feedback Give constructive feedback to help pupils identify their strengths and improve on their work Avoid counting every single grammatical/ spelling/ pronunciation mistake

English Language Learning Reading Speaking Vocabulary learning Integration of 4 skills Listening Writing

Vocabulary Building Skills Word Formation Affixation (e.g. unhappy, careless) Compounding (e.g. foot+ball=football) Conversion (e.g. cook a meal, a cook) Derivation (e.g. excite, exciting, excited, excitement) English Language Curriculum Guide (Primary 1-6)(2004), pp. 168-171

Vocabulary Building Skills Word Association Synonyms (e.g. happy = glad) Antonyms (e.g. bright dark) Homonyms (e.g. catch a bus, catch a cold) Collocations (e.g. make a wish, watch TV) Lexical sets (e.g. furniture – table, chair, desk, cupboard) English Language Curriculum Guide (Primary 1-6)(2004), pp. 168-171

Approaches to Vocabulary Learning Paradigmatic Approach Syntagmatic Receptive Productive

Paradigmatic Approach Word Hierarchy

Paradigmatic Approach Superordinates Sports Furniture

Paradigmatic Approach

Paradigmatic Approach Organises words into hierarchies Develops associative networks Encourages efficient vocabulary learning Allows for additions

Syntagmatic Approach Topic: Jobs PEOPLE ACTIONS OBJECTS PLACE Chef cook meals restaurant Teacher Singer Pilot

Syntagmatic Approach Topic: Going around Hong Kong

Syntagmatic Approach Develops associative networks Helps with the productive use of English Focuses on multi-word units (e.g. ‘See you later.’, ‘Have a good trip!’) Learns word collocations (e.g. ‘go shopping’, ‘have a shower’, ‘play football’)

Providing Opportunities for Practice Pupil’s initial draft My Favourite Thing I like music. My father bought me a piano. I love the piano. I think it is the best piano. I play the piano every day. When I touch the piano, I feel very happy.

Suggestions for Enrichment Pupil’s revised draft My Favourite Thing I like music. My father bought me a _______ piano I love the piano. I think it is the best piano. I play the piano every day. When I touch the piano, I feel very happy. new (Adj?) as a birthday present. (What for?) because it is beautiful. (Why do you think so?) (When?) after school.

Too many pianos? Lexical Substitution Pupil’s final draft My Favourite Thing I like music. My father bought me a new piano as a birthday present. I love . I think it is the best because it is very beautiful. I play every day after school. When I touch , I feel very happy. present. the piano. the gift. piano musical instrument the piano the keyboard the piano

Integrative Tasks Writing a story Story reading: (Reading) - Learning story structure and vocabulary Writing a story 1 2 3 Collaborative story telling: (Listening and Speaking) Brainstorming setting, characters and events Brainstorming storyline in groups - Developing storyline with teacher support Individual story writing: (Writing) Summarising the collaboratively produced story Creating a personalised ending to the story