Abstract

Target Oriented Curriculum (TOC) has been described as one of the major educational reforms in Hong Kong in the last 20 or 30 years. Among the many changes to be implemented, the emphasis on performance (authentic/alternative) assessment is of top priority, which includes the use of more practical work, essays, open-ended problems, and portfolios of student work. Though most teachers are now only using self-constructed performance tasks, there have been research and recommendations to examine how such assessment can be linked to high-stake student selection decisions. It is likely that classroom performance assessment of the pupils will be used for accountability (e.g., comparison of school effectiveness) and secondary school place allocation (SSPA) purposes. However, there are already challenges from principals, teachers and educational bodies on the TOC and its related assessment. It is argued here that such a movement towards inter-school comparison of performance task results will lead to the demands for greater specifiity in the assessment criteria, extra time spent on assessment, higher comparability in tasks for all students, and more reliable tasks. All of these will in turn cause greater resistance from teachers and the general public and hence will defeat our original good intention to emphasize more performance-based assessment.

Abstract

The need for an integrative approach to conceptualize student problem behaviors and to suggest avenues and strategies for management was recognized given the prevalence of student problem behaviors in Hong Kong schools. In surveying the different theories and models of management applicable to the school setting, the ABC model was suggested as a framework for conceptualizing student problem behaviors. Diverse strategies derived from different approaches were shown to be interpretable as different ways of maneuvering antecedents (A), behaviors (B), and consequences (C). The integrative approach was illustrated with a case example.

Abstract

A bilingual version (English-Chinese) of the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) was administered to a convenient sample of 415 secondary school teachers to assess their job satisfaction with respect to their work itself, pay, opportunities for promotion, supervision, and colleagues.

As a whole, teachers were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. Among the five facets, teachers expressed the lowest satisfaction with promotion opportunities. However, they reported a rather high level of satisfaction with supervision and their colleagues. When group differences were tested by one-way MANOVA, significant effects were found for age, school type, and major teaching level. Teachers in the 26–30 year age group reported the lowest level of satisfaction with Promotion, Colleagues and Pay scales. Government school teachers reported the highest level of satisfaction with Pay and Promotion scales. Teachers teaching mainly junior form students (F. 1–3) reported the highest level of satisfaction in the Colleagues scale. Recommendations for increasing the job satisfaction of Hong Kong secondary school teachers are proposed.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine teacher behaviors in the local secondary school physical education setting. The subjects in this study were forty local pre-service and in-service physical education teachers. An observation instrument was employed to collect data from teachers during natural and usual setting of physical education lessons. Results showed that physical educators tended to provide high frequencies of instructions and disproportionately low rates of praise and corrective to positive feedback regardless of their gender and teaching experience. Whilst the in- service physical educators had significantly higher percentages of using teaching feedback of praise, praise/reinstruct and questioning than the pre-service group, the female physical educators were found to be more dynamic in using different categories of teaching feedback than their counterparts. To better maintain or upgrade the quality of the local physical education teaching and learning, both pre-service and in-service physical educators need to be trained or re-trained in different ways to make good use of teacher feedback during their instructions. Professional consultation as well as self-evaluation approach would help to achieve these goals.

摘要

1994年7月，教育統籌委員會屬下的語文能力小組發表報告，其中一項建議為在中學會考的中國語文科增設普通話選考卷，目的是要把普通話納入正規的中國語文課內。次年7月，港督在施政報告中提出加強教授普通話和改善教學質素；教育署課程發展處正著手編定適用於各年級的新普通話課程。面對這種情況，語文教師對自我的普通話能力有甚麼要求？本研究即探討這個問題，並從教學語言能力要求的角度分析中文科教師普通話能力的結構。

本研究採用問卷調查方法，問卷包括普通話的說話能力、聆聽能力、注音能力和朗讀能力四部分，共五十二項能力要求，研究對象逐一評定它們對一位中文科教師的重要性。研究結果顯示中、小學中文科教師對普通話能力要求不同；另外，不同教學年資和年齡的老師，對為中文科教師舉辦的普通話課程應包括的範疇，也有不同的看法。研究者根據這些結果，對相關的培訓課程提出了一些建議。

Abstract

In July 1994 the Working Group on Language Proficiency of the Education Commission issued a report. Its members proposed to put Putonghua within the subject of Chinese language and to formalize it as one of the selective examination subjects for the Hong Kong Certificate of Examination. This proposal aimed at assimilating Putonghua into the regular Chinese language course. Later in July 1995, the Governor, in his annual policy speech, mentioned the importance of the teaching of Putonghua. The Curriculum Development Council of the Education Department has been compiling a new syllabus on Putonghua for different levels of students. In view of all these developments, what is the expectation of teachers on their own proficiency in Putonghua? This question is the focus of this research. The researchers aim at analyzing the structure of the Chinese language teacher's proficiency in Putonghua from the perspective of required skills in the teaching and learning of a language.

The research is conducted by a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire includes a list of fifty-two items of required skills. The list is used to study four major aspects of teacherss abilities in Putonghua, namely their articulation, listening ability, phonetic notation and recitation. Subjects are asked to assess the importance of these skills for a Chinese language teacher. The results of the research reveal that, first, Chinese language teachers in primary and secondary schools had different expectations on their proficiency in Putonghua; and second, teachers of different age and of different teaching experiences tended to have different opinions on the contents of learning programmes that should be provided for Chinese language teachers. Based on these findings, the researchers put forward some proposals to assist in the formulation of a training programme for teachers.

摘要

本研究以學業成績稍遜的中一、二學生為研究對象，希望透過「多讀多寫」可以提高學生閱讀和寫作能力。實驗組每星期須閱讀指定的課外篇章，另外還須作文一篇。每篇作文，教師約用兩至三分鐘作簡略的批改。經過一年實驗，實驗組學生的閱讀和寫作成績均較控制組優勝。

Abstract

The research aims to improve student's reading and writing ability through the adoption of the teaching strategy "Read More and Write More." The experimental group includes S.1 and S.2 students with inferior academic results. For a year, they need to read a specified passage and write a composition every week. Teachers would use 2 to 3 minutes to briefly correct each composition. The result checked one year later shows that the reading and writing ability of the students in the experimental group is better than that of the control group.

摘要

一個語文水平高的人，必須對文字有充分駕馭的能力；打開一篇文章，如果滿紙錯別字，不但顯示了作者語文水平的低落，還往往會影響溝通。所以錯別字是我們談論語文教學、語文水平考核等問題，不可忽略的因素。作者於1994-95年間進行了一項香港學生寫錯別字的研究，希望通過定量分析，瞭解香港學生錯別字的類型、頻率和分佈情況，以探討他們寫錯別字的成因，日後可以在這基礎上研究改善的方法。

Abstract

The mastery of Chinese characters is a prerequisite of good language standard. An article full of wrongly-written characters not only reveals the weakness of the writer's language proficiency, but also hinders communication. Writing is therefore an important issue which cannot be overlooked in Chinese language teaching and language proficiency tests. The author conducted a quantitative survey of wrongly- written Chinese characters found in the compositions of Hong Kong students during 1994-95, hoping that the data obtained (in terms of type, frequency and distribution) can provide us with useful information for understanding the cause of the mistakes, and for ways of improvement.

摘要

角色扮演是把教材改編或寫成戲劇或播音劇，由學生分組演出，以體味課文中人物的性格、感情和行為的發展，再經過事後的分析和討論，加深學生對課文的認識，並獲得情意上的教育。利用角色扮演去教學，既能引起學生的學習興趣，培養學生主動學習的精神，又能滿足學生活潑好動的性格，使他們在愉快的氣氛中學習，所以是中文科常用的一種教學方法。

本文的重點在探討：角色扮演的理論、它在中文教學上的價值、如何設計和推行，以及它的優點和局限。最後並以三篇香港中學中文教材為教學實例，附於本文之末，以供教師參考。

Abstract

Role play is to adapt or edit the teaching material into a drama script or radio play and let students perform in groups. In the process, they can get into the character as well as his emotional and behavioral development. With a follow-up analysis and discussion of the role play, studentss understanding of the text and their affective development will be enhanced.

Using role play in teaching can arouse student's interests and develop their initiative in learning. It also satisfies their active and energetic dispositions and allows them to learn in an enjoyable atmosphere. Thus it is a commonly used tool in Chinese teaching.

This paper focuses on the theory of role play, its value in Chinese teaching, its design, applications, advantages and limitations. Three texts taken from Chinese teaching materials in Hong Kong secondary schools are attached as appendices for teacherss reference.

Abstract

The differential use of English and Cantonese in different courses of study at a technical university, as reported by the students, is interpreted as part of a pattern in the larger community of (1) a breakdown of the diglossic relationship of the two main community languages and (2) discipline-related language use which reflects, in microcosm, the variable response to the reality of "post-diglossic" bilingualism as it exists in Hong Kong. The pattern of differential language use in each course may be evidence of the evolution of bilingual discourse communities, each with its own unique profile of use of English and Cantonese.

Abstract

Being trained and told to teach English through English, many pre-service English teacher-trainees find it almost impossible to survive in primary and junior secondary classrooms without using the mother tongue. Facing the gap between theory and practice, many student-teachers may feel disillusioned and puzzled after their first exposure to realistic teaching situations in Hong Kong. In order to find out the extent to which the pre-service English teacher-trainees were affected by the "reality shock," 71 student-teachers at sub-degree level were asked to answer a questionnaire about their attitude towards using Cantonese (L1) in English teaching before their Teaching Practice (TP). After TP, the subjects were asked to answer the same questionnaire again. A t-test was then done to find out if any significant attitude changes had taken place. In addition, the student-teachers were asked to answer a second questionnaire which aims at finding out how much Cantonese they perceived to have used during the TP and their feelings about it. The main aims of this paper are to report the above findings and, more importantly, to discuss what teacher-educators should do to help trainees cope with the English teaching situation in Hong Kong.