KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AWARDS SCHEME 2014/15

PROJECT TITLE:

EFFECTS OF A LANGUAGE-RICH PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS INTERVENTION ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERACY AMONG HONG KONG CHINESE

KINDERGARTENERS

Project leader: Dr. Yeung, Siu Sze Susanna, Department of Psychological Studies

Co-Investigators:

Dr. Ng Mei Lee, Department of Early Childhood Education Dr. King, Ronnel, Department of Curriculum and Instruction

OUTLINE

What’s next?

What & How?

Why?

BEFORE IT STARTED

Project Proposal &

Funding Source

Research work

Needs analysis

People

BASIC DETAILS

Period:

1 Feb 2013 to 31 Oct 2014

Funding Source:

Quality Education Fund

Participants:

Direct beneficiaries:

250 K3 children and 20

teachers from 8 kindergartens

Indirect beneficiaries: parents of the participating

children and the general public

Major elements:

Program design

Program implementation and teachers’

professional development

Program evaluation

BACKGROUND AND NEEDS

•

Unique educational context in Hong Kong

Existing English teaching in

kindergarten: diverse and not evidence-based

Importance of English learning

in Hong Kong

English teaching is commonly

implemented in almost all

kindergartens.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVES:

• To enhance English oral language, phonological awareness, reading skills and English language learning motivation among the participating Chinese ESL kindergarteners

• To enhance skills and confidence of the participating Cantonese-speaking local teachers in implementing English language and literacy learning activities

• To provide guidelines for parents of the participants to support their children’s English language and literacy development at home

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES:

• To develop an evidence-based English language and literacy program for Hong Kong Chinese ESL

kindergarteners considering the local educational contexts and children’s developmental needs

• To improve English-language teaching in kindergartens by heightening teachers’ and parents’

awareness on the importance of delivering enjoyable learning activities to children

• To provide guidelines for local early childhood practitioners to develop their own English language

and literacy curriculum in preschools

Impacts on the participating schools

through various project activities

Knowledge transferred

KEY ACTIVITIES – PROGRAM DESIGN

Program Content Lesson structure Teaching methods

The oral language program

Oral listening; Oral communication; Vocabulary building (for the next phase of phonological awareness program)

Story telling; Extended vocabulary; Contextual speech and syntax use; Oral listening and expression

Storybook ; Language games; Extended discourse

The language-enriched phonological awareness program

Vocabulary; Syllable awareness; Rhyming skills; Phonemic awareness

Target vocabulary learning ; Phonological awareness skills learning ; Modeling and practices

Language games; Direct vocabulary instruction; Explicit and direct teaching of phonological awareness; Skill modeling

Disciplinary knowledge: Psychology and Early Childhood Education Knowledge transferred: Effective teaching approaches, curriculum design and second language acquisition principles

KEY ACTIVITIES – PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION

• Before program implementation:

• Professional development workshops:

basic knowledge in second language

acquisition and teaching + skills to

conduct English learning activities

• During program implementation:

• On-site professional support

• After program implementation:

• Collecting feedback from teachers

Disciplinary knowledge: Early Childhood Education Knowledge transferred: Effective teaching skills and strategies

CLASSROOM EXAMPLES Children enjoyed the learning activities! They are quite different from what they usually experienced in English lesson time!

CLASSROOM EXAMPLES

We are

learning how to tap

syllables.

We are learning how

to identify rhyming words!

KEY ACTIVITIES – PROGRAM EVALUATION

• Results revealed that

• Participating children showed significantly higher level of improvements in oral Language skills, phonological awareness, word reading and motivation in English learning compared to no-program period.

• Participating teachers also reported positive impacts of the programs on children engagement and self-efficacy on English learning in the classroom.

The positive outcome of the program provides useful insights for the field on how to best conceptualize and implement English language learning activities for Hong Kong ESL children.

Disciplinary knowledge: Psychology Knowledge transferred: Evidence-based practices in second language teaching and learning

IMPACTS ON A WIDER CONTEXT

• The findings of the present project are expected to make an

impact on the way local educators conceptualize early English

language learning.

• The teaching resources provided guidelines for local kindergarten

to design their school-based English curriculum.

• Almost all participating schools revised their school English

curriculum based on their experiences in our project.

IMPACTS ON A WIDER CONTEXT

• Dissemination Seminars

• We have attracted

professional from different

fields to attend the

dissemination seminars (e.g.,

language teachers, early

childhood educators,

academics, education

coordinators etc.)

IMPACTS ON A WIDER CONTEXT • Media is interested to report the findings of the current project. The project

details and related findings have been reported by local newspapers.

HTTPS://HK.NEWS.YAHOO.COM/%E5%B9%BC%E5%9C%92%E8%A9%A6%E9

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• Dr Yeung and Dr Ng shared with reporter of the Sun (Hong Kong) that it is

important to encourage Hong Kong ESL children to share and talk in the

class (e.g., say, tell, do activities).

PRODUCTS: RESOURCE PACKAGES

PRODUCTS: PARENTS’ LEAFLETS

PRODUCTS: TEACHERS’ SHARING & LESSON CLIPS- DVDS

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFERRED: A SUMMARY

Effective teaching approaches for all local kindergartens

Awareness in providing quality and evidence-based English teaching to Hong Kong ESL children

Social Impacts

Curriculum design and teaching strategies in second language learning for early childhood educators

Second language development of Hong Kong ESL young children

Direct Impacts

Experts in language acquisition and early childhood education

Knowledge in Educational Psychology and Early Childhood Education

Program Design and Evidence Generation

The Institute

THE NEXT STEP & SUSTAINABILITY

• Promotion of the evidence-based programs to local kindergartens.

• Sharing of good practices and organizing professional development for local

educators.

• Bid for funding for projects on early English learning based on the findings from

this project.

RELATED PROJECTS AFTER COMPLETION

• Department research grant: Parent intervention on supporting children to learn English at home

• KT funding: extension of English curriculum in project schools and teachers’ training

• SCOLAR project on English teaching approaches

• Scaled up QEF project – to be realized

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

• Co-investigators

• School consultants: Ms. Etta Chiang and Ms. Yvonne Chan

• Research assistants: Mr. Winson Tang and Ms. Judith Wong

• All teachers and principals from the project schools, children participants and their parents

THANK YOU!