Direction of curriculum development and
use of TSA results to inform the
learning and teaching of English
Language
February 2005
Curriculum and Basic Competency
Learning Outcomes
Curriculum
framework
(What pupils can do)
(What pupils are
expected to learn)
Basic competency
Curriculum and Assessment
Curriculum Framework
Curriculum framework
Assessment for Learning
Assessment in Schools
Assessments
Assessments for
for
basic
competency
basic competency
Basic competency
BCA
(HKEAA)
Areas of concern
for
English Language
based on the data from TSA
Reading
• Do not drill the item types;
need to understand the item design and
identify the testing points
• Teach pupils the reading skills explicitly
• Use effective questioning techniques to help
pupils develop reading skills as well as
critical thinking skills and creativity
Reading
Using a small range of reading strategies to understand the
meaning of short and simple texts with the help of cues
Reading
Using a small range of reading strategies to understand the meaning of
short and simple texts with the help of cues → identifying key words
and main ideas
Reading
Using a small range of reading strategies to understand the meaning of
short and simple texts with the help of cues → identifying key words
Reading
Using a small range of reading strategies to understand the meaning of short
and simple texts with the help of cues → predicting the meaning of
unfamiliar words by using picture cues and contextual clues
Reading
Using a small range of reading strategies to understand the meaning of short and
simple texts with the help of cues → understanding the connection between ideas by
identifying a small range of cohesive devices ( and / but / or / too / use of pronouns)
Reading
Applying a small range of simple reference skills → obtaining information
about the reading materials from the book covers and table of contents
Reading
Applying a small range of simple reference skills → obtaining information
about the reading materials from the book covers and table of contents
Writing
• Ask open-ended questions
 encourage pupils to express their personal
experiences, ideas and feelings
 help pupils develop critical thinking skills and
creativity
• Use holistic marking
 encourage pupils to write more ideas
 identify the language focus of the writing tasks
 avoid counting grammatical or spelling mistakes
Sample of P3 Student’s Work
Sample of P3 Student’s Work
Marking criteria
A. Content (10 marks)
very good : 9-10
good
: 7-8
average : 5-6
weak
: 3-4
poor
: 1-2
B. Language (10 marks)
Deduct 1 mark for
each spelling,
grammatical or
punctuation mistake.
Holistic Marking
(Adapted from the P6 BCA marking criteria for writing)
Content
Language
7-10 marks
•
Provide the story ending by giving sufficient
and relevant ideas with some supporting
details.
•
Communicate ideas clearly and coherently.
4-6 marks
•
Provide a brief ending with reasonably clear
and relevant ideas to the story but lack
supporting details.
•
Communicate ideas quite clearly.
1-3 marks
•
Attempt to provide an ending by giving very
limited ideas only.
AND/OR
•
Provide unclear or disconnected ideas that
may confuse the reader.
0 mark
•
Provide totally irrelevant ideas.
OR
•
Practically make no attempt at all.
Remarks:
•
Accept any sensible or logical ideas.
7-10 marks
•
Use a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns,
cohesive devices and verb forms fairly appropriately with
few/no grammatical mistakes.
4-6 marks
•
Use a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns,
cohesive devices and verb forms fairly appropriately with
some grammatical mistakes.
OR
•
Use a small range of vocabulary and verb forms with
few/no grammatical mistakes.
1-3 marks
•
Use a very limited range of vocabulary and verb forms
with many grammatical and spelling mistakes.
0 mark
•
Provide totally irrelevant ideas.
OR
•
Practically make no attempt at all.
Speaking
• Provide more practice on reading aloud
• Encourage pupils to give appropriate
elaboration
• Provide more interactive activities for
pupils to practise using the language for
purposeful communication (not just
answering teacher’s questions)
Speaking
• Pronouncing simple and familiar words comprehensibly (KS)
• Providing short answers to short and simple questions (IS, KS, ES)
Picture description
•
Encourage the pupil to talk about the pictures as much as he/she can using the pictures as a
prompt
•
Ask the pupil questions related to the pictures:
1. How many people are there at the party?
2. What can you see on the table?
3. How old is Tom?
4 When is his birthday?
5. What presents has he got?
6. How does he feel?
Speaking
Providing short answers to short and simple questions
(IS, KS, ES)
Personal experiences
Ask the pupil questions related to his/her personal
experiences:
1. How old are you?
2. When is your birthday?
3. What presents do you want?
4. Who gives you presents?
5. What do you do on your birthday?
Listening
• Help pupils to anticipate the content of the
listening text and tune in
• Help pupils to develop their listening skills
and simple note-taking skills
Listening Skills for Key Stage 1
 Identify and discriminate sounds, stress and
intonation
 identify basic consonant sounds and discriminate
between a small range of initial and final sounds
 identify basic vowel sounds and discriminate
between different vowel sounds in words
 recognize the difference in the use of intonation in
simple questions, statements, commands and
warnings
English Language Curriculum Guide (P1-6), Chapter 2
Listening Skills for Key Stage 1
Listen for explicit and implicit meaning
 identify key words in short utterances by
recognizing the stress
 identify the gist or main ideas in simple
spoken texts with the help of cues
 recognize the connection between ideas
supported by appropriate cohesive devices,
including connectives (e.g. and, but, or) and
pronouns (e.g. he, them, my)
English Language Curriculum Guide (P1-6), Chapter 2
Listening
Discriminating between common words with a small
range of vowel and consonant sounds
Listening
Discriminating between common words with a small
range of vowel and consonant sounds
Listening
Discriminating between common words with a
small range of vowel and consonant sounds
→ stressed and unstressed sounds
Listening
Using a small range of strategies to understand the
meaning of short and simple texts on familiar topics
which are delivered slowly and clearly in familiar
accents → identifying key words
Listening
Using a small range of strategies to understand the meaning of short and
simple texts on familiar topics which are delivered slowly and clearly in
familiar accents → understanding the connection between ideas by identifying
a small range of cohesive devices ( and / but / or / too / use of pronouns )
After the picnic, one of the students, Kitty, goes home. She talks with her mother about a photo of the
picnic.
Write the names in the correct boxes.
Mr Lam
Mr Tam
Miss Chan
Miss Wong
Sandy
Jenny
Sam
Sue
Tim
Tom
Mary
Kitty
Tapescript:
Mum: There’re two girls in the back row.
They look the same. Who are they?
Kitty: Sue and Sandy. They’re twins. They both
have long straight hair but Sue wears
glasses.
Thank you