NSS LEARNING AND TEACHING SERIES
FOR THE NON-LANGUAGE ARTS MODULES
IN THE ELECTIVE PART OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM:
WORKSHOP ON LEARNING ENGLISH THROUGH SOCIAL ISSUES (I)
11 May 2013
English Language Education Section
Curriculum Development Institute
Education Bureau
Understanding the module
Designing classroom activities related to social issues
BREAK
Planning and integrating the module with non-language arts and
language arts modules
LUNCH (12.30-13.45)
Catering for learner diversity
2012 HKDSE
Assessing the module
BREAK
Providing feedback and designing follow-up learning activities
Experience sharing and Evaluation
• a better understanding of the module: Learning English
through Social Issues;
• gained some ideas on how the module could be implemented
to develop students’ language and higher-order thinking skills,
and integrated with the Language Arts as well as other NonLanguage Arts modules;
• learnt more about how to develop learning and teaching
activities/materials for the implementation of the module;
• acquired some strategies for teaching the module and the use
of assignments, assessment and feedback for improving
learning and teaching; and
• shared your experience in planning/implementing the module
or related learning and teaching activities with other
participants.
•
provide opportunities for learners to reinforce the language
knowledge and skills that they have acquired from the
Compulsory Part
•
cater for learners’ diverse abilities, needs and interests
•
extend and enrich learners’ learning experience
•
add variety to the language curriculum
Higher-order thinking
•A learner mainipulates and combines information, facts
and ideas in order to synthesise, generalise, explain,
hypothesise or arrive at some conclusion or interpretation
•The above process helps the learner solves problems and
discovers new meanings and understandings
Lower-order thinking
•A learner receive or recite factual information or to employ
rules and algorithms through repetitive routines or in a rote
fashion
•The above process helps the learner reproduce knowledge
by following pre-specified steps and routines
Questions developing different levels of thinking skills
What ideas can you add to ___ ?
What solutions would you suggest for ___ ?
What alternatives can you propose ___?
Do you agree that ___? Explain.
What is most important?
How would you decide about ___ ?
How does ___ compare / contrast with ___ ?
What evidence can you present for ___ ?
What conclusion can you draw ___?
How is ___ related to ___ ?
Why is ___ significant?
Do you know of another instance where ___?
Could this have happened in ___ ?
Re-tell / outline / describe ___ in your own words.
What is the main idea of ___?
What difference exists between ___?
Who/What/Where/When/How/What is…?
Students need to
_______________
_______________
_______________
information.
Students need to
_______________
_______________
_______________
information.
Self-questioning:
1. What do I need to ______________ to make sense of this
text?
2. What does this author want me to __________________?
3. How can I ______________ what this author is telling me to
understand something better?
4. How is this _________________ to (or ______________from)
other material I’ve read?
5. How has the author’s perspectives _____________ what
he/she tells me?
6. How has this author _______________ what I understand?
Thinking Skills
Actions
Creating
To predict, infer, combine, modify, imagine, compose, use old
concepts to create new ideas, design and invent
Evaluating
To compare ideas, evaluate outcomes, rate, judge, solve,
recommend
Analysing
To identify and analyse patterns, organise ideas, recognise
trends
Applying
To apply knowledge, use problem solving methods, manipulate,
design, solve problems
Understanding
To match, explain, describe, paraphrase, estimate, summarise,
discuss
Remembering
To recall information, name, list, locate, observe, discover,
identify, outline
Thinking Skills
Suggested tasks
Applying
• To predict views of different
parties
• To produce questionnaires, fact
sheets, acknowledge sources of
information
• To conduct questionnaire
surveys
• To present predictions
Understanding
• To identify causes, effects and
solution, views of different
parties, information to be
acknowledged, write outlines
and summaries
• To present/discuss causes,
effects, views of different
parties, solutions in texts
Remembering
• To read a text, to listen to/watch
audio-visual texts, to write
definitions, identifying 4Ws and
1 H (Who, Where, When, What,
How)
• To present definitions and
facts
Thinking Skills
Suggested tasks
Creating
• To write editorial,
• To produce research reports,
speeches, proposals
• To conduct group
discussions, research,
court trials
• To deliver a speech
Evaluating
• To draw conclusions taking into
consideration views from
different perspectives
• To produce survey reports
• To conduct surveys
• To present /discuss
surveys findings
Analysing
• To write stories, songs, poems,
plays, articles, reports, books
• To perform original plays,
songs, poems, role plays
Written
Editorials*
Essays*
Fact sheets
Feature Articles*
Spoken
Court trials
Newspaper articles*
Documentaries*
Proposals*
Debates*
Questionnaires
Interviews
News reports
Pamphlets
Speeches*
Survey /research report
Survey / research
reports
* Additional text-types for Senior Secondary
Films*
• To express factual information
• To acknowledge sources of
information
• To justify a point of view
• To find and provide evidence for a
conclusion
• To give and justify recommendations
and make proposals
• To express personal feelings,
opinions and judgements and
present arguments
• To seek information e.g. conducting
an interview
• To give presentation
• To participate in and follow group
discussion
•
Approaches to implementing the elective module
(e.g. as a standalone module or integrated with other curriculum and
assessment components?)
•
•
•
Grouping of students
Timetabling
Adaptation of the S.O.W.
(e.g. selecting appropriate learning focuses)
•
Sources of learning and teaching materials
(e.g. textbooks, school-based materials, resource packages, the media)
•
•
•
Teacher deployment
Interface with the JS curriculum
Extended learning activities
•
•
Resolves the issue of tight learning/teaching time
Enhances curriculum coherence
(inter-relatedness of various curriculum and assessment components and
areas for reinforcement)
•
Avoids unnecessary repetition of curriculum content
Interviews
Multiple perspectives
Anaylsing the causes and
effects of a social problem
Letters to the
editors
Acknowledging sources of
information
Survey reports
Newspaper articles
Definitions
The Compulsory Part, other elective modules and assessment components
Writing Skills
Grammar
Vocabulary
Speaking Skills
Viewing skills
Reading Skills
Listening Skills
Problems encountered by teachers teaching Short Stories at S4:
Too hectic schedule (too little time with too much content: 4
skills books, 1 elective module textbook and 1 grammar textbook
to be covered)
Limited exposure to various genres of reading texts /
vocabulary
Compulsory Part
Grammar &
Communicative Functions
Language Skills
Vocabulary
Text-types
Extension,
consolidation &
application
Speaking skills:
Pronunciation
(stress,
rhythm,
intonation …)
Text-types:
(dialogues,
Stories,
movies …)
Elective Module (Drama)
Reading: stories,
script …
Writing: short scene
writing / production of
an original script …
Speaking: expression
of emotions and
feelings (stress &
intonation) / Role play /
Drama performance …
SBA (learning activities)
Some of the measures taken when planning the S5 curriculum:
Infuse the learning objectives of the Social Issues
Module into the school-based curriculum of the
compulsory part.
Select texts and learning activities to be covered.
Develop some tailor-made supplementary materials for reading and writing.
Examples from the scheme of work of ABC School
Learning Objectives of
the compulsory part
elective part
(Social Issues)
SBA
learning
activities
extended learning activity
compulsory part (R,
W, L, S)
Language
Functions
Steps to plan the scheme of work:
•base on the learning objectives of the elective module: Social
Issues
•select and integrate 4 language skills to be covered in the
compulsory part (R, W, L, S)
•enrich text types related to Social Issues: both skills book and
tailor-made materials
•incorporate SBA learning activities
•introduce theme-related / skill-related extended learning activities
(e.g. forum)
After integration:
Social Issues
Social Issues
Compulsory Part (R, W, L, S),
SBA, language functions,
extended learning activities
Objectives
• To consolidate the knowledge of short stories (e.g. plot
development, various ways of ending a story, dialogue
writing)
• To help students develop the skills of understanding and
evaluating the issue of ‘consumerism’ from various
perspectives
• To enhance students’ ability to plan and produce coherent
and structured texts
Target level: S5
Situation
The English Club is organising a writing competition for students
in your school on the theme ‘Consumerism’. The best five entries
will represent the school in an international literary contest.
Students of the best five entries will be eligible for a two-week
fully sponsored overseas literary exchange programme. You and
your classmates have a strong interest in the theme and would
like to enter the competition.
In order to prepare for the writing competition, your English
teacher would like your class to take part in some activities
related to the theme and story writing. Complete the following
tasks:
Task 1 – Completing an information sheet on “Consumerism”
Task 2 – Participating in a discussion forum on “Overconsumption”
Task 3 – Appreciating stories on the theme ‘Consumerism’
To help students gain a better understanding of the issue of
consumerism, the English Club and the Current Affairs
Society has jointly organised a workshop. Complete the
information sheet as you take part in the workshop.
1. Students listen to a song and answer questions about the phenomenon of
“consumerism” based on the lyrics. (Individual)
2. Students watch a presentation on the possible causes of consumerism
and note down key ideas. (Individual)
3. Students look at some cartoons and write down what they think are some
positive and negative effects of consumerism. (Group)
The English Club and Current Affairs Club jointly invite the
public to take part in a forum to discuss the phenomenon of
‘over-consumption’ in Hong Kong and whether the government
should take the lead in educating the public about ‘wiseconsumption’.
You and your friends are invited to attend the discussion
forum to:
• share observations about over-consumption in Hong Kong;
• suggest ways to avoid over-consumption; and
• present your views (with supporting details) on whether the
government should take the lead in educating the public
about ‘wise-consumption’.
1. Students choose or are assigned one of the four roles
below:
•Consumers A (Green shoppers who support green shopping)
•Consumers B (Shoppers who enjoy and support consumption for pleasure
and quality life)
•Businesspeople
•Environmentalists
2. Students read a data file for their respective roles or any
other relevant resources to locate examples of overspending
and suggest ways of avoiding it. They decide whether the
government should take the lead in educating the public
about “wise-consumption” and brainstorm reasons to support
their stance from the perspective of the role assigned to them.
(Individual)
3. Students share with the class examples of overconsumption and ways to avoid it from the perspectives of
different roles. (Class)
4. Discussion Forum: Students playing the same role first
work together to discuss their stance on the discussion topic
and reasons to support their stance. Then, each group
presents their stance in the forum. (Mixed-ability group)
5. Question-and-Answer Session: Students of each group
come up with a question for another group. They also note
down the questions for their own groups, prepare their
response in groups and present it in the forum. (Mixed-ability
group)
 share with the class additional information from
different perspectives they have collected from
sources other than the data file
 come up with at least one question for each of the
other groups
To help students appreciate stories related to the theme and
consolidate their knowledge and language skills in writing
stories, the English Club has organised a workshop on story
writing. Complete the tasks you take part in the workshop.
1. Students read the first half of the story ‘Money’ and revise
the plot development. (Individual)
2. Students creates the climax, falling action and resolution of
the story and share their ideas in groups. (Individual and
Group)
3. Students read the second half of the story ‘Money’ and
discuss different ways of ending a story creatively. (Group)
4. Students analyse the main character of the story ‘Money’.
(Individual and Group)
5. Students work out the correct sequence of the paragraphs
of the story ‘The Brand Name Battle. (Individual)
6. Students revisit the techniques for writing dialogues and
create dialogues to replace two paragraphs of the story
‘The Brand Name Battle’. (Individual)
7. Students analyse the characters in the story ‘The Brand
Name Battle’.
8. Students interpret the themes of the story ‘Money’ and ‘The
Brand Name Battle’.
9. Students write their stories that includes the line ‘I feel rich’.
(Individual)
Enriching students’ content ideas of their spoken products
(e.g. SBA presentations and discussions.)
Reading
Non-fiction books about:
•terrorism and the attack on the World Trade Centre ?
•life-story of a civil rights leader?
•gangs and bullying?
•case studies on the moral issues of genetic engineering?
•facts on global warming?
Fiction books about:
-freedom & democracy?
-poverty and injustice in Mexico ?
-increasing alienation from nature and human relationship in stories
about future?
-social prejudice and struggle for justice ?
Movies about impact of science in society
•
e.g. Gattaca
Movies about racism
•
e.g. Rabbi t-Proof Fence
TV series / Podcasts
• e.g. The Pulse
• e.g. Reflections from Asia
Documentaries
• e.g. Super Size Me
Workplace
Communication
Debating
Sports
• Conduct a survey and draft a report on gender
equality in the workplace
• Conduct a group discussion on the pros and cons of
promoting national education in local primary and
secondary schools
• Write a letter to the editor expressing views on the
need and effective means to promote sports among
school children in Hong Kong
Drama
• Act out a scene in which a school boy overcomes
bullying at school
Poems and Songs
• Read/write an acrostic poem about online dating
Short Stories
Popular Culture
• Write a story about a day of life in a subdivided unit
• Create a comic strip to promote the recycling of used
paper
Group work:
Based on the electives offered and the materials currently used
at your schools, create a unit integrating social issues with at
least 2 of the following curriculum components.
Compulsory Part
Other Electives
SBA learning
activities
1.
What language knowledge and skills knowledge do I want my students to
acquire?
2.
What issues could I select to focus on?
3.
What text-types should I include?
4.
What do I want my students to produce at the end of the unit?
5.
What learning tasks could be included to prepare students for their final
product?
6.
Do I want to integrate some elements of the language arts modules , nonlanguage arts modules or SBA?
7.
8.
How do I cater for my students’ diverse abilities and interests?
How do I assess my students’ performance in the module?
Every class is composed of individuals who are
different from each other in terms of maturity,
motivation, ability, learning styles, aspirations
and interests.
“consistently using a variety of instructional
approaches to modify content, process, and/or
products in response to learning readiness and
interest of academically diverse students.”
The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (Tomlinson,
1999)
Suggested Strategies on Differentiated Instruction
Content
Process
Product
Include materials in response to
different learning styles
Use tiered activities
Encourage students to
demonstrate key knowledge.
understanding and skills in
related topic of special interests
Include supplementary materials
at varied reading level
Make task directions more
detailed for some learners and
more open for others
Provide access to different
resources at different levels of
complexity
Provide materials to encourage
further exploration of topics
Provide small-group discussions
with tasks at varied levels of
complexity
Develop rubrics or other
benchmarks for success
Adopt flexible grouping
Encourage students to work
independently or with partners on
product development
Develop activities that seek
multiple perspectives on topics
and issues
Vary teachers’ support and
guidance
Suggested Strategies on Differentiated Instruction
Content
Include materials in
response to different
learning styles
Audio-visual:
A Credit Card Song
A Presentation
Visual:
Cartoons
Include supplementary
materials at varied
reading level
Data files including
views from different
perspectives
Provide materials to
encourage further
exploration of topics
Apart from materials
provided in the data
file, students are
encouraged to read for
their roles from
various sources
Businesspeople
1. Results of a
weekly survey on
the three most
profitable
shopping malls in
Hong Kong
2. A short radio
interview of the
manager of The
Two shopping
mall
3. A speech at a
luncheon
4. An excerpt
from a book on
advertising
Suggested Strategies on Differentiated Instruction
Process
Use tiered activities
Make task directions more detailed for
some learners and more open for others
Provide small-group discussions with
tasks at varied levels of complexity
Adopt flexible grouping
Develop activities that seek multiple
perspectives on topics and issues
Vary teachers’ support and guidance
Discussion forum:
•In groups, students discuss their
stance on the discussion topic and
reasons to support their stance.
•Students of each group come up with
a question for another group and
prepare response to questions from
another group.
Students participate in the discussion
forum with assigned roles:
•Consumers A (Green shoppers who
support green shopping)
•Consumers B (Shoppers who enjoy
and support consumption for pleasure
and quality life)
•Businesspeople
•Environmentalists
Suggested Strategies on Differentiated Instruction
Product
Encourage students to demonstrate key
knowledge, understanding and skills in
related topic of special interests
Provide access to different resources at
different levels of complexity
Develop rubrics or other benchmarks
for success
Students are provided with the
assessment criteria for the final
product.
Encourage students to work
independently or with partners on
product development
Students prepare and give
presentation of their stance in groups.
Assessment is an integral part of the learning and teaching
process. It is an ongoing process that aims to help learners, with
appraisal and feedback on their performance, improve their
learning, and to offer teachers information, e.g. assessment
data, for effective planning and intervention.
HKDSE EXAMINATION AND
SOCIAL ISSUES
Text-type
Social issue
Article
Popularity of board games
Article
Designing a patch using recycled clothing
with a pledge to save the planet
Book review
‘Tiger Mom’ parenting style
Article
“Tiger Mom’ parent style
Article
Keeping animals in aquariums and zoos
Article
Recyclers in China
Text-type
Social issue
Article
social networking websites (e.g. Facebook)
Module
Social issue
Role
Task
Sports
Communication
•
The value of
doing virtual
sports (such as
those played on
a Wii)
A student who
have been
following an
online debate
on the issue
•
Express view on an online forum
Popular Culture
•
Cosmetic
surgery
Obsession with
physical beauty
Not specified
•
Write a letter to the editor about
the obsession with physical beauty
•
Workplace
Communication
•
Employment
opportunities
for reformed
criminals/drug
addicts
An intern at
Hong Kong
Correctional
Services
•
Write a letter to all Hong Kong
businesses outlining the new
government campaign, explaining
the benefits and persuading them
to join the scheme
Social Issues
•
•
Mental health
Depression
A student
•
Write an article for the school
magazine about a friend’s
depression and how he/she
overcame it.
Give advice to others on how to
help fight depression
•
Module
Poems and
Songs
Social issue
•
•
Role
Task
Right to freedom of
speech
Negative influence of
songs which contain
foul language
A student
•
Write a reply to the editor
expressing your views
Sports
Communication
•
Removing PE lessons
from the curriculum
Not specified
•
Write a letter to the
Secretary of Education
expressing your views on
the proposal of removing PE
lessons
Debating
•
Nuclear power is the
best source of energy
for the future
A member of the •
school debating
club entering a
debating contest
Write a debate speech for or
against the motion
Social Issues
•
The joys of being a
teenager in Hong Kong
A student
Write a speech for the
conference for young people
•
Module
Social issue
Role
Task
Social Issues
•
Safety issues on
private school buses
A student whose
younger brother
/ sister takes
private school
buses
•
Write a letter to the Bus
Operators Association of
Hong Kong expressing your
concerns about the issues
and give 3
recommendations for
improvement
Workplace
Communication
•
Leaving the office very
late / long working
hours
A human
resource
assistant
•
Write an article for your
company newsletter
describing the situation,
discuss its negative effects
and provide 2 suggestions
for improvement
Short Stories
•
Vandalism
A contestant of
the Detective
Story
Competition
•
Write a story about
vandalism taking place in a
museum
Text-type
Social issue
Extract from an article
A survey on body language
Statistics from a research
article
Newcomer responses after staying in
Hong Kong for one week
Text-type
Social issue
Posts of an online forum
Tourism and local people
Text-type
Social issue
Extract from an article in
a newspaper
Excessive gift packaging of mooncakes
Editorial
Problems caused by the lack of space in
Hong Kong
Article
The destruction of Hong Kong’s heritage
Article
Chinese white dolphins under threat
Newspaper report
Rising trend of men seeking plastic
surgery
Letter to the editor
Teens far too materialistic
The following should be taken into consideration:
Over the years a substantial proportion of the Budget has been allocated to
promoting general welfare and social harmony. However, some elderly
people have reportedly fallen through the safety net and little effort has
been made by the government to attend to their needs. Write an article for
the Teenage Post illustrating the major problems that face the elderly, and
giving suggestions on how the government and the public can help improve
their lives. Give a title to the article.
EDB One-stop Portal for Learning &
Teaching Resources  Assessment Tasks
Bank
http://minisite.proj.hkedcity.net/edbosp-eng/eng/home.html
Background of the letter
CONTENT
You are Chris Wong. You saw the following topic in the Hong Kong Morning Post
and would like to share your views with the editor and other readers. Write a letter
to the editor of the newspaper in about 400 words.
Purpose of the
letter
The social issue
concerned
Friday, 15th October 2010
Hong Kong Morning Post
Is teaching Chinese Language in Putonghua a good idea for secondary
Background of the
school students?
social problem
Many students in Hong Kong do not know how to speak Putonghua. A
recent survey revealed that about 60% of secondary school students Suggested
solution
cannot pronounce simple words in Putonghua correctly. To help
students learn the language better, some people think that Chinese
Language lessons should be conducted in Putonghua. Do you agree?
Write in to share your views.
The social issue
concerned
Many experienced educators share the view that Hong Kong
students are generally pampered and spoilt by their parents,
resulting in their poor self-management and problem-solving
skills. One proposed solution to this problem is to require
students to undertake 50 hours of community service before
they are allowed to graduate from secondary schools. Write
an article for the school newspaper to express whether you
agree with the proposal and provide at least three reasons to
support your view. Write about 300-400 words.
Background of the letter
CONTENT
Suggested
solution
Purpose of the
letter
In your group, share with others your experience in planning and/or
implementing the social issue module or conducting related learning and
teaching activities. You may want to talk about:
• if your school offers social issues as an elective module and why;
• the challenges you encountered/you anticipate in planning and delivering
the module;
• how you overcame the challenges/you think the challenges could be
tackled; and
• some interesting and effective learning and teaching activities for the
module that you have done with your students.
LEARNING AND TEACHING RESOURCES
EDB websites
 Resource packages by CDI
 NET Section - Networking Booklets
 Language Learning Support Section
 One-stop Portal
 Teen Time
 HKedCity
Examples of other resources on the Internet
 RTHK
 BBC
 British Council
 Sing Tao Inter-School Debating Competition (English)
 Hong Kong Public Libraries
Thank you