From Words to Whole Text: Effects of Note-making and Joint Construction Stages of “Reading to Learn” Pedagogy in Hong Kong Junior Secondary CSL Classroom

Abstract

In Hong Kong, the number of secondary schools admitting Non-Chinese Speaking (NCS) students has increased tremendously in recent years (LegCo, 2016), in which most of them are mainstream schools. To cater the learning differences of NCS students, various supporting programs have been employed to help NCS students to improve their Chinese so as to ease their difficulties in applying for universities and finding jobs (Loh & Tam, 2016), and hence enhancing upward social mobility (Leung et al, 2017). Thus developing suitable Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) pedagogies has caught much scholarly attention with pressing needs. Under such backdrop, the paper discusses the use of “Reading to Learn (R2L)” Pedagogy (Rose & Martin, 2012) to support the junior secondary CSL teaching and learning in a secondary school with high NCS density. The research team developed school-based teaching and learning materials based on Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Adapted Learning Framework (EDB, 2014) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) syllabus. Based on collaborative lesson preparation, class observation, teachers and students focus groups, close examination of students’work, the study aims at finding the effectiveness of R2L in enhancing students’ reading and writing abilities of explanatory essays, as well as their motivation. Through Detailed Reading, Note-making, Joint Rewriting and Joint Construction, with extensive scaffolding and teacher-student interaction, students are able to understand the register variables and transfer to individual writing of explanatory essays. Discourse analysis and focus group interviews also show that R2L can enhance the motivation of students and their confidence in learning Chinese. The study explores the potential of applying R2L pedagogy to enhance the reading and writing of explanatory essays, as well as discerning the praxis and effectiveness of various teaching stages. Keywords : Teaching of Chinese as a Second Language, Reading and Writing Abilities, Reading to Learn Pedagogy, Note Taking, Joint Construction   近年, 香港取錄非華語學生的主流中學急增(立法會, 2016)｡ 學校需要因應這些學生的學習差異, 採用各種支援方式幫助他們學好中文, 改善其升學就業的困難, 提升社會向上流動機會(Leung et al, 2017; Loh & Tam, 2016)｡ 是以為非華語學生提供適切的中文教學法, 成為當前急務(Shum, 2015)｡ 本個案研究針對以上情況, 以｢閱讀促進學習｣ 教學法(Rose & Martin, 2012)支援一所非華語學生比例較高的中學, 在初中中文作為第二語言課堂, 參照中國語文課程第二語言學習架構(香港教育局, 2014)及國際普通中學教育證書 (IGCSE)課程綱要, 修訂校本課程｡ 透過協作和共同備課會議, 課堂觀察, 師生聚焦小組訪談, 筆記及課業文本分析等方法, 了解此教學法能否提高學生說明文類的讀寫能力, 增強學習動機｡ 老師引領學生詳細閱讀範文後, 指導學生通過小組合作從範文提取並記錄關鍵字詞, 摘錄成筆記(Note Making)｡ 繼而學生藉着師生互動與鷹架輔助, 運用這些關鍵字詞, 句式及文步, 共同建構(Joint Construction)新篇, 最後讓學生獨立寫作｡ 本研究發現上述步驟能有效幫助學生理解文類語域變數(Eggins, 1994), 並能活用至不同通篇寫作活動；文本分析與小組訪談亦顯示該教學法能有效提高學生學習中文的動機, 增強學習信心｡ 本研究驗證｢閱讀促進學習｣ 教學法對改善學生說明文類讀寫能力及各教學步驟的實踐成效均具啟發性｡ (535字) 關鍵字 : 中文作為第二語言教學, 讀寫能力, ｢閱讀促進學習｣ 教學法, 筆記摘錄, 共同建構