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Using Reading to Learn Pedagogy to Improve Chinese Writing among Ethnic Minority Students in Hong Kong: A Quasi-experimental Study

Received: 2 July 2019    Accepted: 3 August 2019    Published: 28 August 2019
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Abstract

Reading to Learn (R2L) is a widely used pedagogy in numerous countries. However, most studies on R2L pedagogy focused on teaching English as a second language. Chinese is a Sino-Tibetan language that adopts a nonalphabetical orthography, and only a few studies have discussed the application of R2L pedagogy in teaching Chinese as a second language. To fill this gap, a quasi-experimental study was adopted to explore the effectiveness of R2L pedagogy in improving the performance of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong in terms of Chinese composition. Four teachers and 103 students from two middle schools were invited to participate in the study, which lasted for three months. The hypothesized positive effects on increased student writing performance in the explanatory genre were demonstrated via empirical data. Moreover, R2L pedagogy improved the students’ awareness of the importance of incorporating various stages and details when writing essays. Student participation considerably increased with additional support from peers and teachers. However, teachers encounter three challenges in implementing R2L pedagogy. First, they must possess a basic understanding of systemic functional linguistic theory and R2L pedagogy before designing the curriculum. Second, full participation might conflict with the limited teaching time during the implementation of R2L pedagogy. Third, teachers must deal with students’ various learning needs due to the latter’s diverse language levels and backgrounds. The practical implications of this study have also been discussed.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 7, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20190705.14
Page(s) 202-212
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Reading to Learn Pedagogy, Second Language Acquisition, Ethical Minority Students, Writing

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  • APA Style

    Xian Han Huang, Mark Shiu Kee Shum, Chung Pui Tai, Dan Shi. (2019). Using Reading to Learn Pedagogy to Improve Chinese Writing among Ethnic Minority Students in Hong Kong: A Quasi-experimental Study. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 7(5), 202-212. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20190705.14

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    ACS Style

    Xian Han Huang; Mark Shiu Kee Shum; Chung Pui Tai; Dan Shi. Using Reading to Learn Pedagogy to Improve Chinese Writing among Ethnic Minority Students in Hong Kong: A Quasi-experimental Study. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2019, 7(5), 202-212. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20190705.14

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    AMA Style

    Xian Han Huang, Mark Shiu Kee Shum, Chung Pui Tai, Dan Shi. Using Reading to Learn Pedagogy to Improve Chinese Writing among Ethnic Minority Students in Hong Kong: A Quasi-experimental Study. Int J Lang Linguist. 2019;7(5):202-212. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20190705.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20190705.14,
      author = {Xian Han Huang and Mark Shiu Kee Shum and Chung Pui Tai and Dan Shi},
      title = {Using Reading to Learn Pedagogy to Improve Chinese Writing among Ethnic Minority Students in Hong Kong: A Quasi-experimental Study},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {7},
      number = {5},
      pages = {202-212},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20190705.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20190705.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20190705.14},
      abstract = {Reading to Learn (R2L) is a widely used pedagogy in numerous countries. However, most studies on R2L pedagogy focused on teaching English as a second language. Chinese is a Sino-Tibetan language that adopts a nonalphabetical orthography, and only a few studies have discussed the application of R2L pedagogy in teaching Chinese as a second language. To fill this gap, a quasi-experimental study was adopted to explore the effectiveness of R2L pedagogy in improving the performance of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong in terms of Chinese composition. Four teachers and 103 students from two middle schools were invited to participate in the study, which lasted for three months. The hypothesized positive effects on increased student writing performance in the explanatory genre were demonstrated via empirical data. Moreover, R2L pedagogy improved the students’ awareness of the importance of incorporating various stages and details when writing essays. Student participation considerably increased with additional support from peers and teachers. However, teachers encounter three challenges in implementing R2L pedagogy. First, they must possess a basic understanding of systemic functional linguistic theory and R2L pedagogy before designing the curriculum. Second, full participation might conflict with the limited teaching time during the implementation of R2L pedagogy. Third, teachers must deal with students’ various learning needs due to the latter’s diverse language levels and backgrounds. The practical implications of this study have also been discussed.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Using Reading to Learn Pedagogy to Improve Chinese Writing among Ethnic Minority Students in Hong Kong: A Quasi-experimental Study
    AU  - Xian Han Huang
    AU  - Mark Shiu Kee Shum
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    JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
    JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-0221
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    AB  - Reading to Learn (R2L) is a widely used pedagogy in numerous countries. However, most studies on R2L pedagogy focused on teaching English as a second language. Chinese is a Sino-Tibetan language that adopts a nonalphabetical orthography, and only a few studies have discussed the application of R2L pedagogy in teaching Chinese as a second language. To fill this gap, a quasi-experimental study was adopted to explore the effectiveness of R2L pedagogy in improving the performance of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong in terms of Chinese composition. Four teachers and 103 students from two middle schools were invited to participate in the study, which lasted for three months. The hypothesized positive effects on increased student writing performance in the explanatory genre were demonstrated via empirical data. Moreover, R2L pedagogy improved the students’ awareness of the importance of incorporating various stages and details when writing essays. Student participation considerably increased with additional support from peers and teachers. However, teachers encounter three challenges in implementing R2L pedagogy. First, they must possess a basic understanding of systemic functional linguistic theory and R2L pedagogy before designing the curriculum. Second, full participation might conflict with the limited teaching time during the implementation of R2L pedagogy. Third, teachers must deal with students’ various learning needs due to the latter’s diverse language levels and backgrounds. The practical implications of this study have also been discussed.
    VL  - 7
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Author Information
  • The Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, P. R. China

  • Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research Within the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, P. R. China

  • The Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, P. R. China

  • School of English, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, P. R. China

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