Changing the Curriculum: The Impact of Reform on Primary Schooling in Hong Kong

7. Tasks in English Language and Chinese Language

7Tasks in English Language and Chinese Language Annie Sm-yiri Tong, Bob^ Adamson and Mary Man-wai Che INTRODUCTION฀ In settin g ou t learnin g target s fo r Targe t Oriente d Curriculu m (TOC ) subjects, officia l document s sugges t tha t thes e target s b e bes t achieve d through pupils carrying out learning tasks. The rationale is that the targets are designed to encourage a learner-centred, process-oriented constructivis t approach t o learning , fo r whic h task s ar e ideall y suited . I n particular , they provide the vehicle for pupils to use the five cross-curricular principles of learnin g promote d b y TOC : problem-solving , reasoning , inquiring , communicating and conceptualizing. Tasks are defined in the TOC context as having the following characteristics (Education Department 1994, p. 18): they have a purpose whic h involve s more than th e display o f knowledg e or practice of discrete skills; they are contextualized (i.e. , linked to realistic uses o f th e subjec t insid e an d beyon d th e classroom) ; the y involv e a process o f thinking an d doin g b y the pupils; they require pupil s to dra w on a framewor k o f knowledge , strateg y an d skill ; an d the y resul t i n a product, eithe r invisible or visible. The promotion of task-based learnin g in Hong Kong is not new: one manifestation, the Activity Approach, was introduced into primary schools 146 ANNIE฀SIU-YIN ฀TONG, ฀BOB ฀ADAMSON฀AND ฀MARY ฀MAN-WAI ฀CHE฀ in 1972, although it has seen surface rather than substantive implementation in most cases (Morris 1998). Task-based learning is controversial because it challenges prevailing conceptions of the teacher, the pupil, subject matter , resources and learning processes. TOC tasks, which are supposed to have a purpose beyond the mastery of subject knowledge or skills, and to be placed in a context relate d t o real life, fly i n the face o f practices whic h stres s accumulation of academic knowledge within strong subject boundaries. The ideal TOC resources, designed to cater for holistic development of individual pupils, would b e very different fro m existin g textbooks, which tend t o emphasize the acquisition of discrete items drawn from a prescribed syllabus. This chapte r i s concerne d wit h thre e product s o f th e curriculu m decision-making process : the intended curriculu m a s manifested i n policy documents; a key component o f th e resource d curriculum , commerciall y published textboo k resources ; an d th e implemente d curriculu m — ho w teachers teach (Figur e 7.1). As pupils' learning experiences ar e shaped b y their interactio n wit h learnin g material s an d wit h teacher s (Stenhous e 1975), the interpretation s o f task s i n textbook resource s an d lesson s ar e significant factors in the classroom reality of TOC. The focus is on English Language and Chinese Language in order to compare and contrast the two subjects. While sharin g man y commonalities , th e two language s ar e als o very different i n some aspects; for instance, the English writing system has a phonetic basis, whereas Chinese characters are ideographic with few clues as to how they are pronounced. Chinese-language learning in Hong Kong has special complications, as the dialect, Cantonese , does not correspon d closely to the written form, Moder n Standar d Chinese . Also, the Chines e language is bound up with issues of cultural and moral integrity, whereas English i s viewe d a s a utilitaria n languag e tha t serve s principall y fo r international communication . Thes e difference s hav e pedagogica l implications for the nature of task-based learning in each subject . Process฀ Product฀ Intended฀ Curriculum฀ policy-making฀ i฀ policy฀ documents฀ Z1฀ Resourced฀ Curriculum฀ learningresources ฀design฀ i฀ learning฀ resources฀ 71฀ Implemented฀ Curriculum฀ teachers'฀lesso n฀ planning฀ X฀ teaching฀acts฀ 71฀ Experienced฀ Curriculum฀ pupils'฀learning฀ i฀ learning฀acts฀ primary฀focus฀of฀this฀chapter฀ (adapted฀from฀Johnson฀1989)฀ Figure฀7.1฀Step s฀in฀Curriculum฀Decision-making฀ [ TASKS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND CHINESE LANGUAGE \ 147 The chapter analyses how the Education Department (ED), commercial publishers an d school...