Seminar-cum-workshops on Promoting the 3Cs and Quality Interaction in the Primary English Classroom

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Seminar-cum-workshops on Promoting the 3Cs and
Quality Interaction in the Primary English
Classroom

• Organised by English Language Education Section
• Curriculum Development Institute
• Education Bureau
• Guest speakers from TELEC
• Teachers of English Language Education Centre
• The University of Hong Kong
• March 2005

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Aims of Seminar-cum-workshops

• To familiarize participants with the resource
  package Promoting Quality Interaction in the
  Primary English Classroom
• To introduce effective and flexible ways of using
  the resource package for a series of school-based
  facilitator-led workshops
• To help participants gain a better understanding
  of what interaction involves, and to enable them
  to bring about quality interaction and the
  development of 3Cs in their classrooms

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Purpose of Package

• To support the implementation of the English
  Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum
  Guide (P1-S3) (CDC, 2002) and the English
  Language Curriculum Guide (Primary 1-6) (CDC,
  2004) by

• helping teachers of English to gain a better
  understanding of what interaction involves in
  their classrooms
• enabling teachers to bring about quality
  interaction in their classrooms
• providing resource materials for promoting
  quality interaction through school-based
  workshops and self-access learning (For
  English for Classroom Interaction, please refer
  to Appendix 4 pp. A23 A26 of the English
  Language Curriculum Guide (Primary 1-6) (CDC,
  2004) )

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Contents of Package

• 3 multimedia CD-ROMs containing materials to help
  teachers generate quality interaction in the
  English classroom
• A handbook for facilitators (facilitators guide
  and printable handouts for participants)

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Organisation of Sessions in the CD-ROMs

• Session 1 Developing good practices in
• language teaching and learning

• Session 2 Recognising and selecting appropriate
• oral activities

• Session 3 Generating interaction in the
  classroom
• the role of the teacher

• Session 4 Analysing student interaction in the
• classroom

• Session 5 Improving the quality of classroom
• interaction

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Components of Sessions

• Each session is divided into three components A,
  B C.
• Component A is designed for facilitator-led whole
  group sessions.
• Components B C are designed for self-access
  use, for individuals or small groups of teachers.

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Components, Options and Time Required
Option 1 2.5 hours Option 2 5 hours Option 3 7.5 hours
Session 1 A AB ABC
Session 2 A AB ABC
Session 3 A AB ABC
Session 4 A AB ABC
Session 5 A AB ABC
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Why focus on interaction?

• Language serves a social function for interactive
  communication in everyday life.
  (See p.142 of the English Language Curriculum
  Guide (Primary 1-6) (CDC, 2004) )
• Students should be given the opportunity to take
  risks, experiment with language and develop their
  creativity.
• Language output is critical for language
  development.

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Why do students need to participate in
interaction?

• When students are using language they are
  actively involved in the negotiation of meaning.
  (See Tsui (1996))
• Using language enables learners to test
  hypotheses which they have formed about language.
  (See Tsui (1996))
• Language learners need to have the opportunity to
  take risks, be creative and experiment with
  language. (See Rubin Thompson (1983))
• Contributions by students help to create the
  content of the lesson. (See Katz in Bailey
  and Nunan (1996))

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Interaction involves ...

• controlling ones own language production
• making decisions and choices on the content of
  their interaction and the way to express it
• using language in order to satisfy particular
  demands
• using language under normal processing conditions
  
• having conditions that require participants to
  reciprocate
• the participants in the management of interaction
• the negotiation of meaning (Summary based on
  Bygate (1987))

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What is quality interaction?

• Using the target language to communicate
  effectively with others in meaningful contexts
• Involving a two-way process with feedback
• Developing ability to clarify meanings during
  interaction
• Communicating with each other for a purpose
• Developing language and skills that are useful in
  real life

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How to promote quality interaction

• Teachers should
• provide activities which enable students to
  develop the skills that will enable them to
  participate in real-life situations and
• provide a range of activities and task types to
  help students develop the skills that enable them
  to manage interaction in and beyond the classroom.

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Promoting the 3Cs

• Communication Skills
• In learning to communicate effectively, learners
  should learn to
• identify purpose and context of communication
• convey a message in accordance with needs of
  the audience
• organize accurate and relevant information for
  the audience
• evaluate effectiveness of their communication
• identify areas of improvement for action (See
  pp. 73-74 of the English Language Curriculum
  Guide (Primary 1-6) (CDC, 2004) )

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Promoting the 3Cs

• Creativity
• To develop learners creativity, teachers need
  to
• ask them to go beyond given information
• allow them time to think
• strengthen and reward creative efforts
• encourage problem solving
• create a climate conducive to creativity (See pp.
  75-77 of the English Language Curriculum Guide
  (Primary 1-6) (CDC, 2004) )

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Promoting the 3Cs

• Critical Thinking Skills
• In learning to think critically, learners should
  learn to
• draw meaning from given data and statements
• evaluate accuracy of given statements
• evaluate and generate arguments
• question and enquire in order to make
  judgements (See pp. 78-79 of the English
  Language Curriculum Guide (Primary 1-6) (CDC,
  2004) )

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Developing the 3Cs
Activity Communication Skills Creativity Critical Thinking Skills
A Visit to the Doctor
Have You Got Any Apples?
My New Festival
Visiting Hong Kong
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Evaluating Activities

1. Do these activities help students develop
   communication skills, creativity and critical
   thinking skills? If yes, to what extent?
2. What kind of demands do these activities make on
   students speaking skills?
3. What problems do you think upper primary students
   might have in carrying out these activities?

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A Visit to the Doctor

• Teacher shows students a flash card of an ailment
  and elicits responses by asking Whats the
  matter?.
• Teacher models the structure and vocabulary, e.g.
  Shes got a cough.
• Students listen and repeat.
• Teacher asks a question and nominates student to
  answer the question.

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Have you got any apples?

• Students work in groups of four.
• Each student has a shopping list with six food
  items.
• The group leader deals each player six cards with
  pictures of food items.
• Each student must try and obtain the items on
  his/her shopping list by asking other students in
  the group Have you got any i.e. the target
  language item
• If a student has the card, he/she must give it to
  the student who asked the question.
• They continue playing the game until someone has
  all the items on his/her shopping list.

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My New Festival

• Students work in groups of four.
• They brainstorm ideas for a new festival using
  headings as prompts for discussion.
• They organise their ideas as notes under the
  headings.
• They then use their notes and work
  collaboratively to write about their new
  festival.

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Visiting Hong Kong

• Students read an email from a cousin in Canada
  who wants to visit Hong Kong. In the email he
  wants to visit beautiful places and learn
  something about Hong Kong.
• Students plan an itinerary for their cousin using
  a map and some information about things to do in
  Hong Kong.

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Developing the 3Cs
Activity Communication skills Creativity Critical thinking skills
A visit to the doctor
Have you got any apples?
My new festival
Visiting Hong Kong
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