What does Text Selection in the HKDSE Reading Comprehension Paper Say about the Exam?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helpe Pape
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Reading Abilities ◽  
Text Selection ◽  
Local Students

The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) examination is a high-stakes matriculation system that determines the opportunity for higher education and social mobility for most local students. This means that content featured in the tests poses strong washback effects on classroom teaching and learning. Despite the fact that the Hong Kong Examination and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) recognizes the effects of washback and the necessity to use it in a positive way, certain aspects within the HKDSE English Language Reading Comprehension paper might have been overlooked. This paper looks at the genres, text sources and topics featured by the HKDSE examination since its inception in 2011. It finds that while there is an effort to diversify the topics featured and ensure their appropriacy to local candidates, the Authority falls short in utilizing a wide enough range of text genres in its examinations, possibly leading to narrowed English reading abilities in the population. Additionally, texts are also usually selected from sources that favor affluent, professional demographics, which has possible implications for the fairness of the test.

Engaging Exam-Oriented Students in Communicative Language Teaching by ‘Packaging’ Learning English Through Songs as Exam Practice

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822097854
Author(s):  
Kevin Wai-Ho Yung
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Secondary English ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
Teachers And Students

Literature has long been used as a tool for language teaching and learning. In the New Academic Structure in Hong Kong, it has become an important element in the senior secondary English language curriculum to promote communicative language teaching (CLT) with a process-oriented approach. However, as in many other English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts where high-stakes testing prevails, Hong Kong students are highly exam-oriented and expect teachers to teach to the test. Because there is no direct assessment on literature in the English language curriculum, many teachers find it challenging to balance CLT through literature and exam preparation. To address this issue, this article describes an innovation of teaching ESL through songs by ‘packaging’ it as exam practice to engage exam-oriented students in CLT. A series of activities derived from the song Seasons in the Sun was implemented in the ESL classrooms in a secondary school in Hong Kong. Based on the author’s observations and reflections informed by teachers’ and students’ comments, the students were first motivated, at least instrumentally, by the relevance of the activities to the listening paper in the public exam when they saw the similarities between the classroom tasks and past exam questions. Once the students felt motivated, they were more easily engaged in a variety of CLT activities, which encouraged the use of English for authentic and meaningful communication. This article offers pedagogical implications for ESL/EFL teachers to implement CLT through literature in exam-oriented contexts.

scholarly journals Applying Reciprocal Teaching Method in Teaching Reading

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Moh. Rodli ◽  
Hari Prastyo
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Reciprocal Teaching ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Teaching Reading ◽  
Instructional Activity ◽  
English Reading ◽  
English Classroom

<p><em>Reading is one of English language skills considered</em><em> more</em><em> important </em><em>in this modern world, </em><em>so reading get</em><em>s</em><em> more emphasize than other skills. Although </em><em>receiving more attention than other language skills in English classroom, the result of students</em><em>’</em><em> reading comprehension achievement is still far from</em><em> </em><em>expectation. To help students comprehend English reading texts and have better achievement in reading skill, </em><em>Reciprocal Teaching</em><em> </em><em>method</em><em> can be an alternative to offer. </em><em>The </em><em>Reciprocal Teaching</em><em> </em><em>method </em><em>as an instructional activity that takes place in the form of dialogue, which is structured by the use of four </em><em>steps</em><em>: predicting, clarifying, question generating, and summarizing. Students learn to use four strategies to increase their understanding of the text being read</em><em>. This method is useful for improving students’ reading effectiveness</em><em>, </em><em>in addition to help students better remember what they read. </em><em>This paper highlights the </em><em>Reciprocal Teaching</em><em> </em><em>method</em><em> and its use as an alternative to improve students’ reading comprehension achievement. </em><em></em></p>

scholarly journals Examining the Existence of “Teaching to the Test” at SSC Level in Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aixa Hafsha
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Test Results ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Test Technique ◽  
Teacher Interview ◽  
Teaching To The Test ◽  
Teaching Context ◽  
Research Findings

The paper aims at examining the influence of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) English language test on teaching in the existing CLT-based teaching context in Bangladesh. It is a fact that SSC test results continue to influence the total educational career of a student including his admission into Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) level and subsequently at tertiary level study. Later on, SSC result is one of the vital determinants of his employment. As a result, the washback effect i.e. effect of test (SSC EFL tests) on teaching and learning of this high stakes test cannot be ruled out. The overwhelming use of test results in different academic and professional affairs in the context of Bangladesh has made the effect of washback a distinctive educational phenomenon. This study presents preliminary research findings on the SSC EFL test’s influence on teaching in Bangladesh by applying various methodological techniques such as classroom observation and teacher interview in sampled schools located in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The analysed data revealed that SSC EFL test technique is one of the driving forces that shape teaching. Teachers’ teaching is confined to only those tasks and activities which are commonly set in the tests. Now it is difficult to deny that that teaching to the test is a harsh reality at SSC level classrooms in Bangladesh.

scholarly journals Effects of Task Repetition on Saudi EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamza Alshenqeeti ◽  
Musaad Alrahaili
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Task Repetition ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
The Impact

Recent developments in English language teaching and learning have heightened the need for the use of tasks to foster second language (L2) learning. Central to task-based interaction is the repetition of the same task. Task repetition (TR) stimulates cognitive skills for speech learning and functionality. It has been emphasised in research and practice how task repetition boosts learner processing tools by fortifying form-meaning correlations, facilitating lexicon integration, and providing practical expertise. This study aims to examine the impact of TR on reading comprehension of EFL learners, focusing on individual reading performance and group differences in familiar and recycled tasks. A total of 50 students participated in the current study. The participants were divided into two sample groups (25 male and female respondents). A quantitative research method was utilised in the data analysis. Data management and analyses were performed using IBM SPSS 24.0 (2019). Results indicated that content familiarity and TR significantly impact participants’ reading skill. In addition, this study provides insights into how teachers may utilise TR within L2 lessons to support learners’ language production. The findings observed in this study mirror those of the previous studies which have reported TR as being an effective tool for enhancing reading comprehension. The study concludes by discussing pedagogical implications on the role of TR in L2 learning within EFL contexts.

Hong Kong secondary students’ perspectives on selecting test difficulty level and learner washback: Effects of a graded approach to assessment

2021 ◽  
pp. 026553222110506
Author(s):  
Chi Lai Tsang ◽  
Talia Isaacs
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Mediating Variables ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analyses ◽  
Learner Perceptions

This sequential mixed-methods study investigates washback on learning in a high-stakes school exit examination by examining learner perceptions and reported behaviours in relation to learners’ beliefs and language learning experience, the role of other stakeholders in the washback mechanism, and socio-educational forces. The focus is the graded approach of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education English Language Examination (HKDSE-English), incorporated in 2012, that allows test-takers to choose between easier and more difficult sections for reading and listening-integrated skills papers. Inductive coding of focus groups involving 12 secondary students fed into the development of the Washback on Students’ Learning questionnaire, which was administered to another 150 learners. Exploratory factor analyses of identified washback effects revealed four major types straddling different settings (classrooms, tutorial schools, learners’ personal environment), and seven categories of mediating variables pertaining to learners themselves, other stakeholders, and societal influences. Simultaneous multiple regressions identified influential clusters of mediating variables and showed the strongest predictors for each macro-level washback type varied. At least one intrinsic and one extrinsic factor category significantly contributed to all types, reaffirming learner washback as a socially situated, negotiated construct. Implications related to the consequences, use, and fairness of the graded approach are discussed.

COVID-19 AND NIGERIAN PUPILS’ READING DISTRESSES: EXPERIMENTING COLLABORATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR THE REVATALISATION OF LOWER-BASIC SCHOOL PUPILS’ READING CULTURE

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-27
Author(s):  
Lawal Safi ◽  
◽  
Umar Zakaric ◽  
Oluwole Grace ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
General Level ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Reading Culture ◽  
Basic School ◽  
Level Of Significance

The development of lower-basic school was replicated prior to the attainment of independent in Nigeria. This is a move to look inward on how the country can lay a very good foundation for Nigeria education. The emergency of covid-19 pandemic that compulsorily short down schools across the globe in no doubt affects Nigerian pupils reading culture. The trust of this paper therefore, is to experiment how collaborative as an instructional technique can close the reading-culture vacuum created by the covid-19 pandemic with a view to suggesting ways of improving the quality of teaching and learning reading comprehension. A quasi-experimental design with pre and post-test, non-randomized, and non-equivalent was adopted for data collection. The population for this study consisted of all upper-basic school pupils in Ilorin metropolis. Two schools were purposively sampled. The sample was categorized into one experimental group and one control group of fifty respondents each. The data collected were analysed using the percentage, mean, standard deviation and analysis of Co-variance (ANCOVA) to test the two formulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that: the general level of pupils’ achievement in reading comprehension was low before the treatments (42.79) but high after the treatments (77.76) irrespective of gender. The paper recommends that teachers of the English language should wake up and move in line with the modern trends through the use of collaborative instructional techniques in order to improve the teaching and learning of reading comprehension. Teachers and other stakeholders should try and leave up expectations by encouraging collaborative techniques for teaching reading. Curriculum planners and developers should not be left out in this regard.

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