Integrating language arts into the Hong Kong New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum : hearing teachers' and students' voices

Abstract

Research has shown that language arts can provide a motivating and meaningful way for learners to interact and hence, help promote second language acquisition. Aiming to examine the feasibility of the incorporation of language arts into the Hong Kong New Senior Secondary (NSS) English Language Curriculum, this study sought voices from the main parties involved in the innovative change through investigating students’ responses to language arts and teachers’ efforts to shape the curriculum innovation.

Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a local secondary school. Student questionnaires were administered to 129 senior secondary students (grades 11‐12) in this study. Focus group interviews with 14 students and semi‐structured individual interviews with 11 English language teachers were also conducted to explore senior secondary students’ and teachers’ views towards the use of language arts materials in their classrooms and to elicit their perceived advantages and constraints of integrating language arts into the NSS English Language curriculum at school.

Although the students and teachers expressed positive views on language arts as a result of enjoying different learning activities and opportunities for collaborative learning, they displayed mixed feelings about its conduciveness for enhancing learners’ English proficiency and preparing for the public examination – the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE). The study concludes that in initiating an innovative change in the Hong Kong school context, teachers encounter challenges, such as time constraints, syllabus coverage, their self‐efficacy and readiness that evolve mostly due to the paradigm shift from traditional to contemporary pedagogies. Pedagogical implications are discussed and suggestions are presented to overcome such constraints to enhance the workability of such innovations in the local secondary education setting.