Reading-to-learn pedagogy and SFL in reading and writing of Chinese practical texts: a case study on non-Chinese speaking students in Hong Kong

Abstract

Reading and writing are both related to text as reading is the process of deconstructing text and writing is the process of constructing text, therefore genre pedagogy can work as a bridge to connect the teaching of reading and writing. Considerable works have been done to study genre theory and prove its effects especially in the field of teaching in English (Christie et al. 1990a；Christie et al. 1990b; Christie et al. 1992; Christie and Martin 1997; Feez and Joyce 1998; Martin and Rothery 1981; Martin and Rothery 1982). Some researchers (Hyland 2007: 153, Hyon 1996, Johns 2002) pointed out that Reading to Learn methodology has been recognized as one of the most effective and well‐designed genre study from theoretical and pedagogical aspects. It’s developed based on the theories of SFL (Halliday 1994), pedagogical discourse (Bernstein 1996, 2000), and scaffolding (Vygotsky 1962). The Reading to Learn methodology has been proved that it can improve English learners’ reading and writ ing competency at an average double to four times standard growth rates (Culican 2006, McCrae et al 2000, Rose, Farrington & Page 2008), and also to reduce the learning gap between high achievers and low achievers (Rose, D. & Martin, Jim R. 2012). But relevant research in teaching of Chinese was less common until Shum (2010) applied the concept of genre pedagogy in Chinese language education. For further development of SFL‐based genre pedagogy in different language, there’s a strong need to investigate the effect and feasibility of applying Reading to Learn in teaching languages other than English. Other than that, past research about Reading to Learn mainly focused on students’ writing outcome. As reading not only works as the model text of writing, but also serves the purpose to create meaning and deliver different information, the reading comprehension performance of students should also be concerned. Therefore this paper aims to study the effect of Reading to Learn methodology in CSL (Chinese as second language) education, while reading and writing assessment will both be conducted in pre‐test and post‐test to observe whether Reading of Learn can improve CSL learners’ reading and writing performance of Chinese practical essay. The research methodology of case study will be applied on a group of non‐Chinese speaking students (immigrants from foreign countries and studying in Hong Kong currently) attending Chinese class in Hong Kong, to answer the research question of this study: What are the effects of Reading to Learn pedagogy towards non‐Chinese speaking students’ reading and writing performance of Chinese practical texts? 20 non‐Chinese speaking students in secondary school grade 1 will be observed within the duration of 3 months. The triangulation of data will combine quantitative data (results of pre‐test and post‐test) and qualitative data (interview, text analysis of students’ reading and writing output) to prove the validity and reliability of data collected. The potential outcome is Reading to Learn pedagogy will be effective in improving CSL learners’ literacy performance, similar to previous studies in English language education. But it requires further research to examine its potential development and modified needed to be adopted in Chinese language education. The research outcome will be discussed in-depth after completion of data collection and analysis in May 2015.