A comparison of Hong Kong primary four students’ Chinese and English reading attainment in 2016

Abstract

This study examines Hong Kong primary four (P4) students’ Chinese and English reading test performance in a bilingual reading proficiency study (BR) conducted in 2016, the fifth round in a series of studies mon-itoring the bilingual reading competence of primary school students in Hong Kong since 2004. It also compares students’ bilingual reading performance in 2016 with that in the 2013 round of testing. A total of 3,592 P4 students from 38 schools in Hong Kong participated in the study. Significant improvements were found both in the students’ Chinese and English reading test performance, with marked increases in the overall English reading test scores and in performance on literary and informational texts. Such im-provements may be due to the implementation of the English Language Curriculum, support from the Hong Kong Language Committee and new medium of instruction (MOI) arrangements in Hong Kong pri-mary schools. The students’ performance was significantly worse on Chinese literary texts overall and on the first three levels of reading comprehension processes in BR 2016. This may be a consequence of the increasing use of digital devices among young students and of low achievers’ poor test performance. Future studies need to examine whether there are causal relationships between the variables mentioned above and the bilingual reading test performance of P4 students in Hong Kong.