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Article: Teaching English in Hong Kong Kindergartens: A Survey of Practices

TitleTeaching English in Hong Kong Kindergartens: A Survey of Practices
Authors
KeywordsTeaching English to young learners
English as a foreign language
Kindergarten education
Issue Date2013
PublisherCommon Ground Publishing. The Journal's web site is located at http://ijlll.cgpublisher.com
Citation
International Journal of Literacies, 2013, v. 19 n. 3, p. 25-47 How to Cite?
AbstractThe teaching of English to very young learners has become popular across the Asia Pacific region, and Hong Kong is no exception. This trend is believed to be driven by socio-economic forces rather than by educational research since there is a dearth of empirical research in this area. This paper draws on data from a questionnaire which was part of a larger study to portray systematically the school contexts in which the teaching of English took place. The principals of 38% (n=256) of the local registered kindergartens in Hong Kong responded to questions about English instruction time, teachers’ professional qualifications, curriculum activities and the school language environment. The results indicated that English was taught in most of the kindergartens as a specific subject, following a textbook-based approach. It was taught for an average of 64 minutes per week in programmes featuring half-day sessions. The teachers’ professional backgrounds, the allocation of instruction time, and the curriculum planning practices were diverse, implying that there was a large gap between the classroom instruction and the contextual support and guidelines. This gap should alert practitioners, parents, and policy makers to the fact that the perceived head start effect of teaching English early cannot be taken for granted. The intricate interaction between global forces, policy implementation and micro-level practices at the school level are also discussed and extrapolated.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/203461
ISSN
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.108

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorNg, MLen_US
dc.contributor.authorRao, Nen_US
dc.date.accessioned2014-09-19T15:16:51Z-
dc.date.available2014-09-19T15:16:51Z-
dc.date.issued2013en_US
dc.identifier.citationInternational Journal of Literacies, 2013, v. 19 n. 3, p. 25-47en_US
dc.identifier.issn2327-0136-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/203461-
dc.description.abstractThe teaching of English to very young learners has become popular across the Asia Pacific region, and Hong Kong is no exception. This trend is believed to be driven by socio-economic forces rather than by educational research since there is a dearth of empirical research in this area. This paper draws on data from a questionnaire which was part of a larger study to portray systematically the school contexts in which the teaching of English took place. The principals of 38% (n=256) of the local registered kindergartens in Hong Kong responded to questions about English instruction time, teachers’ professional qualifications, curriculum activities and the school language environment. The results indicated that English was taught in most of the kindergartens as a specific subject, following a textbook-based approach. It was taught for an average of 64 minutes per week in programmes featuring half-day sessions. The teachers’ professional backgrounds, the allocation of instruction time, and the curriculum planning practices were diverse, implying that there was a large gap between the classroom instruction and the contextual support and guidelines. This gap should alert practitioners, parents, and policy makers to the fact that the perceived head start effect of teaching English early cannot be taken for granted. The intricate interaction between global forces, policy implementation and micro-level practices at the school level are also discussed and extrapolated.-
dc.languageengen_US
dc.publisherCommon Ground Publishing. The Journal's web site is located at http://ijlll.cgpublisher.comen_US
dc.relation.ispartofInternational Journal of Literaciesen_US
dc.rightsInternational Journal of Literacies. Copyright © Common Ground Publishing.-
dc.rightsNOTICE: Readers must contact Common Ground for permission to reproduce.-
dc.subjectTeaching English to young learners-
dc.subjectEnglish as a foreign language-
dc.subjectKindergarten education-
dc.titleTeaching English in Hong Kong Kindergartens: A Survey of Practicesen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.identifier.emailRao, N: nrao@hku.hken_US
dc.identifier.authorityRao, N=rp00953en_US
dc.description.naturepostprint-
dc.identifier.hkuros235700en_US
dc.identifier.volume19en_US
dc.identifier.issue3en_US
dc.identifier.spage25en_US
dc.identifier.epage47en_US
dc.publisher.placeUnited States-
dc.identifier.issnl2327-0136-

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