Enhancing Reading Ability of non-Chinese Speaking Students Using Fairy Tale in Literacy Learning
Submitted by:
Wing Yee Wong
Abstract:
Wing Yee WONG, MPhil candidate
Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Email address: samanwong@gmail.com
Wai Ming CHEUNG, PhD., Assistant Professor
Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Email address: ming338@gmail.com
Abstract
Purpose:
Ethnic minorities constitute 5% of the Hong Kong population (Census and Statistics Department, 2007). Learning Chinese as a second language (L2) and the requirement for tertiary education in Hong Kong remains controversial in the society. Insufficient knowledge about the needs of non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students and effective pedagogy on teaching Chinese as L2 often lead to low self-efficacy among our teachers and a low-level Chinese curriculum that hinders students' development of Chinese proficiency (Johnston & Hayes, 2008). Moving beyond character acquisition for reading is regarded as a challenge faced by relevant educators. Female NCS students will be investigated in this study, due to the fact that value of girl's learning on L2 is often downplayed by traditional family of ethnic minorities (Beiser & Hou, 2000; Cumming & Gill, 1991; Goldstein, 1995). However, the attitude and interest on L2 learning (Bacon & Finnemann, 1992; Mori & Gobel, 2006) and reading (Logan & Johnston, 2009) were found to be higher for female than male students. This study explores how a popular fairy tale, Cinderella, is employed in literacy learning in a heterogeneous classroom. It is believed that students empowered by educational experience can develop a higher level of confidence and motivation on learning, which as a result leads to academic success (Cummins, 2001). Research questions include how fairy tales and the learning theory of Variation (Marton, 2006) enhance Chinese reading ability of NCS students.
Methodology:
52 NCS female students and 2 Chinese language teachers were recruited in the study. Students were divided into two groups according to different levels of Chinese ability. Learning study, a fusion of lesson study and design experiments, was employed (Marton, 2006) to enhance the reading abilities of L2 learners using fairy tales and integration of diverse cultures (Hudson, 2007; Cummins, 2000). A structured test on character acquisition and reading comprehension was conducted before and after the lesson as pretest and posttest. Six students, three from each group, were selected as case studies for deeper investigation. Individual interview was conducted before and after the lesson to explore any change on students' conception of a fairy tale, their oral and writing ability in producing a narrative story. Students' reflection on learning was also collected by means of their reflection logs. Lesson structure was analyzed using the learning theory of Variation (Marton, 2006) to examine how different patterns of variation enhance students' learning outcomes.
Results and Discussion:
Results in the structured test showed that students improved significantly from the pretest with a t-value of 3.117 (n=52, p<.005). Qualitative analysis on the oral narrative story from pre- and post-lesson interview also showed enhancement on ability to enrich a narrative story. Variation patterns in teaching materials as well as the enacted lessons influence how students learn according to the learning theory of Variation. Though it is perceived as a challenge to educators, Chinese reading might not necessary be a burden but an enjoyment to NCS students. It is proposed that the use of fairy tale and the learning theory of Variation enhance literacy learning of NCS students. More investigation on employing various learning theories onto literacy learning of NCS students is deserved.