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E-news Issue 206

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New study sheds light on ethnic minority students’ struggle with non-language subjects taught in Chinese

Over 60% of ethnic minority (EM) students in Hong Kong have trouble understanding what is taught in class, finishing assignments, and catching up with the curriculum when learning non-language subjects in Chinese, according to a recent survey conducted by the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute and funded by the EOC.

Released on 10 March 2019, the study surveyed 101 P.4-6 students and 96 F.1-3 students from 17 schools where Chinese serves as the medium of instruction. The students were tested with questions from textbooks and the Territory-wide System Assessment, which were worded in Chinese and spanned a range of non-language subjects, including mathematics, science, general studies, integrated humanities, music and visual arts, among others. On average, the P.4-6 and F.1-3 students only scored 25 and 30 respectively, out of 100; when presented with abstracts of passages from published textbooks and worksheets, they failed to understand nearly one-third of the text.

Society has been slowly awakening to the daunting challenges faced by EM students in learning Chinese as a second language, but their needs in terms of mastering other subjects – especially when taught in Chinese – are discussed far less. This has a direct impact on their academic performance which spills over into low college admission rates: non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students accounted for only 1.4% of the 2016/17 intake at universities funded by the University Grants Committee. The study report helps to fill that gap and recommends targeted measures, such as tailor-making curriculum guidelines and teaching materials for EM students learning non-language subjects, enhancing training opportunities for teachers of non-language subjects, and providing learning support and counselling services for EM children as they transition from primary to secondary school.

Click the links below to learn more about the findings of the study.

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