Inclusive Teaching Strategies for Discipline-based English Studies: Enhancing Language Attainment and Classroom Interaction in a Multicultural Learning Environment

by Hing Wa (Helena) Sit

Overview

This book presents empirical findings that reveal various teaching strategies and responses from two sub-cultural groups of students, i.e. local Hong Kong and Mainland students, with regard to their English studies. It puts forward a constructive model for innovative teaching strategies to enhance language attainment and classroom interaction in a multicultural learning environment in Hong Kong. It highlights inclusive teaching strategies with instructional, inspirational and interactional components to accommodate diverse learners and promote their classroom interaction. In addition to contributing to innovation in higher education in Hong Kong, the lessons learned here can be universally applied to ESL/EFL teaching and education reform around the world. Further, they support better learning and teaching at universities in the context of internationalization.
The book will above all benefit undergraduate students in ESL/EFL teacher training programs, and post-graduate research students in applied linguistics, language education and second language teacher education. It also offers a valuable reference book for university lectures in teacher education, researchers in higher education in China, and TESOL/TEFL instructors in English-speaking countries (the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc.).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789811047084
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
Publication date:	07/13/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	146
File size:	442 KB

About the Author

Dr Helena Hing Wa Sit is a Senior Lecturer in Education (TESOL) from the School of Education, Faculty of Education and Arts at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She holds a PhD Degree in Education and an MEd in TESOL from the University of Newcastle, where she won the university’s annual award for best PhD thesis in the Faculty of Education and Arts. Prior to joining the University of Newcastle, Helena worked as a Lecturer in Academic Development (Higher Education) at Macquarie University and a Researcher at the University of Hong Kong. Her research expertise includes Language Education, Second Language Teacher Education, International Education, Cross-cultural Studies and teaching strategies for advanced English learners. Her research at the University of Hong Kong, Macquarie University and the University of Newcastle focuses on internationalization, transformative learning and innovative language education programs. She has published widely in the areas of language education, second language teacher training and international education.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction. Improving the teaching of English at tertiary level is a common problem in both English speaking and non-English speaking countries. The problem is closely related with the pedagogical and cultural issues such as “What is the pedagogical approach of teaching English in that country?” and “What is the response from students with various cultural backgrounds?” A successful interaction of teaching and learning depends on appropriate teaching strategies used in the classroom. In the social and cultural context of Hong Kong today, establishing a set of effective teaching strategies to enhancing teaching and learning is becoming an increasingly urgent and arduous task for university teaching staff. This chapter of introduction will define three fundamental elements related to the research questions as a starting point of investigation. First, the context and background of the study will be explained through a brief overview of research in the relevant areas in Hong Kong. Second, the interpretation of current situation of social changes in Hong Kong will lead to a key research question regarding the teaching of English in Hong Kong’s universities. The key question for this study will be identified with a further elaboration of relative sub-questions which this thesis needs to answer. Finally, the potential significance of the research and implication to the practice of teaching in reality will also be discussed as a justification for this study. Chapter 2: Research Development Hong Kong’s universities have an increasingly diverse student body. One result of this trend is that universities now have to accommodate students with linguistic problems and also accommodate cultural conflicts between newly arrived Mainland students and existing local students. The current research focuses on teaching strategies that promote interaction between newly arrived Mainland students and local students who are studying advanced English subjects in Hong Kong’s universities. This research contributes to a broader understanding of the current context of the tertiary education sector in Hong Kong where educators are integrating Western and Eastern approaches to teaching and learning. This chapter prepares the way for the empirical component of the research with a literature review that covers three key areas: the reform in higher education after the handover in 1997; changing language policy and its impact on English language education; and English language teaching in Hong Kong’s universities. Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology. The research design and research methodology are the key issues to be discussed in this chapter. First, the chapter examines existing teaching strategies used in Hong Kong’s universities. A framework of the study is established. The investigation has relied on both quantitative and qualitative approaches to elicit statistical descriptive and in-depth interpretive data. The research is an ethnographical study. To form a methodological triangulation for establishing reliability and validity, there are two types of data collection from both quantitative and qualitative investigationChapter 4: Findings from FieldworkThis chapter reports on the survey which investigated the teachers’ preferences for strategies and identified the teaching strategies that were effective in promoting productive classroom interaction. The results and findings from the survey of teachers were described and analysed. This would be further checked by in-depth interviews with students. The interview focuses on students’ perceptions of the current teaching strategies used by teachers in the two research sites, their opinions on existing classroom interaction and their suggestions for improvement. The findings demonstrated that problems of interaction existed between Hong Kong (HK) local and Mainland (ML) students in the learning process of English advanced studies.Chapter 5: Developing Inclusive Teaching StrategiesIn spite of the identified problems of interaction, it seemed that teachers at Hong Kong universities paid insufficient attention to the two groups of students’ attitudes toward each other, and their learning behaviour in class interaction. Besides, there was little evidence that appropriate teaching strategies were employed purposefully by teachers to promote positive interactions. Based on the investigation of current practice, it is necessary to consider the issue of “how to use effective teaching strategies to promote positive interaction between HK and ML students” from a theoretical perspective and to make some constructive recommendations for a new direction. In this concluding chapter, an inclusive teaching model will be proposed in order to promote positive interactions between the HK and ML students in English language learning and disciplinary studies in the Hong Kong higher educational institutions.Chapter 6: Conclusion. This chapter will summarise the findings of the research and discuss about its significance to ESL teaching and learning in general and its implication to ESL teacher training in the Southeast Asia and non-Englishing speaking countries all over the world.