This study employed a mixed-method approach from multiple source of informants, including NCS students, parents, principals, teachers, multicultural teaching assistants (MTAs), and voluntary agencies to validate the effectiveness of using the Home-School-Community (H-S-C) framework in teaching Chinese to non-Chinese-speaking (NCS) children. Results revealed that NCS students receiving the H-S-C-based interventions showed a better Chinese language proficiency progression than the comparison group. Within the home domain, NCS parents increased awareness, knowledge and skills in supporting children's learning, and provided improved space for learning Chinese at home. In the school domain, principals and teachers were equipped with culturally-responsive pedagogical knowledge and skills in teaching NCS students, with MTAs' assisting in teaching and communicating with parents and teachers. Community domain programs provided experiential learning opportunities for NCS students to know the community and engage in cultural exchange with local students. With a holistic approach to home-school-community domains, a reconstruction of an L1-like Chinese language learning environment was made possible for NCS students.
This study aimed to define the roles played by Multilingual Learning Facilitators (MLFs), a novel post created to facilitate non-Chinese-speaking (NCS) pre-schoolers in learning Chinese in Hong Kong, based in community agencies. Qualitative analysis of field observations and interviews with MLFs and social workers found that roles fell under teaching-related and social workrelated categories. For teaching-related roles, MLFs facilitated learning of Chinese in NCS pre-schoolers, assisted social workers in classroom management during activities, engaged NCS parents, and fostered communication between social workers and NCS parents. For social work-related duties, MLFs offered consulting for NCS parents dealing with issues, and also fostered communication between social workers and NCS parents. These roles are made possible due to MLFs' language and cultural expertise of that of NCS families and the local Chinese community. This addresses current limitations faced by teachers and social workers in their roles in teaching NCS students, and expands resources available for NCS families, from schools to the community, in supporting their children in learning Chinese, potentially opening up opportunities for NCS children to integrate into the local community.
Parent involvement has been found to be vital to children's school success, as such, it is important to find ways to engage parents in students' learning activities, especially for those who came from culturally diverse background. This paper presents the concepts of parent involvement and uses a case as an exemplar to capture the facilitating factors for involving an ethnic minority (EM) parent for enhancing the Chinese learning of her child in the Hong Kong context. Qualitative results showed that successful factors for engaging EM parents include: having high learning motivation, good program elements (such as employing the pleasurable learning elements, being culturally sensitive), the establishment of a first language-like environment, and being empowered. Future directions for education and social service sectors for engaging EM parents are also discussed.
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