Concerns of secondary school teachers about reforming Chinese language instruction with the use of a Comprehension Process Model of reading in Hong Kong

Abstract

Students' progress in reading comprehension is a crucial goal in language education, and teaching comprehension processes to students is considered to be one of the most effective approaches to improving students' reading ability. To facilitate teachers' use of the Comprehension Process Model (CPM), it is necessary to identify teachers' stages of concerns about using the model, which has not been investigated systematically in language teaching. This study investigated Hong Kong (HK) Chinese-language teachers' concerns about using the CPM in their teaching of reading in secondary schools. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) was administered and 347 completed questionnaires were suitable for analysis. The study has found that teachers demonstrated a profile with multiple peaks, which shows highest concerns at the collaboration and informational stages in the Stages of Concern (SoC) model. The result implies that teachers realize that they need to learn more about the CPM and to enhance collaboration with their colleagues to implement it effectively. Teachers' concerns varied according to demographic factors including training on the CPM, years of using the CPM, years of teaching experience, and richness of experience in using the CPM. Implications for developing more effective professional development interventions for Chinese-language teachers are also discussed.

Differences between the relationship of L1 learners’ performance in integrated writing with both independent listening and independent reading cognitive skills

“…The Six Reading Types framework was used to develop reading level descriptors in one of the standards of Chinese-language assessment in reading, writing, and integrated skills (Zhu, 2005b). These descriptors have been implemented in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) Chinese-language standards-referenced assessment (Hong Kong Exam-inations and Assessment Authority [HKEAA], 2005) and they are also widely referred to in the context of Chinese language assessment (Zhu et al, 2016b).…”

Primary School Teachers’ Conceptions of Reading Comprehension Processes and Its Formulation

“…We still lack knowledge on whether teachers view reading comprehension as a literal understanding of a text or a process that involves readers, the text, and the social context. In particular, the backdrop of mediumterm review of new literacy necessitates an investigation of the teachers' conception on the purpose of their reading instruction and the extent of the attainment of higher-order thinking by their students (CDC and HKEAA, 2013), which may differ from the intent of the reading instruction (Zhu et al, 2016). The value gained from understanding teachers' conceptions and their formulation can contribute to the investigation of the progress of the curriculum reform on the practical front.…”

“…No teachers claimed that they did not comprehend the Six Types, but in their descriptions, we observed that some teachers were unable to distinguish between Explaining and Evaluating, whereas some could not illustrate Retrieving and Summarizing well. Zhu et al (2016) found that teachers have the highest concerns at the informational and collaboration stages in their study, and they implied that teachers will need to acquire new knowledge in these aspects. When describing a meeting that the school teachers were having on setting examination questions, Our school wishes to set more questions on Evaluating and Creating.…”