Chinese Funcation: mLang – e-Pedagogy and Learning Platform Support Junior Primary School Students to Learn Chinese Language

Background of Co-organiser

mLang is founded by a professional team from the University of Hong Kong, formed with members from the Faculty of Education and Faculty of Engineering with an aim of researching engaging, effective and innovative education technology and pedagogy. Since our launch in 2015, we are grateful to have been generously supported by the Quality Education Fund, the Language Fund from SCOLAR, TSSSU@HKU, SIE Fund and UBS Optimus Foundation, enabling us to forge a better learning environment for students and teachers from different language and cultural backgrounds.

We are a social enterprise listed in the Social Enterprise Directory of The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) and awarded as IncuTech Company at the Hong Kong Science Park Incubation Programme in 2020.

We have been serving more than 50 primary and secondary schools, NGOs and tertiary institute to facilitate their teaching and learning in 8 subjects. About 10,000 teachers and students are benefited from our service.

Project Details

Objectives:

This project aims to support both Chinese and non-Chinese speaking primary students coming from low-income families to keep up with their regular school Chinese learning. Tutors will be trained to provide:

1. online storytelling and comprehension discussion for primary 1, 2 and 3 students once a week, to strengthen the young children’s Chinese language proficiency.
2. online homework consultation once a week to support primary 1, 2 and 3 students’ Chinese language learning.

Programme schedule:

Week 1 – 6: Deliver online service and support

Details of work assigned to students:

1. Online storytelling and comprehension discussion: online picture books are given to tutors for storytelling (50 mins.) with 40 mins. follow-up comprehension discussion and activities. Tutees will be asked to complete Chinese language tasks afterwards for consolidation of the newly learnt knowledge via mLang e-learning platform.
2. Tutors will review and give verbal/written feedback/encouragement to tutees via mLang platform once a week.
3. Tutors will provide 90-minute online learning support to tutees once a week under the guidance of the staff from mLang, so that tutees can ask questions related to their Chinese language learning via mLang e-learning platform.
4. Tutors tell stories using the teaching theories they have learned from their PGDE courses and plan their lessons according to the ability of their tutees.
5. Tutors share their observation with their tutees’ learning progress throughout the whole programme, with special focus on their learning difficulties and the most effective teaching strategy they have used by writing a 800-word self-reflection report.

Remark: Ratio of tutor and tutees = 1: 4 tutees