Sebanyak 1 item atau buku ditemukan

Students' Difficulties Concerning Medium of Instruction and Medium of Examination in Science in a Hong Kong School

This dissertation, "Students' Difficulties Concerning Medium of Instruction and Medium of Examination in Science in a Hong Kong School" by Tin-leung, Po, 蒲天亮, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: ABSTRACT of dissertation entitled SSSSTTTTUUUUDDDDEEEENNNNTTTTSSSS' ' ' ' DDDDIIIIFFFFFFFFIIIICCCCUUUULLLLTTTTIIIIEEEESSSS CCCCOOOONNNNCCCCEEEERRRRNNNNIIIINNNNGGGG MMMMEEEEDDDDIIIIUUUUMMMM OOOOFFFF IIIINNNNSSSSTTTTRRRRUUUUCCCCTTTTIIIIOOOONNNN AAAANNNNDDDD MMMMEEEEDDDDIIIIUUUUMMMM OOOOFFFF EEEEXXXXAAAAMMMMIIIINNNNAAAATTTTIIIIOOOONNNN IIIINNNN SSSSCCCCIIIIEEEENNNNCCCCEEEE IIIINNNN AAAA HHHHOOOONNNNGGGG KKKKOOOONNNNGGGG SSSSCCCCHHHHOOOOOOOOLLLL submitted by PO TIN LEUNG for the degree of Master of Education at the University of Hong Kong st 31 August, 2006 i This qualitative case study, supplemented by two quantitative instruments, looks at students' difficulties concerning Medium of Instruction and Medium of Examination in science in a Hong Kong school. More specifically, it looks at the relationship between students' scientific literacy and use of the mother-tongue (Chinese) or second language (English) when receiving instruction or writing examinations. The policy of the Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau (HKEMB) is based on their requirement to have Chinese as the main medium of instruction in schools while still recognising the important part that English plays in Hong Kong society. In science education world-wide, there is a general opinion that all science teaching should aim to develop scientifically literate students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was threefold. 1) An investigation into the relationship between the use of language and scientific literacy achieved by students. 2) An investigation into the influence that the specific language of science, particularly biology, has on the ability of students to learn and understand the subject. Commonly, all terms and concepts in science subjects, particularly biology, are expressed in English. 3) An investigation into i i influences that act as a barrier to students' learning (viz. learning difficulties, use of language, extrinsic pressures [e.g. society, parents and peers] placed on the students and the students' own conceptual view of biology as a subject). The hypothesis is that students, even though they study biology in English, they will mentally revert to their mother-tongue to translate and understand the concepts of this subject, and therefore, that achieved scientific literacy will be higher when using the mother-tongue rather than the second language. Further understanding into barriers of learning is gained by investigating the influences that affect students when learning, studying and responding to the need to present concepts in biology. The data was gained from two major sources. Firstly, the hypothesis was tested by means of two instruments written in both English and Chinese. Secondly, the students' biology teacher, and the students learning in each language were the subjects of a semi-structured interview. ii i The small sample size led to uncertain results statistically, however, the raw score data did show that students were more scientifically literate when answering questions in their mother-tongue and, therefore, that scientific literacy is likely to be higher when using the mother-tongue rather than the second language. The rich interview data was used to pin-point general difficulties that the students perceived in the areas mentioned above. The data gained po