English Language Enhancement Programme for Kindergarten Teachers – Level One

Introduction

Caritas Institute of Higher Education (CIHE) is commissioned by the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) with a grant from the Language Fund to launch the "English Language Enhancement Programme for Kindergarten Teachers – Level One" in the 2022/23 school year.

Objectives

  1. Enhancing kindergarten teachers and principals' English language proficiency and equipping them with essential English language skills for conducting English language activities for young children in class.
  2. Enhancing kindergarten teachers and principals' understanding of early English language and literacy development/learning of young children.

Entry Requirements

Participants should

  1. be registered teachers with local Qualified Kindergarten Teacher qualification, or its equivalent;
  2. have attained Level 2 (HKDSE) / Grade E (HKCEE Syllabus B) or above in English Language, or the equivalent.

Remarks: Applicants are requested to provide photocopies of the above qualification proofs when submitting application.

Programme Design

The design of the course is based on two tenets of early childhood language and literacy development and for teaching such development, namely, 1) young children develop language skills from listening and speaking (oracy) on to reading and writing (literacy); and 2) kindergarten teachers and principals need to be sufficiently proficient in the (target) language (that is English) to meaningfully and optimally communicate with the young children, expose them to the English medium (by creating, albeit temporarily in the classroom setting, an English language environment) by various ways and means (including nursery rhymes, songs, games) and inspire them to grow in the acquisition and development of their English skills and literacy. (This is fully echoed in 2.6.2(b) Learning Area: Second Language (English), as well as in Appendix 4, in the Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide 2017.)  

 Detailed content and topics to be covered in the Programme:

(i)      English language subject knowledge and skills for kindergarten teachers and principals (Part I)

(ii)     Introduction to acquisition of English as second language for young children by revisiting theory and practice in kindergarten children's acquisition of English and exploring approaches and strategies to inspire and enable young children to develop English language skills and literacy (Part II)

(iii)    Sharing knowledge and experiences in facilitating early English language and literacy development of young children through participants' portfolio presentations and feedback discussion (Part III)

Programme Structure

PART I: English language subject knowledge and skills for kindergarten teachers and principals 

Day

Key Topics

No. of Lessons

Hours/ Lesson

Total Contact Hours

1

English Sound System

  • The Nature of English as an Alphabetic and Phonetic Language

  • Spelling and Pronunciation

  • Phonics

  • Word Stresses and Sentence Stresses – Intonation and Speech Flow

2

3.5 hrs+

3.5 hrs+

7 hrs

Grammar and Syntax

  • The Basics – subject-verb agreement; tense forms; active and passive forms; indicative and subjunctive moods; sentence structure and sentence types

2

Words, Phrases, Sentence Fragments, Clauses  

2

3.5 hrs+

3.5 hrs

7 hrs

Special Features of English – infinitives and participles; adjectives as nouns; nominalization and verbalization

3

Classroom English teaching and learning focusing on strategies for designing and conducting English activities in the kindergarten classroom I

  • To facilitate children to work on fine motor skills in preparation for handwriting

  • To help children inter-relate letters and sounds (phonics revisited)

2

3.5 hrs+

3.5 hrs

7 hrs

Classroom English teaching and learning focusing on strategies for designing and conducting English activities in the kindergarten classroom II

  • To guide children in uttering simple sentences for communicating about familiar objects and situations (oracy)

  • To guide children in writing such simple sentences for communicating about familiar objects and situations (literacy)

PART II: Introduction to acquisition of English as second language for young children by revisiting theory and practice in kindergarten children's acquisition of English and exploring approaches and strategies to inspire and enable young children to develop English language skills and literacy

Day

Key Topics

No. of Lessons

Hours/ Lesson

Total Contact Hours

4

Early Childhood English Language Skills Acquisition

  • Oracy: Listening, Speaking and Initial Communicating

  • Alphabetic Code, Phonological/Phonemic Awareness - Discriminating Sounds in Words

  • Relating Pronunciation with Words: Phonics

  • Microteaching focusing on teaching and learning through nursery rhymes, singing songs and playing games

2

3.5 hrs+

3.5 hrs

7 hrs

Early Childhood English Literacy Development

  • Oral language as Foundation for Developing Children's Reading and Writing Skills

  • Literacy Development: emergent literacy, alphabetic fluency, recognizing words and patterns, beginning intermediate reading moving on to advanced reading

  • Microteaching focusing on teaching and learning through story-telling, reading together and playing 'musical chair' games speaking with each other in the entire process

PART III: Sharing knowledge and experiences in facilitating early English language and literacy development of young children through participants' portfolio presentations and feedback discussion

Day

Key Topics

No. of Lessons

Hours/ Lesson

Total Contact Hours

5

Portfolio Presentations by Participants

2

3.5 hrs+

3.5 hrs

7 hrs

Feedback Discussion in a tutorial mode for participants to report and share their observations and experiences in planning and trials of the English language teaching strategies in their classrooms to reinforce what they have benefited through participating in the Programme

Total: 35 hours 

Programme Schedule

Class Code

Date

ENG-L1-04

8 May 2023 (Monday), 9 May 2023 (Tuesday), 10 May 2023 (Wednesday), 20 May 2023 (Saturday), 27 May 2023 (Saturday)

Location

Caritas Institute of Higher Education (2 Chui Ling Lane, Tseung Kwan O, New Territories - Exit B, Tiu Keng Leng MTR Station)

Class Time

AM Session

9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

PM Session

1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Medium of Instruction

The Programme will be conducted in English. Teaching materials are in English.

Attendance Requirement

Participants are required to attend at least 80% of the lessons to qualify for completion of the Programme. The Certificate of Attendance will be awarded to participants who have fulfilled the requirement.

Enrolment Period

From 10:00 a.m. on 27 January 2023 (Friday) to 4:00 p.m. on 25 April 2023 (Tuesday)

Notes on Application

  1. Information provided in the application form must be accurate and complete and all relevant supporting documents must be supplied with the application. Application will not be accepted if the materials are incomplete.
  2. Upon admission to the Programme, applicants' data collected in this application will be filed in Caritas Institute of Higher Education for education, academic and administration purposes. The data of applicants will be shared with the SCOLAR or related parties of the Education Bureau for administration or other related purposes.
  3. Under the provision of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, applicants have the right to request access and amendment of personal data. Requests can be made via email to shl.ece@cihe.edu.hk.
  4. All documents submitted together with application will be destroyed for unsuccessful applicants.
  5. CIHE reserves the right to amend the information on the Programme webpage.

Enrolment Method

  1. Applicants can click here to download the form. Recommendation Letter must be submitted together with the Application Form. Click here to download the Recommendation Letter for teachers and click here  to download the Self-recommendation Letter for principals.
  2. Applicants must submit the following documents:
  1. Applicants please scan all of the above documents and save them as separate PDF files, and email to shl.ece@cihe.edu.hk. 
  2. An acknowledgement email will be sent to applicants via email within seven working days upon receipt of applications. For applicants who do not receive any notice by then, please contact the staff of CIHE by email to shl.ece@cihe.edu.hk. 

Announcement of Application Results

The application results will be announced on 28 April 2023 (Friday). Successful applicants will be notified. They must confirm acceptance of the admission during 2-4 May 2023 (Tuesday to Thursday). 

Enquiry

Caritas Institute of Higher Education

Tel: 37024291; Email: shl.ece@cihe.edu.hk

SCOLAR

Tel: 35273049