English Language Teaching: Professional Skills

Course Coordinator: Dr Diane Hui

Course Adaptors: Prof. Yvonne Fung, HKMU; Dr Jimmy Tong, HKMU; Dr Pretor Fok, HKMU; Stewart Lee, HKMU

This course is one of the compulsory courses in the following programmes:

• English strand of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Secondary)
• English strand of the Certificate in Education (Primary or Secondary)
• Bachelor of Language Studies (English) (Honours) and Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Primary or Secondary) combined programme

Entry requirement
To enrol on this course, students must meet the entry requirements of one of the following programmes:

• Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Secondary) programme (PGDES)
• Certificate in Education (Primary English Strand or Secondary English Strand) programme
• Bachelor of Language Studies (English) (Honours) and Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Primary or Secondary) combined programme (BLSHPGDEP or BLSHPGDES)

Students in the BLSHPGDEP or BLSHPGDES programmes who intend to enrol on this course should have completed all the required foundation- and middle-level courses.

Special requirement for pre-service student teachers
Students in the BLSHPGDEP or BLSHPGDES programmes are required to complete six weeks of teaching practice in a local primary or secondary school respectively. During this period, students will work in the assigned schools, without payment, as full-time student teachers.

Advisory recommendation
Students taking this course should enrol on EDU E332 or EDU E363 at the same time as, or prior to, enrolling on this course.

Aims
This course aims to develop in learners:

• Basic competence in teaching English in local schools;
• Critical understanding of the educational context of Hong Kong;
• Ability to critically evaluate and apply various approaches and strategies in the teaching and assessment of English;
• Awareness of language issues in the classroom;
• Ability to reflect on current classroom practice for more effective English teaching.

Contents
The course covers the following topics:

• The educational context in Hong Kong
• English language curriculum in Hong Kong
• Skills in teaching English
• Planning to teach
• Resources for teaching English
• Assessment in English
• Classroom management
• Evaluation of teaching
• Language learning skills for teachers
• Language in the classroom.

Learning support
This course involves 300 study hours. There will be eight two-hour tutorials, two two-hour workshops and two three-hour day schools.

Assessment
There will be three assignments (the last of which is a teaching portfolio) and assessement of students’ teaching practice. Students must pass both assessment components to complete the course successfully. Except for some designated assignments, students are required to submit assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE).

Online support
This course is supported by the Online Learning Environment (OLE). You can find the latest course information from the OLE. Through the OLE, you can communicate electronically with your tutor and Course Coordinator as well as with other students. To access the OLE, students will need to have access to the Internet. The use of the OLE is required for this course.

Parts of the assignments will require participation in the online discussion at the OLE.

Set book(s)
There are no set books for this course.

Note
One of the assignments in this course requires you to submit a video recording of two of your classroom lessons.