Abstract
Strategies-based instruction (SBI) is widely accepted and successfully implemented in North America in language and literacy programmes, but little has been reported on how this strategy would work in a bilingual/biliteracy learning context. This chapter reports on the efficacy of such an intervention conducted in two Singapore primary schools, where the government implements a unique bilingual/biliteracy policy in education, by which English is offered as the first language and one of the other three mother tongue languages (Chinese, Malay and Tamil) as a second language subject in the national curriculum. Although the Singapore quadrilingual education policy has been internationally acclaimed as being successful, some students face challenges in biliteracy learning, resulting in some students’ underachievement. To help these students catch up with their better-performing peers, we designed an intervention programme to answer the following research questions: (1) When integrated into the regular curriculum, does SBI have an impact on bilingual students’ understanding of the writing processes in their two languages? (2) Specifically, does SBI lead to writing improvement in both languages? The study had an experimental group and a control group. Such a design was intended for comparing the pedagogical efficacy of SBI on student improvement in writing in English and writing in Chinese over a period of one semester (10 weeks of teaching) in the regular school curriculum. Results suggest that the use of SBI not only raised students’ awareness of writing strategies but also improved their English and Chinese writing scores. Thus, we conclude that SBI was a useful dimension to the writing curriculum in the two schools involved in this study.
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Notes
- 1.
During the time of this study, the 2001 English language syllabus was in place. A new syllabus was introduced in 2010. Although there are some changes, the new syllabus maintains the same focus on language use. See MOE (2010) for information.
- 2.
There is also an option for ‘higher mother tongue’ instruction for those who perform exceptionally well in mother tongue Chinese.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to record their gratitude to the Singapore Ministry of Education and the Office of Education Research of the National Institute of Education, Singapore, for their generous funding of the project (Project No. 25/08/OER/LZ) awarded to the Principal Investigator, Lawrence Jun Zhang. They are also obliged to the following for their assistance: the research team members, especially the two Postdoctoral Fellows working on the project at different stages of its development , Dr Wengao Gong and Dr Yajun Zeng, the two collaborating schools and the participating teachers and students who willingly took part in the study. The authors take full responsibility for any error or fault in this chapter.
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Appendices
Appendices
Appendix A
Questionnaire About Yourself
1 School: | 2 Name: | 3 Class: | |
4 IC Number | 5 Age | ||
6 How do you rate your interest in writing in English? | |||
⃞ High | ⃞ Fair | ⃞ Low | |
7 How do you rate your English writing ability? | |||
⃞ Very Good | ⃞ Fair | ⃞ Poor | |
8 Do you write in English after school? (If your answer is YES, please answer questions 9 and 10 as well.) | |||
⃞ Yes | ⃞ No | ||
9 How much time do you spend on writing in English after school (excluding your homework)? | |||
⃞ 1 h & above per day | ⃞ 30 mins to 1 h per day | ⃞ Around 30 mins per day | ⃞ Below 20 mins per day |
10 What do you write in English after school? | |||
11 What is the language you use most often at home? If you use two or three languages at home, list them according to the frequency they are used, with the most frequent used language listed first (e.g. Chinese Mandarin, English, Hokkien). | |||
Appendix B
Survey on Writing Strategies
Directions : Listed below are statements about what you may or may not do when you write in English . Under each statement, there are five answers (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5). The numbers mean the following:
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1 = Never (meaning “I almost never do this”)
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2 = Occasionally (meaning “I do this around 25% of the time”)
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3 = Sometimes (meaning “I do this around 50% of the time”)
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4 = Usually (meaning “I do this around 75% of the time”)
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5 = Always (meaning “I almost always do this”)
After reading each statement, think about your own experience and then circle a number (1, 2, 3, 4 or 5) which best represents what you do and shade the corresponding number on the Answer Sheet.
Here is an example:
If you read a statement like the following:
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I do warming-up exercises before I do sports.
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1 = Never
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2 = Occasionally
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3 = Sometimes
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4 = Usually
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5 = Always
Then you think about how often you do warming up when you do sports. If you never do it, you should circle the number ⃞ and shade it on the Answer Sheet.
1. I read good English compositions (model compositions) in order to write well. |
2. Before I write an English composition, I tell myself to enjoy writing. |
3. Before I write an English composition, I tell myself not to worry. |
4. Before I write an English composition, I make sure that I understand what I have to do. |
5. Before I write an English composition, I think about the purpose of writing it. |
6. Before I write an English composition, I read about the topic. |
7. Before I write an English composition, I think about who will read it. |
8. Before I write an English composition, I think about what ideas to write about by listing them. |
9. Before I write an English composition, I think about what words, phrases and sentences to use. |
10. Before I write an English composition, I recall a similar text type I read before and try to follow it. |
11. Before I write an English composition, I write out an outline for it. |
12. Before I write an English composition, I use graphic organisers (such as mind maps) to help me plan my writing. |
13. Before I write an English composition, I think about how to write it. |
14. Before I write an English composition, I select what I want to focus on. |
15. When writing an English composition, I put down my ideas first and improve the language later. |
16. When writing an English composition, I use words, phrases or sentences that I have read before. |
17. When writing an English composition, I use ideas that I read before. |
18. When writing an English composition, I use details to support/elaborate on the main ideas. |
19. When writing an English composition, I make sure that my sentences are linked to one another. |
20. When writing an English composition, I make sure that my paragraphs are well linked. |
21. When I do not know a word or phrase in writing an English composition, I stop writing and look it up in a dictionary. |
22. When I cannot think of an English word when writing a composition, I paraphrase it. |
23. When I do not know the right words to use when writing an English composition, I invent new words. |
24. After finishing my composition, I make sure that it meets the expectation of the writing task. |
25.After finishing my composition, I make sure that it has a beginning, the main body and an ending. |
26. When I check my English composition, I make sure that the grammar is correct. |
27. When I read my composition, I think about whether my readers will like it. |
28. When I check my English composition, I change the ideas in it. |
29. When I revise my English composition, I reorganise the ideas in it. |
30. When I check my English composition, I read it aloud to make sure that it reads well. |
31. When I revise my English composition, I make sure that the spelling and punctuation are correct. |
32. When I revise my English composition, I change words or phrases. |
33. When I read my English composition, I think about whether my reader can understand it. |
34. I think about the strengths and weaknesses of my composition after I have written it. |
35. I ask my friends for comments after I have written my composition. |
36. I reward myself (e.g. eating my favourite food or playing computer games) when I have completed an English composition. |
37. I read my teacher’s corrections and comments carefully and try to learn from them. |
38. I ask myself whether my writing ability is improving. |
39. I ask myself whether my writing quality is getting better. |
40. I look out for opportunities to write in English (e.g. keeping journals/diaries, blogs, book reviews, etc.) to improve my writing ability. |
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Zhang, L.J., Aryadoust, V., Zhang, D. (2016). Taking Stock of the Effects of Strategies-Based Instruction on Writing in Chinese and English in Singapore Primary Classrooms. In: Elaine Silver, R., Bokhorst-Heng, W. (eds) Quadrilingual Education in Singapore. Education Innovation Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-967-7_7
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