The Advanced Chinese language programme at Shrewsbury International School Hong Kong has begun to attract attention from a Chinese native audience who would like to draw upon a truly international setting. The programme uses clearly articulated standards to measure the progress of each student.
Head of Chinese, Ms Haze Kwok, explains: “I meet a lot of native speaking parents who feel nervous about the linguistic commitment of international schools. They are always fascinated to learn that standards of attainment at the advanced level here compare favourably with those seen at bilingual settings elsewhere in the region.”
Ms Haze Kwok remains determined that competence in communication remains the core of her work, even for those learners who are more experienced. Hence, she designed a daily Chinese programme bound by seven interconnected development domains. She adds: “At Shrewsbury we focus on rapid vocabulary development and grammatical precision. Even for very experienced students it is critical that our learned stay committed to regular use and practical application.
The Advanced Chinese programme is split into two sections: about 30% of the content is made up of thematic learning which includes contextual application, consolidation and extension, whereas Chinese literacy addresses reading, writing and vocabulary.
Ms Kwok continues: “We accelerate the learning success by personalising experiences with a high volume of quality reading material. In more traditional settings, students would work through a textbook from start to finish.”
In addition to the texts from the Yuwen set (People’s Education Press), Shrewsbury draws from our extensive library collection (over 2,000) and content written by the Chinese language team. This refined selection ensures that all learners are challenged and that their progress is tracked.
“Shrewsbury Principal, Mr Ben Keeling, explains:”Ms Kwok joined our team at the point of foundation. We were determined to develop a programme that enables Chinese native speakers to maintain pace with Chinese system standards, while enjoying the benefits of an international education. We highly regard the teaching skills of our Chinese language team and their ability to adapt to the needs of our students.”
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