C-for-Chinese@JC storybooks Series

1. Introduction

The series of C-for-Chinese@JC storybooks were created and developed by C-for-Chinese@JC Project (Phase 1, 2016 - 2021) Team 3 on learning resources” led by Dr Wai Ip LAM of the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. Team members include (in alphabetical order) Ms. Rainbow Chan, Dr. Celinda Chu, Ms. Janice Kwan, Mr. Ringo Lee, Ms. Sindy Pang and Ms. Sonya Yim. The team uses ‘Ma Yau Chung’ (馬友中) as pseudonym of the Project.

The research-based storybook packages aims to support the learning of Chinese for learners with age around 3 to 8 years old, especially for children of ethnic minority families in Hong Kong. It is designed to accompany an interactive app ‘C-for-Chinese@JC-eStorybook Apps’ which is equipped with augmented reality (AR) technology.

The Project, housed under CACLER, is one of our collaborative projects to support teaching and learning of Chinese for multicultural students. The C-for-Chinese@JC Project is created and funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

2. Principles of Design

The design of series of C-for-Chinese@JC Storybooks and eStorybooks follows the principles of culturally responsive (CR) instruction and language focused curriculum (LCF). The design focuses on modeling how Chinese language is organized by pairing meaning and expression to accomplish communication enriched with funds of knowledge of ethnic minority families and communities. Children are able to learn high quality Chinese oral and written language by interacting with the stories in the series.

3. Organization of the Series

The series of Storybooks, and its electronic companion eStorybooks, comprises 18 stories in 3 groups, namely for children in nursey class (i.e. stories 1st-6th for K1), lower class (i.e. stories 7-12th for K2), and upper class (i.e. stories 13-18th for K3). The stories revolve around the lives and studies of five children, including ethnic monitories and Chinese native speaker characters. Each story is written in three language levels catering for children with diverse Chinese language abilities. Each level with its stories has particular learning objectives on Chinese vocabularies and sentence construction with reference to the Cognitive Frame perspective.

4. Teachers' Guidebooks and Parents' Guidebooks

Each story comes with a teachers' guidebook and a parents' guidebook. The teacher’s guidebook includes a complete set of learning and teaching activities and learning aids. The parent’s guidebook focuses on the connection between the story and the cultural funds of knowledge from the family in order to help parents guide children to interact with the story at home. Teachers and parents can adjust the learning and teaching activities based on their situation and needs.

5. eStorybooks

The eStorybooks digitize the printed version of the series to a multimodal (with reading aloud function) and multilingual (with translation function) version. Interactive games enhanced with augmented reality function are built in each story to emphasize the main objectives of the story in a playful and fun way.

Target users: Culturally and linguistically diverse children in kindergarten or junior primary learning stage

Users: Culturally and linguistically diverse children, and their parents, kindergarten and junior primary teachers

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The series of C-for-Chinese@JC Storybooks is available on the ‘C-for-Chinese’ Project website (Link~Link~) as well as Hong Kong Education City as below:

Parents' Guidebooks for the storybook series with differentiated learning materials: Link~Link~

Teachers' Guidebooks and storybook series with differentiated learning materials: Link~Link~

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(Video#1) Seminar by Dr. Wai Ip LAM on "From Vocabulary to Sentence: A New Frame-based Approach to Language Learning" at Learning & Teaching Expo 2021

The talk aims at exploring a newly frame-based approach to language learning based on latest development of cognitive linguistics. According to cognitive linguistics, language is pairings of meaning and form which is referred as construction. The most crucial constructions for language learning are vocabulary and sentence. Vocabulary is connected with each other within a conceptual frame based on encyclopedic knowledge. Connection of vocabulary is realized as sentence. Frame-based approach to language learning enables students to learn a series of conceptually associated vocabularies and sentence structure synchronously instead of learning them in isolated and separated manner.

The talk illustrated how learning material which adopts frame-based approach are developed. Students’ learning outcome is also demonstrated.

https://www.hkedcity.net/goelearning/en/resource/61cc097e0da87ec368b4af7b~https://www.hkedcity.net/goelearning/en/resource/61cc097e0da87ec368b4af7b~

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(Video#2) Seminar by Dr. Wai Ip LAM on "Theories and Practices for Development of Storybooks for Ethnic Minority Kindergarten Students in Hong Kong" at Learning & Teaching Expo 2019

The talk aims at introducing the theories and practices for development of storybooks to support the learning of Chinese of the ethnic minority kindergarten students in Hong Kong. Dr. Lam explores the frame-based approach of cognitive linguistics, highlighting the similarities and differences between frame-based and theme-based curriculum adopted in the kindergartens. The presentation will also cover the five-step of storybook reading, culturally responsive pedagogy, and the use of mobile app in extending language learning at home.

https://www.hkedcity.net/goelearning/en/resource/5e5dcc6f0da87e384be6ac0b~https://www.hkedcity.net/goelearning/en/resource/5e5dcc6f0da87e384be6ac0b~

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C-for-Chinese@JC-eStorybook app: Link~Link~

家社校合作模式﹕非華語學前中文教育﹕Link~Link~