Report on the Parent-Children English Reading Workshop for Cross-boundary (border) Students: Shenzhen 3-4 May 2008 (English Version)

This two-day workshop was the second of a series sponsored by Simatelex Charitable Foundation (Hong Kong). to provide school-based support to the cross-border students and their families. Because the three participating schools, namely Shan Tsui Public School, Caritas Nursery School (Ta Kwu Ling) and Tung Kung School, are schools with a high percentage of cross-boundary (border) students, the venue chosen on this occasion was Nanhu Primary School in Shenzhen.

Day One (3 rd May)

On the Saturday, 19 families (40 participants) were present. After registration and the opening ceremony, the representative of Christian Action, Miss Wing Li first led the participants in some ice-breaking activities. The purpose of these was (1) to familiarize the participants with the environment and (2) to help parents build closer contact with their children.

The participants were then divided into two groups, parents on the one hand and children on the other. Dr. Rosalind Wu, who is experienced in English teaching, then gave a seminar for the parents with the objective of equipping and encouraging them to read English with their children. Dr. Wu discussed a variety of strategies to suit parents with different levels of English ability. For most of the parents present, reading English with their children was something they had not seriously considered before. However, as Dr. Wu demonstrated, it was not only possible but also very feasible for all parents to engage in this activity.

While this was going on, NET teacher Mr. David Eason led the children in some English learning activities. As with the previous workshop (and possibly of greater importance given the generally younger age), Mr. Eason adopted a more active and flexible approach compared with the spoon-fed one that is commonly employed in Hong Kong schools. He believes that the efficiency of English learning is in direct proportion to the passion of the individual learner. One activity that Mr. Eason used was a competition involving various English word games specifically designed to impress upon the children some of the interesting aspects of the language.

After lunch the participants were again divided into two groups, but this time as two groups of parents and teachers together, according to the English level of the parents. These groups were then led by Dr. Wu and Mr. Eason, each group spending a period in turn with each of the tutors. Dr. Wu’s session was designed to give an opportunity to the parents to try out the strategies introduced in the seminar in the morning. The participants worked in small groups of four to five, and Dr. Wu was ready to offer her advice when the participants encountered any difficulty. This for many parents was their first time to open an English book together with their children.

In Mr. Eason’s session the parents and children were guided to play some of the word games together the children had learned earlier that morning. These games included anagram, hangman, make-a-word and crossword puzzles. Many parents had undermined the importance of such simple games. However, as Mr. Eason stressed, these games are not only useful in helping both the parents and the children improve their standard of English, but more importantly they are an enjoyable method for doing this together. Moreover, these games available for free on the internet and so potentially are a valuable resource to the families.

Day Two (4 th May)

On Sunday the same number of participants (40) attended, and the activities of Day Two once again began with warm-up exercises led by Miss Wing Li.

As on the previous day, the participants were again divided into two groups of parents and children. Dr. Wu then conducted another seminar for the parents, which was a continuation of the one on Saturday, and focused mainly on the more practical aspects of parental involvement in English reading. Themes discussed in this seminar included choosing the appropriate books and other “soft” techniques in raising the interest level of the children.

While the parents were immersed in the theories, the children were busy with a “show-and-tell” session led by Mr. Eason. On the previous day Mr. Eason had asked the children to bring to the class something which was related to their hobbies, and in this lesson the children were instructed in how to give a brief talk on their show and tell using phrases that Mr. Eason taught them. As the children were becoming more familiar with Mr. Eason, so they were also more motivated and less shy than on the previous day. The children had brought in all sorts of things (including models, toys, books etc.), and appeared to delight in speaking aloud in English in front of the class. It was surprising that most of them had only been learning English for three or four years!

After lunch, the participants were led in a role-play / drama session with Dr. Wu and Mr. Eason. The speakers again stressed the importance of parents and children doing this activity together and further encouraged that acting out the stories as opposed to just reading them was a most effective way of learning. The participants were divided into five groups, each group was allowed to choose a story that interested them the most from several alternatives, and then everybody got very busy preparing and practicing their dramas.

After the tea break each of the groups was invited to present their stories. Although the time for preparation was short, the motivation and the innovativeness of the participants offset this disadvantage and the presentations were enjoyable and well executed. It was particularly rewarding to see those parents who were perhaps more detached at the beginning of the workshop becoming more involved in this session. For many children, this was the highlight of the whole workshop.

The last activity was a sharing and prize-giving session. This was opened by Dr. Celeste Yuen who gave a slide-show of some of the photos taken during the course of the workshop, capturing the different memorable moments in the two days. In the subsequent sharing, both the parents and the children were eager to share some of the thoughts and ideas the workshop had stimulated. Prizes were then presented to participants who had given the best performance in the role-play session.

Although of only brief duration, many participants expressed that this workshop was very helpful. To the parents, the workshop had not only exposed them to new strategies and theories, but had also provided them with a chance to bridge the gap between themselves and their children. In addition, the workshop gave them a chance to meet and network with fellow cross-boundary (border) families.