A recent study by the Zubin Foundation found that at entry into K1, EM children were found to perform ‘much worse’ across speaking, listening, reading and writing’ in Cantonese and by K3, many were found to still be ‘worse’ than their Chinese peers in speaking and listening, and ‘much worse’ or ‘worse’ at reading and writing skills in Cantonese.  It is not uncommon for the child to be incorrectly diagnosed as having a true language disorder rather than a language difference. Additionally, learning Cantonese is identified as a key factor with subsequent adverse impact on school drop-out rates, economic and financial outcomes.

Research has identified the importance of (early) acquisition of vocabulary and oral language and the strong association with reading comprehension and later literacy4. The evidence points to treatment of vocabulary emphasizing multiple exposure, explicit instruction, developing knowledge networks, and enhancing the child’s motivation through the teaching and learning of vocabulary using technology. Research also stresses acquisition and maintenance of home language(s) to prevent language attrition of heritage language(s). This project aims to apply these evidence-based approaches and identification of vocabulary to help children from EM families acquire vocabulary at both Tier 1 (everyday common words) and Tier 2 (high-frequency words common in writing and important for later reading comprehension) in Cantonese, prior to entry into Kindergarten (or at K1-K3) as well as maintaining vocabulary knowledge in the home language(s) by developing web-based resources in English, Cantonese, Tamil,  Urdu and Punjabi.

Parent and child empowerment through direct training on how to use and access the e-resources. Positive change and increase in the child’s vocabulary of an estimated 10-15% increase following the use of the resources.Transfer of knowledge to staff of our partner organization and capacity building as staff subsequently take on the training of children and their families in the use of the e-resources.Speech Therapists and other professionals will have access to multilingual vocabulary resources thereby increasing the validity of assessment and treatment in the field.

• Children from EM backgrounds and their families will be identified and recruited through partner organisations - the Zubin Foundation and other relevant NGOs.


• Speech Therapists and other professional 

2022

Education, Ethnic Minorities, Well-being