Article published In:
Australian Review of Applied LinguisticsVol. 29:1 (2006) ► pp.6.1–6.22
Exploring an approach for teaching subject specific genres in Chinese
The case of post-colonial Hong Kong
This research seeks both to describe Chinese genres found in a range of school subjects and to develop models of pedagogical principles for their teaching. Thus far, most of the research has been devoted to the teaching of genres for first and second language teaching, though there is a developing interest in research into the teaching of genres in teaching English as a foreign language. There is a need to develop genre-based research in languages other than English, in order to test the application of the theory to non-English speaking contexts. This paper reports on an approach to the study of Chinese genres for examination purposes, developed in Hong Kong, where, since 1997, official support has been given to the use of Chinese as a medium of instruction. The study is not yet completed, though there is some encouraging evidence that the genre-based approach is proving useful.
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.
References
Christie, Frances; Gray, Peter; Gray, Brian; Macken, Mary; Martin, Jim; Rothery, Joan
1990a Language: A resource for meaning – exploring reports (teachers’ book). Sydney: Harcourt Brace Jovanich.
1990b Language: A resource for meaning – exploring procedures (teachers’ book). Sydney: Harcourt Brace Jovanich.
1992 Language: A resource for meaning – exploring explanations (teachers’ book). Sydney: Harcourt Brace.
Christie, Frances; Martin, Jim
editors 1997 Genre and institutions: Social processes in the workplace and the school. Cassell: London.
Cummins, Jim; Swain, Merrill
1986 Bilingualism in education. London: Longman.
Dang, Thi Kim Anh
2002 ‘Applying a genre-based approach in teaching the writing of the English discussion genre to Vietnamese EFL students at the tertiary level’. M.Ed. thesis, Melbourne, University of Melbourne.
Fang, Yan
1998 ‘Context, register, genre’. In Language functions – system cognition and pragmatic principles, edited by Yu, Wei Shen. Chongqing: Chongqing University Press. 17–26. [In Chinese]
Feez, Susan; Joyce, Helen
1998 Writing skills: Narrative and non-fiction text types. Albert Park, Victoria: Phoenix Education Pty Ltd.
Halliday, Michael Alexander Kirkwood
1956 ‘Grammatical categories in Modern Chinese’. In Halliday: System and function in language, edited by Kress, Gunther. London: Oxford University Press. 36–51.
Halliday, Michael Alexander Kirkwood; McDonald, Edward
2004 ‘Metafunctional profile of the grammar of Chinese’. In Language typology: A functional perspective, edited by Caffarel, Alice; Martin, Jim; Matthiessen, Christian. Benjamins: Amsterdam. 
Hong Kong Education Department
1990 ‘Hong Kong Education Commission report no. 4’. Hong Kong: Government Printer.
Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA)
2001 ‘2001 Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination report’. Hong Kong: HKEAA.
2002a ‘HKCEE questions papers: biology (1998–2002)’. Hong Kong: HKEAA.
2002b ‘HKCEE questions papers: geography (1998–2002)’. Hong Kong: HKEAA.
2002c ‘HKCEE questions papers: physics (1998–2002)’. Hong Kong: HKEAA.
2002d ‘2002 Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination report’. Hong Kong: HKEAA.
2003a ‘Examination report and question papers: 2003 Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination biology’. Hong Kong: HKEAA.
2003b ‘2003 Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination report’. Hong Kong: HKEAA.
2004 ‘2004 Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination report’. Hong Kong: HKEAA.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government
1999 ‘The 1999 policy address’. [Internet]. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Accessed 7 December 2002. Available from: [URL].
Hu, Zhuang Lin; Zhu, Yong Sheng; Zhang, De Lu
1997 A survey of systemic functional grammar. Changsha: Hunan Educational Press. [In Chinese.]
Hyland, Ken
2003 Second language writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Johns, Ann
editor 2003 Genre in the classroom – Multiple perspectives. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Martin, Jim
1986 ‘Intervening in the process of writing development’. In Writing to mean: Teaching genre across the curriculum, edited by Painter, Claire; Martin, Jim. Sydney: ALAA (Applied Linguistics Association of Australia Occasional Papers 9).
Martin, Jim; Rothery, Joan
1981 ‘Writing project report number 1’. Working papers in linguistics. Department of Linguistics, University of Sydney.
1982 ‘Writing project report number 2’. Working papers in linguistics. Department of Linguistics, University of Sydney.
Shum, Mark Shiu Kee
2003 The functions of language and the teaching of Chinese: Application of systemic functional linguistics to Chinese language teaching. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. [In Chinese]
Shum, Mark Shiu Kee; Tse, Shek Kam; Ki, Wing Wah; Wong, Chi Kin; Leung, Wai Ming; Lau, Man Shan
2000 ‘Report of analysis of the use of language in HKCEE History examination scripts of F.5 graduates: A pilot study’. Working paper of Support Centre for Teachers Using Chinese as the Medium of Instruction. Support Centre for Teachers Using Chinese as the Medium of Instruction, The University of Hong Kong.
Shum, Mark Shiu Kee; Tse, Shek Kam; Ki, Wing Wah; Kwong, Wai Leung; Chan, Wai Fat; Lo, Wai Cheong; Chan, Hei Tao; Tse, Hon Cheung
2002 Subject specific genres of school Chemistry: a resource book. Support Centre for Teachers Using Chinese as the Medium of Instruction, The University of Hong Kong. [In Chinese]
Shum, Mark Shiu Kee; Tse, Shek Kam; Ki, Wing Wah; Yu, Shuk Kwai; Chan, Mau Tak; Lai, Yun Wai; Chan, Hei Tao; Tse, Hon Cheung
2003 Subject specific genres of school economics: a resource book. Support Centre for Teachers Using Chinese as the Medium of Instruction, The University of Hong Kong. [In Chinese]
Shum, Mark Shiu Kee; Tse, Shek Kam; Ki, Wing Wah; Chan, Wan Mo.; Shiu, Ngai Ming; Yu, Natalie So Sum; Tse, Hon Cheung
2004a Subject specific genres of school physics: A resource book. Support Centre for Teachers Using Chinese as the Medium of Instruction, The University of Hong Kong. [In Chinese]
Shum, Mark Shiu Kee; Tse, Shek Kam; Ki, Wing Wah; Lung, Wing Kam; Chan, Chun Wah; Yu, Natalie So Sum; Tse, Hon Cheung
2004b Subject specific genres of school geography: A resource book. Support Centre for Teachers Using Chinese as the Medium of Instruction, The University of Hong Kong. [In Chinese]
Shum, Mark Shiu Kee; Tse, Shek Kam; Ki, Wing Wah; Yuen, Ka Chung; Chan, Choi Yuen; Yu, Natalie So Sum; Tse, Hon Cheung
2004c Subject specific genres of school biology: A resource book. Support Centre for Teachers Using Chinese as the Medium of Instruction, The University of Hong Kong. [In Chinese]
Tse, Shek Kam; Chan, Wing Shek; Ho, Wai Kit; Law, Nancy
1995 Chinese language education for the 21st century: A Hong Kong perspective. Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong.
Tse, Shek Kam; Shum, Mark Shiu Kee; Ki, Wing Wah; Wong, Carol Pui Ching
2000 ‘The transition from English to mother-tongue Chinese as the medium of instruction. Issues and problems as seen by Hong Kong teachers’. L1- Educational studies in language and literature 1 (1): 9–36.
Tse, Shek Kam; Shum, Mark Shiu Kee; Ki, Wing Wah
In press. The language of instruction in post-colonial Hong Kong: Chinese or English? Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Tsui, Amy Bik May; Shum, Mark Shiu Kee; Wong, Chi Kin; Tse, Shek Kam; Ki, Wing Wah
1999 ‘Which agenda? Medium of instruction policy in post-1997 Hong Kong’. Language, culture and curriculum 12 (3): 196–214.
Tsui, Amy Bik May; Tse, Shek Kam; Shum, Mark Shiu Kee; Ki, Wing Wah; Wong, Chi Kin; Kwong, Wai Leung
2000 Implementing mother-tongue education in schools: problems encountered and support needed. Support Centre for Teachers Using Chinese as the Medium of Instruction, The University of Hong Kong.
Unsworth, Len
editor 2000 Researching language in schools and communities – functional linguistic perspectives. London, Washington: Cassell.
Veel, Robert
1997 ‘Learning how to mean — scientifically speaking: Apprenticeship into scientific discourse in the secondary school’. In Genres and institutions: social processes in the workplace and the school, edited by Christie, Frances; Martin, Jim R.. Cassell: London.
Veel, Robert; Coffin, Caroline
1996 ‘Learning to think like a historian: The language of secondary school history’. In Literacy in society, edited by Hasan, Ruqaiya; Williams, Geoff. London: Longman.
Cited by
Cited by 4 other publications
Forey, Gail & John Polias
2017. Multi-semiotic resources providing maximal input in teaching science through English. In Applied Linguistics Perspectives on CLIL [Language Learning & Language Teaching, 47], ► pp. 145 ff. 
LAFFORD, BARBARA A.
2012. Languages for Specific Purposes in the United States in a Global Context: Commentary on Grosse and Voght (1991) Revisited. The Modern Language Journal 96 ► pp. 1 ff.
Walker, Elizabeth
2011. How ‘language-aware’ are lesson studies in an East Asian high school context?. Language and Education 25:3 ► pp. 187 ff.
Walker, Elizabeth
2012. Literacy-oriented pedagogy in the advice of experienced language teachers as prospective practicum assessors. Pedagogies: An International Journal 7:2 ► pp. 182 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 may 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.