Bayview Beach Resort, Batu Ferringhi Beach, Penang, Malaysia

27-30 September 1999

The Effects of Art Appreciation on Chinese Writing Ability in Some Primary 3 Pupils in Hong Kong ­ A Pilot Study

Vanessa Lok-wa LI

The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Abstract

Within the core curriculum of primary education, the standard of both Chinese and English, especially writing ability, has attracted much attention of educators, parents and the public. Experienced educationists involved in Chinese language teaching and assessment have an opinion that young people's abilities in reading and writing have dropped in recent years. It might be a consequence came along with compulsory education as there is a great increase of individual differences among pupils that makes teaching and learning very difficult. There is an urgent need to find ways to make up the gap and guarantee at least a minimum educational attainment of all pupils. As art is a core subject in primary schools in Hong Kong, this study aims to examine the effect of art appreciation in art lessons on Chinese writing ability in some primary 3 pupils in a Chinese community.