Learning Chinese as a Second Language in Hong Kong: The Needs of the Learners in Writing

Chinese language has been considered to be of importance for South Asians with low socio-economic status to obtain upward mobility (Shum MSK, Gao F, Tsung L, Ki WW. J Multiling Multicult Dev 32(3):285–297, 2011). However, South Asian ethnic minority students as a disadvantaged group of second language learners, lack efficient pedagogical support in Chinese language learning in Hong Kong. This study aims to understand the writing difficulties and learning needs of these students in order to prepare them for targeted pedagogic intervention for better Chinese language acquisition. Based on the students’ pre-tests and interview data, genre-based “Reading to Learn, Learning to Write” (R2L) assessment criteria were used to evaluate and identify the deficiencies in the students’ writings. The findings lay a solid foundation for teaching that would be specific to the needs of language learning of South Asian ethnic minority students in Hong Kong.