The culmination of more than a decade of research, this compelling volume offers a fresh approach for applying functional linguistics to assess student performance, to inform the teaching and learning of Chinese and to design curriculum and teaching materials.

Dr. Mark Shiu-kee Shum is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, and was the Founding Head of the Division of Chinese Language and Literature (2009-2015) at The University of Hong Kong.

Dr. Peter Mickan is Visiting Research Fellow in the Faculty of Arts, University of Adelaide, where he was Head of the Discipline of Linguistics, and established and directed the Postgraduate Applied Linguistics Programme.

List of contributors

1. Chapter 1: Introduction (Mark Shiu-kee SHUM and Peter MICKAN)

Part I: Research on Pedagogy

2. Chapter 2: Using Functional Grammar to Evaluate Students' Written Performance and its Implications for Teaching (Mark Shiu-kee SHUM)

3. Chapter 3: A Social Semiotic Perspective on Language Teaching: Why Context Matters (Peter MICKAN)

4. Chapter 4: Understanding Teachers' Languaging Dynamics for the Effectiveness of Chinese Language Teaching to Non-Chinese Speaking Students in Hong Kong (Dan SHI and Mark Shiu-kee SHUM)

5. Chapter 5: The Effectiveness of Reading to Learn Methodology to Improve Chinese Descriptive Writing Skills of Non-Chinese Speaking Secondary School Students in Hong Kong (JoJo Wan-shan YUNG)

6. Chapter 6: Effectiveness of Reading to Learn Pedagogy in Improving Chinese Second Language Learners' Reading and Writing Performance of Proposal (Cha-kie HIEW)

Part II: Research on Teaching Materials

7. Chapter 7: Bridging the Gap between the Classroom and the Real World: Using Authentic Texts in the Languages Classroom (Wei QU and Kathy PURVIS)

8. Chapter 8: A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Letters in Chinese Textbooks of Junior Secondary Schools in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan (Yan-hua ZHANG)

9. Chapter 9: Learner as Participatory Agent of Material Adaptation: Strategy for Enacting International Mindedness in Mandarin B (Tung-fei LAM)

10. Chapter 10: Text Based Language Teaching Methodology in an IB Diploma Chinese Class (Maggie GU)

Part III: Research on Text Analysis

11. Chapter 11: An Appraisal Analysis of International Mindedness in Chinese Student Written Texts in the IB Diploma Programme (Kwok-ling LAU)

12. Chapter 12: Performance of Students of Diverse Abilities on the Chinese Integrated Language Skills: From Six Students' Written Performance on Chinese Integrated Language Skills in Hong Kong Public Examination (Judy Yuen-mai LAM)

13. Chapter 13: Development of Chinese Narrative Writing Skills in Primary 3 and 6 Students in Hong Kong (Paisley Tsz-mei CHEUNG)

14. Chapter 14: Using Appraisal Theory to Evaluate Primary School Students' Chinese Explanation Writing (Mark Shiu-kee SHUM and Guan-ying LI)

15. Chapter 15: A Systemic Functional Analysis of Second Language Explanatory Writing: A Possible Stance for Writing Assessment (Elizabeth Ka-yee LOH)

Index