Genesis of an E-Platform for Language Enhancement

This paper covers the work in progress of an e-platform being developed for language enhancement at a tertiary institution in Hong Kong. There is an actual or perceived concern about the English and Chinese language ability of undergraduate students at certain universities in Hong Kong. One reason for this is that a significant proportion of students with a lower language proficiency enter university in their third year of the four-year degree. Their first two years are spent at other tertiary institutions, and they are then able to articulate to finish their studies at university and gain a degree level qualification. Given their crowded timetable from the third year, there are very limited opportunities for extra credit space in order to enhance the language skills of these students. As a result, an e-platform which students would utilise through the informal curriculum to improve their English and Chinese language ability was proposed by senior management. This paper will examine the beginnings of the e-platform, including results from a large-scale survey of undergraduate students about the preferences for an e-platform, and initial discussions among language experts as to the design of the e-platform. This paper will consider the decision to use H5P to create interactive content within the platform and discuss some of the features that are expected on the e-platform. Problems that have been encountered and expected will be discussed with an outline of the next steps that will be taken. The paper concludes with the observation that an e-platform alone is unlikely to significantly enhance the language ability of learners. [For the full proceedings, see ED639633.]