Abstract
The reading attainment of the 3,875 primary 4 Hong Kong primary school students participating in the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study ranked first among 49 countries and regions surveyed worldwide. Analysis of the association between (a) participating students’ reading attainment and (b) responses to questionnaires completed by the students and their parents revealed that classroom teaching, the school curriculum, the reader’s social and economic background and support from home had all helped shape reading performance. It is not unusual for school students in many Asian countries to receive after-school tuition in various areas of the curriculum to boost performance in impending examinations. The study reported here focussed (1) on the Chinese language reading attainment of students who had attended private tutoring classes after school in this subject against the scores of fellow students who had not and (2) asking whether such after-school tutoring had been of any notable benefit to their reading. Although a majority of the parents questioned said they paid for extra tuition for their children after school, analyses of the data found there was a statistically significant difference between the scores of students who received extra tuition and those who did not, the score of the latter group being superior. It is suggested that the Hong Kong education authorities reassure parents about the quality of teaching in primary schools and publicly pronounce on the potential value of after-school private tutoring.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge International Association for the Educational Achievement (IEA) for processing our research data. We wish to express our gratitude to the Manpower Bureau of Hong Kong SAR Government for their financial support in this project.
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Appendix: Selected items investigating students taking after-school tutoring in Student Questionnaire and Home Questionnaire
Appendix: Selected items investigating students taking after-school tutoring in Student Questionnaire and Home Questionnaire
Items in Student Questionnaire
Responses | ||||
1. Do you have private tutoring? | Yes | No | ||
2. If yes, what is the type of tutoring are you taking? | Private tutoring at home | Tutoring class outside school | Tutoring class inside school | Other |
a. Chinese language | ||||
Hours per week | ||||
b. All subjects | ||||
Hours per week | ||||
3. What activity are you doing at the tuition class? | Yes | No | ||
a. The tutor teaches me how to complete my home assignments | ||||
b. The tutor provides supplementary exercise(s) | ||||
c. The tutor re-explains the content of textbook to me | ||||
d. The tutor offers revision on how to deal with dictations and examinations | ||||
e. The tutor tells me stories | ||||
f. The tutor listens to my storytelling | ||||
g. The tutor watches academic videos with me | ||||
4. What do you think about after-school tutoring? | Strongly agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly disagree |
a. I like to have after-school tutoring | ||||
b. I think that I need to have after-school tutoring | ||||
c. I think my academic results in Chinese have improved since having after-school tutoring |
Items in Home Questionnaire
Responses | ||||
1. Does your child have private tutoring? | Yes | No | ||
2. If yes, what is the main reason that your child having private tutoring? | Yes (parents can select more than one reason) | |||
a. Unsatisfactory school performance | ||||
b. Assisting in doing homework | ||||
c. Looking after the children | ||||
d. Further enhancing the good academic attainment | ||||
e. Advised by school teachers to seek extra tutoring | ||||
f. Other reasons | ||||
3. If no, what is the reason that your child not having private tutoring? | Yes (parents can select more than one reason) | |||
a. Too expensive | ||||
b. Available help from the family | ||||
c. Satisfactory academic results |
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Tse, S.K. To what extent does Hong Kong primary school students’ Chinese reading comprehension benefit from after-school private tuition?. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 15, 283–297 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-013-9307-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-013-9307-4