Correlation Research Question : The relationship between secondary school students’ Putonghua proficiency and their Chinese writing ability

Research Question

The relationship between secondary school students’ Putonghua proficiency and their Chinese writing ability.

Background
Nowadays in Hong Kong it is often believed that students with a good mastery of Putonghua normally have relatively better Chinese writing skills than those who are poor in Putonghua. There is an increasing trend that Chinese lessons are being taught in Putoghua in order to improve students’ Putonghua proficiency and Chinese writing skill.

Why this is a correlation research?
This research is to study whether there is a postitive relationship between secondary school students’ Putonghua proficiency and their Chinese writing ability. The correlated variables are “Putonghua proficiency” and “Chinese writing ability”.

How can data for the correlated variables be collected?
120 secondary students of F. 1-3 will be interviewed to assess their level of Putonghua proficiency. At the same time, their Chinese writing ability is also assessed using a written test. Results of the interviews will be converted into scores by statistical analysis.

Using the interview scores and the test results, correlation coefficient will be calculated. A positive correlation coefficient will mean that there is a positive relationship between students’ Putonghua proficiency and their Chinese writing ability. On the contrary, if the correlation coefficient is negative, the relationship of the two variables does not exist.

How this study can contribute to improvements in some aspect of education/teaching and learning?
If the study proves that there is a positive relationship between students’ Putonghua proficiency and their Chinese writing ability, secondary schools should consider means, such as increasing Putonghua lessons, to raise students’ Putonghua proficiency. More resources should also be put into the teaching of Putonghua in classes and/or extra curriculum activities.

Further study would be to look at the relationship between using Putonghua to teach Chinese and Putonghua proficiency, as this will shed light on how to improve students’ Putonghua proficiency and Chinese writing skill.