Bridging Cultures and Languages: Exploring the Impact of Content and Language Integrated Learning Tours on Developing Intercultural Citizenship and Linguistic Fluency

From ideas to impact — the Centre for Language in Education’s CLIL Tram Heritage Tour project has successfully concluded.

In response to Hong Kong’s growing student diversity brought about by government initiatives such as the Top Talent Pass Scheme and the enhanced Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, many non-local learners may have limited exposure to Hong Kong’s history and sociocultural heritage. Supported by the Citizenship and Social Development curriculum’s emphasis on understanding Hong Kong’s ‘historical and sociocultural development’ and nurturing citizenship with a ‘global perspective’, this project combined English language learning with local content and experiential engagement to help learners build intercultural citizenship in an authentic context.

Led by English Enhancement Programme Team lecturers Mr Carlos Chow and Ms Shirley Chan, the project engaged 50 secondary students from two partner schools with large intakes of newly arrived and ethnic minority students—Buddhist Kok Kwong Secondary School, and Salesians of Don Bosco Ng Siu Mui Secondary School—together with 10 EdUHK Bachelor of Education students as language ambassadors. Most participants were from Band 2/3 schools and faced challenges in English proficiency.

The project followed a structured CLIL cycle:

(1) Pre-tour phase: EdUHK student ambassadors delivered a 1.5-hour workshop to build discipline-specific vocabulary (tram development, urban heritage, and sociocultural impact) and metalinguistic awareness, drawing on language resources including the app ‘Everyday English in HK’ (co-created by LTTC and Ms Shirley Chan).

(2) Tram Heritage Tour: Conducted entirely in English, the immersive tour—hosted by SPEC Culture and Travel—used storytelling, interactive tasks, replica tram tickets, an IT visual-aid support tool, and a treasure hunt on Tram #120 to guide students to reflect and discuss. Worksheets created by ambassadors supported structured learning at key sites such as Dried Seafood Street, Western Market, and Lee Tung Avenue.

(3) Post-tour phase: Students completed jigsaw reading tasks and presented their views on whether trams should be preserved, fostering both cognitive understanding and linguistic fluency.

CLE would like to express its gratitude to its partners, student ambassadors, and participants. Here’s to continuing innovation—learning beyond the classroom!
 

 

Tram tour with students from Buddhist Kok Kwong Secondary School 

 

Taking the #120 tram, the traditional post-war type tramcar

 

Students from Salesians of Don Bosco Ng Siu Mui Secondary School visiting Whitty Street Depot in the Western District