Language Policy

HCHS Mission Statement

Hope Christian High School is a non-stock, non-profit, non-sectarian church-related educational institution that aims to train and transform its students through Academic Development, Spiritual Formation, Personal Enrichment, and Social Awareness.

Guided by its vision, Hope Christian High School seeks to inspire its reflective learning community to acknowledge God’s love, obey God’s law, develop the self, and contribute to global society.

It’s also set to carry out its mission of being committed to continually provide world-class Christian education relevant to the changes and challenges of the times for the glory of God.

IB Mission Statement

The International Baccalaureate® aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

Guiding Principles of the HCHS Language Policy

Hope Christian High School (HCHS) was founded in 1946 based on the need to develop  the Chinese immigrant community’s language and cultural heritage in its new home country, the Philippines.  HCHS places premium importance not only on the development of the Chinese language and heritage but also on the development of the Filipino language and English, being the medium of instruction and communication.  Consistent with the IB language philosophy, the school promotes a multilingual policy of developing English, Chinese, and Filipino languages with the aim of developing a high level of bilingual  proficiency in English and the student’s primary language, as well as a third language to a level it can reasonably develop.  

 The school adheres to the following principles:

1. The primary languages of the student body, Chinese and Filipino, mirror the socio-cultural identity of its student body, therefore the school values the importance of its continued study and development.

2. Language plays a crucial role in the cognitive development and educational goals of its students, with English being the medium through which instruction is facilitated and carried out and Filipino or Chinese as the mother tongue or primary language  of its student body. Therefore, the school promotes the development of these languages to the highest level possible through the subjects and programs it offers. 

3. With professional development support from the school administration, all teachers are language teachers and have responsibilities in  the language development of students and in facilitating communication in their subject areas (IB Standard C1.8.3).  

Language Programs and Practices

The school develops and  implements the following programs and practices that support the above principles that are consistent with IB and national curriculum requirements:

K-12 Language Programmes

1. English, being the medium of instruction and communication, is taught and facilitated from kindergarten to Senior High School in all subjects.

2. Local and Filipino-Chinese students are required to take Chinese and Filipino as a subject throughout their course of study in school, from kindergarten through grade 12.

3. The school provides English Language Acquisition classes at three different proficiency levels and five different phases identified below in its English as an Additional Language Program for students whose English language has not reached proficient level or who come from other countries where the medium of instruction is a language other than English.   

Language and Cultural Development and Appreciation

The school is committed to promoting and developing  the students’ mother tongues in as many programs that the school sponsors or in participation in many language and cultural programs throughout the year.  These include the following: 

1. Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa (Filipino Language Month) held in August of every school year.

2. Communication Arts Olympiad sponsored by the Federation of Private School Association in the areas of video essay, spoken poetry, flash fiction challenge, storytelling, and newcasting in Filipino.
3. Chinese New Year Festivities, 成语绘画比赛 Chinese Idiom Drawing Contest; Group Chinese Singing Contest, Amoy Speaking Contest, held throughout the school year.

成语绘画比赛 

EAL Pathway to Full Mainstream 

HCHS provides a pull-out  English as an Additional Language (EAL) program for students whose home language or who come from schools where the medium of instruction is a language other than English. 

Upon entry, the school administers the English Language Placement and Diagnostic test that places English learners into four groups or categories:   Basic, A, B, and C, which correspond to the three levels of proficiency described by the MYP Proficiency levels:  Emerging (Basic), Capable (levels A and B), and Proficient (level C) levels with each proficiency level having two phases:  1 and 2 for Emerging, 3 and 4 for Capable, and 5 and 6 for Proficient level.  

EAL students are placed into special subjects such as art, music, physical and health education, and ICT but are placed in the EAL program during the core subjects schedule until they meet the language proficiency requirements for those subjects.

The following defines the criteria for full inclusion and placement in regular subjects:

Part A:  Students coming from countries where the medium of instruction or whose home language is not English have to meet performance level 5 of the Middle Years Programme for placement into the core subject areas:

1. Produces generally high-quality work using some rich and varied language. 
2. Communicates good understanding of linguistic concepts and contexts through the effective use of language in response to a variety of literary and non-literary texts. 
3. Demonstrates critical and creative thinking, sometimes with sophistication, to analyze and construct language.  
4. Usually transfers knowledge and applies skills in familiar classroom and real-world situations, with some independence.

Language Acquisition grade  of 5 on a scale of 1-7, page 62 

Specifically, the criteria for placement into full inclusion or mainstream upon entry into the school are defined in the following language areas:

Listening 

i.  identifies most stated information (facts and/or opinions, and supporting details) in complex authentic texts 

ii. interprets conventions in complex authentic texts 

iii. interprets connections between complex authentic texts. 

Reading 

i. identifies most stated information (facts and/or opinions, and supporting details) in complex authentic texts 

ii. interprets conventions in complex authentic texts 

iii. interprets connections between complex authentic texts. 

Speaking

i. uses a range of vocabulary 

ii. uses a range of grammatical structures with a few errors which do not hinder communication 

iii. uses pronunciation and intonation with a few errors. However, these do not hinder comprehension 

iv. during interaction, communicates most relevant information. 

Writing

i. uses a range of vocabulary 

ii. uses a range of grammatical structures with a few errors which do not hinder communication 

iii. organizes information in an appropriate format using simple and complex cohesive devices 

Iv. communicates most relevant information with a sense of audience and purpose to suit the context. 

Language Acquisition Proficient level criteria of 5 on a scale of 1-8 pages 46-48 

To establish the reading level of students at specific grade levels, the following can be followed as a guideline to meet the above criteria in reading:

Grade 7 and 8 — level C with language support and a lexile level of 600

Grade 9 — 70% of level C language test and lexile level of 700

Grade 10 — 70% of level C and lexile level of 800

Part B: Criteria for full inclusion into the core subjects such as  Language and Literature (English), Individuals and Society, Science, and Math  are primarily based on the ELD (Language Acquisition) teacher’s recommendation and the following: 

1. Performance level 5 as defined by the Middle Years Programme which corresponds to a score of 20 in EAL class phase 5 (Part A above) with the following competencies that meet the Language & Literature criteria of analyzing, comparing, organizing, and producing texts and using language.

1. Produces generally high-quality work. 
2. Communicates secure understanding of concepts and contexts. 
3. Demonstrates critical and creative thinking, sometimes with sophistication. 
4. Uses knowledge and skills in familiar classroom and real-world situations and, with support, some unfamiliar real-world situations.  (from MYP: Principles to Practice page 94)

2. Reading Level.  Minimum reading lexile level in the Scholastic LitPro Lexile test for full mainstreaming specifically into English A (Language and Literature):

Grades 7 and 8 — lexile level of 600

Grade 9 — lexile level of 700

Grade 10 — lexile level of 800

3. Overall performance of ESL students based on academic language preparation in the English Language Acquisition class with a  ‘very good’ rating or Meeting Expectation (ME) or Exceeding Expectation (EE) on study habits or self-management (focus and attentiveness, completion of assignments, and perseverance) described by IB.

Appendix A

Schedule for EAL students

EmergingPhases 2	CapablePhases 3-4	ProficientPhase 5
Grade 7	Grade 8	Grade 9	Grade 10-12
Grade 8	Grade 9	Grade 10	Senior HSGrade 11-12
Grade 9	Grade 10	Senior HS Grade 11	Senior HSGrade 12
EAL 1	EAL 1	English A: Language & Literaturewith Language Support or English for SHS	English A: Language & Literatureor English for SHS
EAL 2	EAL 2	SS: Individuals & Societies  orSocial Studies for SHS	Math
Content-based EAL	Content-based EAL	Science	Science
Content-based EAL	Math	Math	Chinese
Basic Filipino	Filipino	Filipino	Filipino
Design (ICT)	Design (ICT)	Chinese ALanguage & Literature or Chinese for SHS	ICT
Music and Art	Music and Art	Design/Music/Art	Music/Art
PHE	PHE	PHE	PHE

Appendix B

Descriptors of Language Proficiency Levels and Phases

Phase 1 Emergent communicator 

They engage in simple rehearsed and some unrehearsed exchanges to convey basic information on everyday personal and in some social topics in a very limited range of familiar interpersonal situations. 

They communicate some required information, in recognizable formats, with some sense of audience and purpose to suit the context. 

Phase 2 

They engage in simple rehearsed and unrehearsed exchanges to communicate their understanding and opinions on everyday personal and social topics in a range of familiar and some unfamiliar situations in interpersonal and cultural contexts. 

They communicate all required information, organized in appropriate formats, with a clear sense of audience and purpose to suit the context. 

Phase 3 Capable communicator 

They engage in some authentic and spontaneous conversations to communicate their understanding and opinions on everyday personal, social, and in some topics of global significance in a range of familiar and unfamiliar situations in interpersonal and cultural contexts. 

They communicate some required information, organized into a recognizable format, with some sense of audience and purpose to suit the context. 

Phase 4 

They engage in authentic and spontaneous conversation to communicate their understanding and opinions on topics of everyday personal, social, and global significance in a range of familiar and unfamiliar interpersonal and in cultural contexts. 

They communicate all the required information organized in an appropriate format with a clear sense of audience and purpose to suit the context. 

Phase 5 Proficient communicator 

They engage in authentic and spontaneous conversation to communicate their understanding, opinions and perspectives on topics of personal, academic and global significance in a wide range of interpersonal and cultural contexts. 

They communicate all required information, organized in an appropriate format with a sense of audience and purpose, to suit the context. 

Phase 6 

They engage in authentic and spontaneous conversation to communicate their understanding, opinions and perspectives on topics of personal, academic and global significance in a wide range of interpersonal and cultural contexts. 

They communicate all required information organized effectively in an appropriate format with a discerning sense of register, audience, and for a variety of purposes to suit the context. 

Taken from Language Acquisition Guide (For use September 2020/January 2021