ELT World » hong kong

$1 billion to widen school choice in China

david — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:21:09 +0000

China: Secondary schools will be allowed to choose the medium of instruction for various subjects from September next year, according to a HK$1 billion plan unveiled by the government yesterday. However, schools choosing to use English must ensure that 85 percent of students in a class are among the top 40 percent of students in Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong secondary schools may revert back to teaching in English

david — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:13:19 +0000

China: Up to 80 Hong Kong schools could be given the choice of switching back to teaching in English, eleven years after a “mother-tongue” policy ordered them to teach in Chinese, government officials confirmed Friday. The Earth Times notes that the proposal, submitted to lawmakers on Thursday, is aimed at improving English-language standards which have fallen since Hong Kong ceased to be a British colony in 1997.

Hong Kong: The play’s the thing for English learning

david — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:39:30 +0000

Drama, with its extensive range of meaningful contexts, can help develop students’ language skills, including writing, chairman of the Standing Committee on Language Education & Research Michael Tien said today.

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English trumps Chinese as top business language in Hong Kong

david — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:15:06 +0000

Hong Kong: A while ago I noted that only one in seven Hong Kong people consider themselves as speakers of ‘good’ English. However, eleven years after it ceased to be a British colony, English remains the most important language to master in Hong Kong’s business and professional world, according to a recent survey. Written English was rated the most important language skill in a survey of more than 2,0000 ethnic Chinese professionals, followed by the local dialect Cantonese and then spoken English.

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Only one in seven Hong Kongers speaks good English, survey finds

david — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:32:53 +0000

Eleven years after British rule ended, only one in seven Hong Kong people consider themselves as speakers of ‘good’ English, according to a survey released October 10. More than 40 per cent of people in the former British colony describe their level of English as below average or worse while 15 percent describe it as good and only 3 per cent say it is excellent.

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Hong Kong: Education Chief Urges English Emphasis

david — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:42:17 +0000

Hong Kong’s students must master English to ensure the country’s global competitiveness. This was the message today from Secretary for Education Michael Suen, speaking at the Heung Hoi Ching Kok Lin Association’s Secondary & Primary Schools & Kindergartens.

He shared with students views raised among member economies at the fourth APEC Education Ministerial Meeting he attended earlier this month.

“Discussions focused on enhancing the competencies of students and developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes students must possess to face the challenges of the 21st century. Member economies endorsed the priority area of encouraging students to learn each other’s languages. This priority is seen as a key way to strengthen youths’ competitiveness in the global market and to understand other cultures.”

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Hong Kong:The Cat Got Your Mother Tongue?

david — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:58:44 +0000

It was an admission of cultural defeat; but then Hong Kong is nothing if not pragmatic about such things. On June 6th its education minister, Michael Suen Ming-yeung, lifted restrictions that forced four-fifths of the territory’s more than 500 secondary schools to teach in the “mother tongue”, ie, Cantonese, the main language of its residents and of southern China. Schools may switch to English, the language of the former ‘colonial oppressor’, from next year.

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