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<h1 itemprop="name headline" class="" id="page-title">Two languages in class better than one, Hong Kong teachers say</h1></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><br><div class="">
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<a href="http://cdn1.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980w/public/2015/07/03/3bb7933f5aaf63ad8d4064335f7dab17.jpg?itok=JpM8Nv75" title="Virginia Yip and Steven Mathews assist students at the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre at Chinese University. Photo: Franke Tsang" class="" rel="gallery-[field_images-1832073]"><img src="http://cdn4.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/07/03/3bb7933f5aaf63ad8d4064335f7dab17.jpg?itok=yhf8GS1_" class="" alt="Virginia Yip and Steven Mathews assist students at the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre at Chinese University. Photo: Franke Tsang" title="Virginia Yip and Steven Mathews assist students at the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre at Chinese University. Photo: Franke Tsang" height="302" width="486"></a> </li></ul>
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<div class="">Virginia Yip and Steven Mathews
assist students at the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre at
Chinese University. Photo: Franke Tsang</div>
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<div class=""><p>Having
grown up in a bilingual environment in Hong Kong, Daphne Chu chose to
be a teacher. A year ago, she joined Lam Tai Fai College in Sha Tin and
has since relished her time brushing up students' English.</p>
<p>When she was in school, English was used by teachers across the
board. At home, her parents talked to her in Cantonese, but together
they also watched movies and read books in English.</p>
<p>"I have always enjoyed learning English, so when I grew up, I decided
to combine my passion for this dynamic language and my wish to work
with young people to become a teacher," she says.</p>
<p>Hong Kong has an increasingly large population of young homegrown
bilinguals such as Chu, many of whom are now coming of age as informed
parents and teachers.</p>
<p>Amid recent concerns over Hong Kong's declining English standards and
possibly waning competitiveness, Chu is positive about what she and
others like her can bring to the picture.</p>
<p>"I understand the reasons why the public feels that less emphasis is
placed on English now. In the education sector, for example, schools are
stressing the use of Putonghua more, on top of the move toward
mother-tongue teaching," she says. "But there are still many of us who
were brought up and trained in a bilingual environment. Most of my peers
are fluent bilinguals working in different fields despite this common
feeling that English is becoming less important."</p>
<p>For professors Virginia Yip and Stephen Matthews, husband-and-wife
linguists and co-directors of the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre
(CBRC) at Chinese University, this emerging generation of bilinguals
underlies a distinct edge of Hong Kong - a fertile environment for
bilingualism, something that the couple feel is often undervalued by the
media and society at large.</p>
<p>"As a result of historical circumstances, we have a bilingual, and
increasingly trilingual society," says Matthews. "This can be a
challenge but also an opportunity. The public is just not sufficiently
aware of the advantages this presents."</p>
<div class="">Most of my peers are fluent bilinguals
working in different fields despite this common feeling that English is
becoming less important</div>
<div class="">Daphne Chu</div>
<p>Under the linguists' leadership, CBRC has conducted studies of local
children growing up bilingually in English and Cantonese for more than
10 years. In reference to their substantial and continuously growing
body of research, Matthews says: "The fluently bilingual young people
from our earliest studies are adults about to enter the workforce. Is
the standard of English in Hong Kong declining? It could be said to be
the opposite."</p>
<p>Over the years, the CBRC's studies have clearly shown that children
can achieve fluent bilingualism given the right environments, even in
two languages as unrelated as Chinese and English. Both research done by
Hong Kong linguists and by the international scientific community also
consistently shows how bilingualism gives children wide-ranging
cognitive benefits and, counterintuitively, allows them to gain literacy
in both languages more efficiently for academic success.</p>
<p>Despite these robust research findings, Yip and Matthews still find
themselves clarifying many misconceptions among parents and educators.
Many still wrongly believe that children can only handle one language at
a time, or that bilingualism stalls literacy. This has often led to
missed opportunities for nurturing bilinguals in the most effective ways
possible, both at home and in school.</p>
<p>The importance of immersion for both first- and second-language
learning has long been established among linguists. Many parents,
however, still choose not to provide their children with a bilingual
home environment even if they can. Parents from less privileged or
educated backgrounds, on the other hand, often do not have the means to
do so.</p>
<div class="">We have a bilingual, and increasingly
trilingual society. This can be a challenge but also an opportunity. The
public is just not sufficiently aware of the advantages this presents.</div>
<div class="">Stephen Matthews</div>
<p>Because these discrepancies in the home are unavoidable, bilingual
school environments are all the more vital. While Yip and Matthews think
that much more could be done to experiment with teaching content
optimally in bilingual classes, existing language policies in the
education system are doing some things right.</p>
<p>For instance, recent research shows that extra and varied language
input, of the type that Native English-speaking Teachers (NETs) provide
in classrooms, help activate certain language instincts in students who
are primarily exposed to only one type of English.</p>
<p>Teachers such as Chu present another ideal opportunity for bilingual
education. As competent bilinguals, they can provide the double benefit
of complete immersion on the one hand and linguistic and cultural
understanding for students on the other.</p>
<p>"In school, I use English exclusively with my students, as that is
the only way to provide them with an immersive environment in the
classroom," says Chu. "But as a native Cantonese speaker, I understand
the unique difficulties my students are facing in learning English." Yip
agrees that bilingual teachers bring a unique advantage.</p>
<p>"This new, emerging generation of homegrown bilinguals are ideal as
teachers because they understand the students' perspective. This
sensitivity allows them to highlight meaningful language contrasts more
effectively."</p>
<p>This sensitivity is most important when helping students gain not only proficiency in spoken English but also literacy.</p>
<p>"Many students are used to translating sentences from Chinese to
English directly, which often results in ungrammatical writing," Chu
says. "As a bilingual teacher, I understand exactly where many of these
mistakes are coming from. It is easier for me to pinpoint and tackle
them precisely."</p>
<div class="">As a native Cantonese speaker, I understand the unique difficulties my students are facing in learning English</div>
<div class="">Daphne Chu</div>
<p>The Education Bureau has tried to tap into this pool of competent
bilinguals by offering incentives for talented youngsters to become
teachers.</p>
<p>Established in 2010, the scholarship offers HK$50,000 per year to
high-achieving secondary students of English to study education or a
relevant subject in university. In return, they are required to teach
English in local schools for a minimum of three years.</p>
<p>According to the bureau's Language Teacher Qualifications Team, the
scheme has attracted many new and qualified graduates to join the
teaching profession in the past five years.</p>
<p>Although initiatives to encourage bilingualism at home are harder to
implement, it is clear that young bilingual Hongkongers understand its
importance from their own experience. "I will use a 'one parent, one
language' policy at home when I have children," says Chu.</p>
<p>Yip is hopeful about the rise of even more competent bilinguals in
the future. "This emerging group is equipped with both the awareness and
high-level bilingualism to do the right things as both teachers and
parents."</p>
<p><b><a href="mailto:life@scmp.com">life@scmp.com</a></b></p>
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