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<h1 itemprop="name headline" class="" id="page-title">Hong Kong must change how English is taught to raise standards</h1> </div>
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<div class=""><p>Zhang Longxi
says a utilitarian approach to teaching is largely to blame for Hong
Kong gradually losing a key component of its competitive edge - good
English</p>
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<div itemprop="dateCreated" content="2015-09-14T14:45:16+08:00" class="" datetime="2015-09-14T14:45:16+08:00">PUBLISHED : Monday, 14 September, 2015, 2:45pm</div><div itemprop="dateModified" content="2015-09-14T15:33:55+08:00" class="">UPDATED : Monday, 14 September, 2015, 3:33pm</div> </div>
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<div class=""><p>Zhang Longxi<a href="http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1857974/hong-kong-must-change-how-english-taught-raise-standards#"><span class="" title="Outbrain"></span>
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<a href="http://cdn4.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980w/public/2015/09/14/4a9018bce302999341f27b5e07fadd56.jpg?itok=nk_iELi5" title="English is the lingua franca of our world today. Photo: Nora Tam" class="" rel="gallery-[field_images-1857974]"><img src="http://cdn1.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/09/14/4a9018bce302999341f27b5e07fadd56.jpg?itok=7edo8k87" class="" alt="English is the lingua franca of our world today. Photo: Nora Tam" title="English is the lingua franca of our world today. Photo: Nora Tam" height="302" width="486"></a> </li></ul>
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<div class="">English is the lingua franca of our world today. Photo: Nora Tam</div>
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<div class=""><p>More
than 10 years ago on this very page, I posed the question: "Are we
losing our advantage in English?" Today, this is no longer a question;
it is reality. The government's policy of mother-tongue education has
produced a generation of students with less competence in English and,
even more seriously, less impetus to learn about the outside world. In
different ways, we are witnessing the consequences of this
inward-looking turn.</p>
<p>The use of English as a medium for communication has always been Hong
Kong's strength as a great international city. It is crucial in
attracting people with talent and expertise. It has made Hong Kong a
favourite destination for tourists, and given the city a competitive
advantage in education, research, science and technology. We cannot
afford to lose this advantage.</p>
<p>English is the lingua franca of our world today, used in
communication in an international setting for the exchange of
information, ideas, skills and technologies. That is why teaching
English is such an important part of education in China and neighbouring
countries, and governments all try to make sure English is being taught
effectively.</p>
<p>In the last decade or so, while Hong Kong was pushing more primary
and secondary schools to teach in Cantonese, mainland China was pushing
for more English. Now the results are clear to see. On the mainland, the
level of English among college students is steadily on the rise, while
in Hong Kong the perception is just the opposite.</p>
<div class="">We should teach English in a rich context of history and culture, with ethical and humanistic values</div>
<p>Recently, the nation's Ministry of Education commissioned a group of
professors to set up a national standard for undergraduate English
teaching and to design a basic bibliography of literary works in English
to be used nationwide as guidelines or even required texts. Literary
texts offer students examples of good English, which will inspire
greater understanding and better command of the language.</p>
<p>In Hong Kong, by contrast, we have courses on English for "special
purposes" - business English, English for science, English for media,
and so on. Such an ultra-utilitarian teaching method is preposterous,
because, without a good foundation in its general usage, it does little
to help one acquire a truly good command of English. Special
terminologies can be learned as and when needed, just as we do with our
native language.</p>
<p>Ten years ago, we could still say without much hesitation that the
average Hong Kong student had better English skills than their mainland
counterpart; today, we have many students from the mainland whose
English is often better than that of our local students. One may say
that these mainland students are the cream of the population, and thus
the comparison may not be fair. But, outside the university, many
companies in Hong Kong have employed young Chinese who were born on the
mainland but educated in American or British universities. They are
fluent in both Putonghua and English, and are thus more competitive than
our local graduates.</p>
<p>What stronger evidence do we need to see the defects of our language policy?</p>
<p>One way to raise our English standards is to put a greater emphasis
on teaching English, not just talk about its importance and ask for more
courses in schools. We can also make English language scores count more
in university admission.</p>
<p>We should teach English as a living language rather than as a
mechanical tool used for a limited purpose. We should teach English in a
rich context of history and culture, with ethical and humanistic values
- a perfect medium for general education.</p>
<p>My own teaching experience in Hong Kong for more than a decade tells
me that our students, like young people anywhere, are naturally filled
with intellectual curiosity. It is our responsibility to guide that
sense of curiosity towards effective learning.</p>
<p>Despite some disparaging reports and rankings, Hong Kong has not lost
all of its advantages, but we cannot be complacent. We must come up
with an effective language policy to improve the teaching of English.</p>
<p><b>Zhang Longxi is chair professor of Chinese and comparative literature at City University of Hong Kong </b></p>
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<div class="">This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Teach English differently to raise standards<br><br><a href="http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1857974/hong-kong-must-change-how-english-taught-raise-standards">http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1857974/hong-kong-must-change-how-english-taught-raise-standards</a><br></div> </div>
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