Hong Kong: Tongue-tied schools set for shake-up

Mon Nov 12 13:42:59 UTC 2007

Tongue-tied schools set for shake-up

Winnie Chong

Monday, November 12, 2007

Education chief Michael Suen Ming- yeung is set to reverse the
controversial mother-tongue education policy introduced in 1997 by
former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa. Suen aims to boost Hong Kong's
global competitiveness by insisting on equal weight for Chinese- and
English- language teaching in schools. The focus of his task in the
years ahead is to move the medium of education from the Cantonese
mother tongue to two written and three spoken languages, Suen said in
an interview with Sing Tao Daily - sister newspaper of The Standard.

Schools should not be allowed to continue using Cantonese as the sole
teaching medium, he said. Equal weight in spoken languages should be
given to Cantonese, Putonghua and English, while Chinese and English
should both be stressed as written languages.
Suen admitted there are serious "labeling problems" under the current
teaching policy in classifying secondary schools into Chinese- and
English- medium schools. The solution is not just "to remove the
original label and stick another on" - but to find out the underlying
reasons for the core problems.

Suen said Hong Kongers all agree on the importance of teaching in two
written and three spoken languages. "I think the way is not to drop
either of the two languages, but to handle them at the same time to be
globally competitive.

"It is not correct to say that learning English well means there is no
need to learn Chinese, and vice-versa."

Hong Kong should tie in "teaching in t
he mother-tongue and the mastering of English," instead of separating
the two languages.

"To integrate with the mainland, one has to learn Chinese well," Suen
stressed. "And to maintain an international status, one has to learn
English well."

On the policy of teaching languages, Suen stressed that he holds an
open attitude and does not have a "baseline in reviewing them."

He urged the sector to express views on the current language policy
for secondary schools before the deadline for applications to convert
to English- medium schools expires at the end of the next school year.

Suen said the sector should indicate whether it wants to change the
teaching medium. The mother-tongue education policy was introduced in
1997 by former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.

Currently, there are just over 100 English-medium and 300 Chinese-
medium secondary schools, with some schools worried about adverse
labeling if forced to change from English to Chinese.

To learn languages well, Suen urged schools to cultivate a true
learning environment by organizing extra- curricular activities in
English instead of just having classroom teaching.

"I have read in newspapers recently that Shakespeare4All uses extra-
curricular activities to arouse students' interest in English
classical literature, Suen said.

He also urged television stations to introduce English subtitles for
their English programs to help Hong Kongers learn English.

Earlier yesterday on a different occasion, Suen said that more
resources may be allocated for research at top institutions in light
of remarkable progress achieved by Hong Kong University and Chinese
University in the latest ranking of the world's premier campuses.

Tongue-tied schools set for shake-up

Winnie Chong

Monday, November 12, 2007

Education chief Michael Suen Ming- yeung is set to reverse the
controversial mother-tongue education policy introduced in 1997 by
former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.
Suen aims to boost Hong Kong's global competitiveness by insisting on
equal weight for Chinese- and English- language teaching in schools.

The focus of his task in the years ahead is to move the medium of
education from the Cantonese mother tongue to two written and three
spoken languages, Suen said in an interview with Sing Tao Daily -
sister newspaper of The Standard.

Schools should not be allowed to continue using Cantonese as the sole
teaching medium, he said.

Equal weight in spoken languages should be given to Cantonese,
Putonghua and English, while Chinese and English should both be
stressed as written languages.

Suen admitted there are serious "labeling problems" under the current
teaching policy in classifying secondary schools into Chinese- and
English- medium schools.

The solution is not just "to remove the original label and stick
another on" - but to find out the underlying reasons for the core
problems.