Innovation Expo

In Hong Kong, a city that wants to remain attractive to the international business community, there is understandable concern about maintaining or improving standards of written and spoken English. Nevertheless, an HKFYG poll survey (see full results below) revealed that 18% of the sample group never read English books, 20% never read English papers or websites and 45% had never studied English on CD.

The past two decades have seen a deterioration of English standards which many of the sectors find alarming … Reading is essential to the learning process of both native and non- native speakers.

Mimi Chan, Hon Professor, University of Hong Kong, SPACE
2007 Students' Conference on Language, Community & Education

Chief Executive Donald Tsang, speaking at a meeting with the English Speaking Union (ESU) in London* said that Hong Kong is determined to boost English and education standards to underpin ongoing development as an international city.

We consider that adopting English as an official language is one of our most important assets … It is vitally important for Hong Kong to continue to improve the English standards, while at the same time improving the standards of written and spoken Chinese. This is where our advantage lies.

According to the Hong Kong Examinations & Assessment Authority English A level results dropped to an all-time low this year, with a pass rate of under 74%. The decline in achievement began in 2005. This was the year when those who began secondary school in 1998 were doing A levels. 1998 was the year when mother-tongue instruction became compulsory in three quarters of Hong Kong's secondary schools and the subsequent decrease in exposure to the language has had inevitable results on the ability and confidence of the average student.

We are told often by businessmen who have businesses in Shanghai how much better English is spoken in Shanghai than Hong Kong … It is a pity because we used to lead all the cities in mainland China. We need to do all we can to retain, and sharpen this competitive edge or run the risk of being overtaken by other cities in the mainland where the enthusiasm to learn the language is growing very rapidly …. English is not a colonial language to be shed after the handover, it is a universal language that is spoken by probably more people in the world than any other language.

Anson Chan, former Chief Secretary for Administration
Speaking at the 2005 launch of English Adventure, a joint educational program sponsored
by the British Council and Prudential Insurance**

At HKCEE level, analysis is clouded by the changes in syllabuses and grading method in 2007. In 2006, 58% of almost 40,000 students taking Syllabus A scored an E or better, and 96% of 77,000 taking Syllabus B scored an F or better. By the government's own reference standards, those who scored an F or better in Syllabus B would have got a D or better in Syllabus A.

This year, students were marked against a set of absolute proficiency standards instead of competing with one another. 70% scored a Level 2 or better and according to a government website*** Levels 3 and 2 in English this year are considered comparable to Grades C and E respectively in the old Syllabus B. However, the general consensus is that this year's exam was approximately the same level of difficulty as the previous year's Syllabus A.

Schemes and funding have been provided to improve access, exposure and the teaching of English in Hong Kong, including benchmark tests for local teachers and the Native English Teacher (NET) scheme. The fruits of these measures may be seen in the negligible fall in the A level pass rate from 2006-2007 although the shortcomings of the NET scheme have been widely commented on, for example:

NETs provide limited help if each school gets only one or two of them. The shortage in some schools is such that a class gets only about 2 weeks of instruction by a NET in each academic year … All these problems boil down to the basic one of getting teaching right at the junior levels.****

Regina Ip, Savantas Policy Institute

In order to understand local worries better they need to be seen in an international, long-term context. A British Council study estimates that just under half the current total population of the world, or 3 billion people, will be speaking English by 2015.

English is rapidly becoming integrated so deeply into the curriculum that it will cease to be a foreign language for many, perhaps most, of the world's citizens. *****

This report goes on to say that there are an estimated 200 million new users of English each year in China and that more people are now learning English in China than in any other country.

* http://english.people.com.cn/200207/07/eng20020707_99248.shtml
** http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Metro/GA26Ak05.html
*** http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200708/03/P200708030231.htm [accessed 12 September 2007]
**** South China Morning Post 5 July 2007
***** David Graddol: English Next, British Council, 2006
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-research-english-next.pdf

The survey of 519 students in Form One or above before the 2007 summer vacation began was conducted from the 21-26 August. Results revealed that almost half had received private tuition in English and about a quarter thought the lack of opportunities for using English was the biggest obstacle to improving. Another fifth thought the main obstacle was lack of a good foundation to allow them to make regular progress in the language.

Over two-thirds of the respondents found the atmosphere at school adequately conducive to learning English. Nevertheless, the majority thought they did not spend enough time practicing the language even though on average they spent 4.7 hours of their free time each week on English.

As far as listening to English was concerned, over 50% never listened to English radio or attended English language seminars although over 18% said they listened to English song lyrics frequently.

Where speaking and writing English were concerned, 35% to 40% of the respondents said they never spoke English to either native English speakers or non-native English speakers and close to 40% had never written a diary or blog in English. 30% had never written e-mails or compositions in English either, although 14% frequently wrote English compositions and 8.5% frequently wrote English emails.

Where reading English-language material was concerned, 45% had never studied English material on CD and another 20% never read English newspapers or browsed English websites. 18% never read English books.

Although 18% did not watch English TV either, the most popular form of access to the language was English film (26.0%) or English TV and news programmes (15.3%).

Less than 15% browsed the English internet. Nearly 75% had never participated in any English debate while approximately two thirds had never participated in English drama or public speaking.

When evaluating their own competence in listening, reading, writing and speaking, respondents from English medium of instruction schools understandably gave themselves a higher rating.

When asked what would be the best way to improve their English, over 45% said 'being provided with good teachers,' 41% said 'making friends with those who speak in English' and just under 40% said 'living overseas for a period of time.'

Nearly 80% said that they learned English mainly at school or during extra tuition and approximately 90% said that they had communicated with their teachers in English or had conducted presentations in English at school. Three-quarters said that they had spoken in English on English Day or at English festivals.

Press releases: http://www.hkfyg.org.hk/yrc/english/yr-polls-164e.htm (English)
http://www.hkfyg.org.hk/yrc/chinese/yr-p164c.html (Chinese)