Tag: English Proficiency

By Simone Ng

English has been the most commonly-used lingua franca cross-culturally in the world. As Hong Kong had been ruled as a British colony for over one hundred years, English has played a prominent and significant role on myriad aspects of the development in the territory, such as education, politics and society. Owing to such special socio-economic and historical background, and the language policy, English has been our official language and has been set as a compulsory language subject in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Hong Kong and used as medium of instruction. Even though Hong Kong people always pride themselves as the leading cosmopolitans, and “biliteracy and trilingualism” has been promoted as the education aim by the Education Bureau for years, the English proficiency of Hongkongers has always been criticised as unsatisfactory. The recent EF report even reveals that Hong Kong has been outpaced by other international metropolises in English proficiency, such as Singapore, Shanghai and Malaysia.  

When it comes to the issue of English deficiency in Hong Kong, the education culture of rote learning and exam-oriented, and overemphasis on “Educated English” have been major causes of the problem. As the education in Hong Kong places much emphasis on surface learning, students have fostered the habit of only reciting and repeating materials through rote memorization, neither understanding the meaning of it nor the linkage between the newly-taught information and previously-learnt knowledge. Besides, since Hong Kong education is mainly exam-oriented, the importance of exam skills far outweighs the original purpose of learning. Students tend to spend hours to read sample essays. Yet, the reasons for viewing piles of articles and practising exam drills are merely due to the enrichment of linguistic structure and implications, including vocabulary and enhancement of sentence structures, instead of the curiosity about the language. Consequently, when it comes to daily usage of English, it appears to be difficult for students to use native phrases to communicate. Meanwhile, this is also the result of overemphasis on “Educated English”, which is known as “Standard English” as well. Since there is only a limited selection of expressions in this particular type of English in the school curriculum, these phrases and sentences can only be used in certain contexts, such as academic and formal writing, instead of other purposes in daily settings. This hampers the understandings of Hong Kong students towards distinct forms of written and spoken English. Therefore, the education culture has adversely affected the English standard in Hong Kong. 

Aside from this, the inadequate English environment has been another main factor contributing to declining English proficiency in Hong Kong. Although English is Hong Kong’s second official language, most public speeches and verbal announcements are given in Cantonese by the authorities, while English is only used occasionally, such as when answering questions from press asked in English. Due to the trickle-down effect, the general public tend to speak in Cantonese instead of English during their conversation, since they are used to watching TV news and receiving messages from the government in their mother tongue, Cantonese. Without comprehensive and sufficient usage of English in daily life, people have gradually developed a fear of English. As a result, without adequate practice, people avoid using English due to their lack of confidence in the language. This will eventually form an unhealthy English-learning environment and inhibit language proficiency in Hong Kong.

To deal with the issue, several prompt measures should be taken by the government. First, the officials should arouse public awareness towards the vital importance of English. Decent English proficiency is in fact the key to success in Hong Kong, as it lifts our competitive edge in the global arena. Without this benefit, transnational finance companies may retreat from Hong Kong and the city will lose its reputation of being an international cosmopolitan. Being a role model of using English actively in Government’s official press conferences can help promote the language through propaganda. By doing so, people will finally realise the essential role of English played in the development in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the Education Bureau should consider the reform of the English curriculum, including the syllabus, and way of teaching and assessments, since the current syllabus remains tedious and out-of-date. Therefore, officers in the department should redesign the curriculum through including more self-directed learning, in-depth reading and language used in daily settings so as to equip students to become native second-language learners. 

To conclude, the education culture, overemphasis on Standard English and inadequate English environment have been the culprits of deteriorating English standards in Hong Kong. To sustain our global competitiveness and reputation, it is therefore high time for the government took immediate actions before Hong Kong’s English standard becomes more dwindling.