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SCMP Reporter

ONE of the recommendations made in the recent Education Commission Report No 6 (ECR No 6) is the employment of more qualified native speakers as English teachers.

  By placing the recommendation on a high implementation priority, it is assumed that the quality in English language teaching can be enhanced.

  However, I cannot agree with this assumption.

  When we talk about the quality of language teaching in Hong Kong, we must consider many factors. The issue of the quality of teachers itself is a very complex one.

  While I would not deny the importance of fluent spoken English for an English teacher, I do not see a direct relationship between quality language teaching and a native tongue.

  Next, we must not overlook that the quality of the teaching environment has a profound impact on both the quality and morale of teachers.

  Very often, the teaching context one is placed in shapes one's professional attitude and influences how well the teacher can perform.

  Thus, it is not enough to measure the quality of a teacher at the outset. The quality of a teacher's work may deteriorate or be enhanced, depending on his personality, working attitude and the particular school culture.

  The general language teaching environment in Hong Kong has always been de-motivating. As stated in ECR No 6, the workload of language teachers is much heavier than that of non-language teachers.

  Given this fact, no concrete proposal has been put forward to tackle the problem.

  Besides this, there are other critical areas that affect the teaching environment: the curriculum, large classes with mixed abilities, mixed-code teaching, etc, all play vital parts in creating an unfavourable language teaching environment.

  It is also high time that we looked at the learners themselves. What part have they played in learning English?   Experience has shown me that it is always easier to motivate a learner who has just come from mainland China to learn English.

  Most local learners are either too passive or too examination-orientated when it comes to learning English. Teenagers nowadays simply do not appreciate the opportunity they are being offered to learn a second language, while their mainland counterparts see it as a golden opportunity.

  Many of the local students are so dependent that they tend to put the blame on others first without making the effort to be more responsible learners.

  Then, we have some very pragmatic pupils who only turn to short-cuts or so-called examination skills instead of trying to master the language through more independent and regular practice which can be simply done at home with more perseverance and patience.

  They can be so impatient in learning that they do not even bother to look up a word from a traditional dictionary.

  Of course, it can be argued that our learners are also the victims of our education system. One may rightly think so.

  Going through the essays produced by our students, it is not difficult to find essays that are filled with ideas which are lacking in originality, creativity, coherence, maturity, and common-sense.

  Under the highly examination-orientated education system, students' abilities to think logically, analytically, and creatively are poorly or partially developed. What can a language teacher do when facing students who simply have nothing to express?   Against such a background of language teaching and learning, can native speakers make a great difference? They may if they are employed as additional teachers to provide extra manpower. But the vital point here lies in considering the language problem from a more dynamic angle, bearing in mind that teaching is in fact an interactive process in which the environment, the curriculum, the teachers and the learners all play a part with one affecting the other.

  If the Government is willing to invest more for the cause of language learning, the resources should be rightly targeted at those aspects that hold the keys to solving the root problems of language teaching or learning, and not on programmes that may be packaged attractively but provide merely a remedial function.

  REBECCA YIP W.K. English Panel Head Jockey Club Ti-I College 



Students need motivation