Elitist English exam aimed too high to help

I agree wholeheartedly with the plea by Philip Yeung (Education Post, November 10) for students to be taught 'living English' to cure their poor grasp of the language.

As a 'foreigner' living in Hong Kong, I am continually amazed to find young sales people and other employees freeze when spoken to in the most basic English. A simple request sends them scurrying for someone to translate. Even more amazing is the fact that these people have completed three years' secondary education, or even the HKCEE. I say 'completed', but not 'passed'.

As a native-speaking English teacher in a local school, I am convinced that the root of the problem lies in the examination. Not in the fact that there is one, but that it is designed for the academic elite. In all the talk of education reform and curriculum change, I have heard nothing about a more vocationally oriented English course, with its own examination, for students not destined for tertiary study. Will a future waiter, taxi driver or hairdresser need the same English as a brain surgeon?

Chinese parental expectations, which see university entrance as the only road to success in life, perpetuate a system where the majority of students will 'fail'.

Instead of grammatical gymnastics, students need to be taught English that will enable them to communicate with real people in a real international city.

GAIL DENGATE