Confidence in speaking English in HK 'falling'

Many believe the language is no longer critical for competitiveness, survey finds

Hong Kong people's confidence in speaking English may be beginning to fall behind that of mainland Chinese, according to a survey by an English-teaching company.

The survey by the Wall Street Institute School of English also indicates Hongkongers no longer believe English is critical to Hong Kong's productivity and competitiveness. It shows Hong Kong ranks second overall among seven Asian economies in English proficiency, behind Singapore.

Apart from the ability to speak English confidently, Hong Kong is also lagging behind in terms of reading in English - 35.6 per cent read less than two hours a week. Among Singaporeans, 80 per cent read five or more hours a week.

The online survey of 16,000 people, aged mainly between 18 and 35, on the mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand was carried out last month by the institute, which teaches English to adults in 35 countries.

Kristen Rogers, general manager of the Wall Street Institute Hong Kong, said: 'It's shocking that Hong Kong's ranking is on a similar level to mainland China and Thailand in a number of key areas.

'Hong Kong has for a long time enjoyed what was widely believed to be quite good English proficiency. Our English was viewed as better than places like mainland China and Thailand. Now that is changing. This should serve as a wake-up call for Hong Kong.'