The policy of requiring three-quarters of Hong Kong's secondary schools to use Chinese as the medium of instruction is aimed at removing language as a barrier to learning.
Before the policy was implemented in 1998, English was indiscriminately used as the teaching language for all subjects except Chinese language and Chinese history. As a result, many students who were inadequately prepared to learn in a foreign language were not motivated to study. They ended up having a poor mastery of subject knowledge, and their English was also appalling.
Now that three intakes of students taught in Chinese have completed secondary school, it is heartening to see that the much criticised policy has clearly borne fruit. Over the past three years, students from Chinese-medium schools have performed better at the Certificate of Education Examination than their predecessors had before the policy was implemented. They have achieved much higher scores in most subjects, including English language.
The success or failure of the so-called mother-tongue education policy should not be assessed by whether students' English skills have improved or worsened. It would be illogical to do so. Still, it is encouraging that the passing rates in English language - for both lower-standard Syllabus A and higher-standard Syllabus B - have risen.
The C grade awarded for Syllabus A is equivalent to the E grade for Syllabus B, which is the most commonly accepted yardstick for measuring English skills. By adding the number of students awarded C grade or above in Syllabus A and those awarded E grade or above in Syllabus B, it is possible to calculate the total number of students who would have passed Syllabus B had they all sat for it. It shows that the de facto passing rate in English (Syllabus B) has risen from 50.98 per cent last year to 51.94 per cent this year.
It appears that one of the arguments made by proponents of mother-tongue education has finally been proven right. As teaching and learning through the mother tongue is more efficient and effective, students can actually devote more time to learning English. This has compensated for their reduced exposure to the language in the classroom.
