Trainee English teachers have created a storm by engaging a tutor from a top tutorial school to help them pass a language proficiency test. About 30 students from the Hong Kong Institute of Education signed up for yesterday's lecture by Edward Fung - a tutor from Beacon College, one of the top three tutorial schools in the city. Fung shared his experience in sitting the Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (English Language) and tips on how to tackle the questions. He scored a distinction for the writing part. 'I was very honoured by the invitation,' he said. 'I mostly taught them how to analyse past papers and exam reports.' Posters promoting the lecture on campus sported the logos of Beacon College and the institute. But an institute spokeswoman said they had not endorsed the lecture. 'It's not appropriate to use our logo, which would give the impression we were one of the organisers.' She said the institute had a compulsory course for the exam for second-year English majors, taught by trained assessors. 'Our self-access language-learning centre also offers workshops on the exam.' The talk received overwhelming response from students. Gabriel Wong, a postgraduate student studying English, said the talk was more useful than the courses available at the institute. 'He gave us many examples, especially for the writing part,' Wong said. Yuky Li, a second-year English major, said Fung explained the process in detail. 'You can't get such in-depth analysis elsewhere,' she said. Yip Shing-hei, president of the English Language Student Association, which organised the lecture, said it had been imprudent to use the logo of the institute. 'We removed all the posters yesterday,' he said. 'We invited Fung through a friend of an association member who was formerly Fung's student. We know that the school has many courses for the exam on offer. But they are kind of repetitive. We thought that getting Fung to share his experience would give us new perspectives. 'We understand that what we have done has adversely affected the image of our school. We will be more careful in selecting lecture guests next time.' Fung gave the lecture in a personal capacity and did not receive any payment. Beacon College said Fung did not inform it of the lecture. The proficiency test will be held next month, and exam authority figures show 2,204 candidates will sit it.