Letters | Our children will only learn English properly if it’s taught differently
- Readers criticise the teaching of English, the rote-learning education system and the quarantine policy, applaud Beijing’s resolve to fix Hong Kong housing, and lament the lack of progress from the city government
In response, most teachers focus on improving students’ marks, with little thought for actual language skills. For example, they may tell students to memorise a selection of formulaic phrases; this contributes nothing to increasing comprehension and expression.
The Diploma of Secondary Education curriculum could concentrate on higher-level content to help students achieve true proficiency and not only low-level fluency. After all, you cannot become Tolkien by reciting word lists.
The 12 years of compulsory education is sufficient to teach students how to use English materials for self-improvement. More time and resources need to be allocated to the English subject so teachers have what they need to shift the lesson style away from examination training.
Teachers also need to guide students in self-directed learning, as lessons do not offer enough exposure. Hong Kong children don’t learn Cantonese by having a lesson a day; the same should apply to English.
Students should be taught how to read and speak English at home, and parents given the resources for home learning. An easy but effective method is to provide online reading material.
English teaching isn’t simply a matter of imparting basic language skills. To advance students’ language ability to the point where they can absorb and create quality English content, the subject should be taught in a less exam-oriented manner.
At the end of the day, it all hinges on students’ willingness to learn. That in turn depends on whether they treat English as an insurmountable barrier to high DSE scores or as a key to future learning and global communication.
John Henry, Kam Tin
Rote learning in Hong Kong schools has to stop
Copying from the text in the exam paper is a strategy that requires no critical thinking. Not only does it not work in exams, as the report makes clear, it has no benefit for a student’s future. After all, there are no model answers in life.
The spoon-feeding, rote-learning education system in Hong Kong is the root of the problem.
Yeung Yan Ki, Tseung Kwan O
Quarantine policy is costing our economy
We need a meaningful discussion about the way forward. Yes, the virus must be kept at bay, but the economy needs to be of equal importance. We need creativity, nuance and some hard “thinking outside the box” to deal with our situation. Three weeks of quarantine is draconian and isn’t standard anywhere but here.
Choosing to deal with the pandemic and placing it above the need to maintain the economy is seriously destabilising socially and financially. Professor Chan, we expect better from you and your crew.
Stuart McCarthy, Wan Chai
May ‘common prosperity’ fix housing woes
Hong Kong will go down in history as a city ruined by the government’s land policy and consumed by greedy developers. Like Mr Rowse, most people I speak to agree that a decent-sized flat for a family of four should fall between 500 sq ft and 700 sq ft.
I honestly believe that, had Mr Tung persisted and our property developers been more supportive, our society would look different today – months of social unrest would have been averted, billions of dollars of economic growth would not have been lost, and brain drain replaced by brain gain.
Philip S.K. Leung, Pok Fu Lam
Why leave potential housing sites idle?
I suppose the Housing Authority is confident that these families are thrilled to hear the news. I feel like crying.
I also have a question. Since the government claims to strive its utmost to rehouse the underprivileged, why has it left idle for so long some sites that could have been developed, such as the huge Western Police Married Quarters and two smaller buildings of the former Dairy Farm dormitories in Pok Fu Lam?
Monique Dutard, Aberdeen
