Enriching Our Language Environment Realising Our Vision

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Education Bureau

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Fine-tuning of Medium of Instruction for Secondary Schools

Enriching Our Language Environment

Realising Our Vision

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The Language Environment:

Our Vision

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Introduction

In May 2009, the Government announced that the arrangements for fine-tuning the medium of instruction (MOI) for secondary schools would be implemented with effect from the 2010/11 school year. Schools will provide students with diversified MOI arrangements, starting with Secondary One (S1) level and progressing each year to a higher form at junior secondary levels.

The Government’s overall language policy aims at nurturing students to become “bi-literate and tri-lingual”. In order to enrich the language environment within schools, and to increase students’ opportunities to use and be exposed to English in schools, we have conducted extensive public consultation from mid-2008 onwards with a view to soliciting stakeholders’ views and reaching consensus on the formulation of an effective framework for fine-tuning the MOI arrangements for secondary schools. The fine-tuned arrangements will provide schools with more room for development so that they can make professional judgment on how to devise school-based MOI arrangements. When drawing up the arrangements, the interests and needs of students must remain the prime consideration.

The successful implementation of the fine-tuning hinges upon the collaboration of not only the Government, schools and teachers, but also students and their parents. All parties will have their roles to play and responsibilities to fulfil. For easy reference by different parties, the chapters of this publication are set out as on the right-hand page:

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Chapter 1 Foreword – Our vision 4 Chapter 2 The Policy

– Expounding fine-tuned MOI arrangements for secondary schools 6 Chapter 3 Parents – Interpreting Secondary School Profiles:

Addressing parents’ concerns about choosing schools for their

children 10

Chapter 4 Students – Our commitment, your efforts:

Learning English and learning in English 22

Chapter 5 Teachers – Professional development programmes:

Our support, your participation 24

Chapter 6 Schools – Formulating whole-school language policy 26 Chapter 7 Reference materials

– Summary of consultations, relevant links and references 28

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“We are entering a new era as globalisation has taken hold. In line with the policy goal of ‘upholding mother-tongue teaching while enhancing students’ proficiency in both Chinese and English’, the fine-tuning of Medium of Instruction for secondary schools will enhance our students’ exposure to English and its use at junior secondary levels. By enhancing students’

ability to learn in English, we can prepare them to embrace new challenges and enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international city.”

Michael MY Suen

Secretary for Education

Chapter 1 Foreword

– Our vision

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Our Goal

Under the MOI fine-tuning arrangements, junior secondary students will be given more opportunities to be exposed to and use English, through “listening, speaking, reading and writing”, all of which should help enhance students’ confidence and motivation in learning English.

The smooth implementation of the fine-tuned MOI arrangements will depend upon schools’ professional judgment and the whole-hearted support of parents and various sectors of the community. We appeal to everyone to make a concerted effort to enhance students' interest in learning and nurture them to become proficient in both Chinese and English.

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Chapter 2 The Policy

– Expounding fine-tuned MOI

arrangements for secondary schools

Background

The Government has been promoting the use of the mother tongue as the MOI in secondary schools since the early 1980s.

In 1997, the then Education Department issued the Medium of Instruction Guidance for Secondary Schools (the Guidance).

Under the policy framework as set out in the Guidance, the mother tongue should primarily be predominantly adopted as the MOI for secondary schools. Schools wishing to use English as their MOI had to fulfil the following criteria:

(1) their students possessing the ability to learn through English;

(2) their teachers possessing the capability to teach through English; and

(3) the schools having adequate support strategies/measures in place.

In December 2005, the Education Commission (EC) published the Report on Review of Medium of Instruction for Secondary Schools and Secondary School Places Allocation (the Report). In the Report, the EC reaffirmed the policy direction as set out in the Guidance and recommended that the bifurcation of schools into schools using Chinese as the MOI (“CMI schools”) and schools using English as the MOI (“EMI schools”) at junior secondary levels should be maintained. Further recommendations were made on the specific standards of the three prescribed criteria and a review mechanism. The Government accepted these recommendations and agreed to implement the revised MOI arrangements in secondary schools from September 2010 onwards.

Many members of the public were concerned that the bifurcation of schools into CMI and EMI schools might not fully meet the learning needs of individual students. In CMI schools, all subjects except English were taught in Chinese;

while in EMI schools, all subjects except Chinese were taught in English. Under these arrangements, students at CMI schools had 6

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relatively few opportunities to be exposed to or use English. EMI schools, on the other hand, did not have discretion to offer mother- tongue teaching in some subjects.

More importantly, we hope to provide our students with more opportunities to be exposed to and use English at junior secondary levels under the policy goal of

“upholding mother-tongue teaching while enhancing students’ proficiency in both Chinese and English”, so as to enhance their ability to learn in English and to better prepare them for further studies and work in future. Against this, the Education Bureau (EDB) has decided to fine-tune the recommendations on MOI arrangements for secondary schools as outlined in the EC’s Report, with a view to allowing secondary schools to devise professionally the appropriate MOI arrangements, having regard to students’ learning ability and interests as well as circumstances of individual schools (including teachers’

capability and readiness, and other support measures). As a result, students would have more opportunities to get exposed to and use English in schools.

How fine-tuning works

Mother-tongue teaching has been well recognised as effective in facilitating students’ learning. We will therefore adhere to the policy objective of “upholding mother- tongue teaching while enhancing students’

proficiency in both Chinese and English”.

The aim of fine-tuning is to give schools greater flexibility in devising their MOI arrangements at junior secondary levels in

order to maintain the steady and sustained development of mother-tongue teaching.

The fine-tuned MOI arrangements will be implemented starting from the 2010/11 school year at S1 level. Schools will adopt a student-centred approach to devise diversified MOI arrangements to meet their students’ needs. The objectives are to enrich the English language environment within schools and to enhance opportunities for students to use and be exposed to English.

S t u d e n t s ’ l e a r n i n g n e e d s a n d effectiveness will remain our prime consideration. While providing schools greater room for development, we need to ensure that students are able to learn non-language subjects in an appropriate language environment. It is therefore essential for us to establish a fine-tuning framework which enables every school to map out its diversified MOI arrangements in a professional manner.

Fine-tuning framework

The fine-tuning framework upholds the three prescribed criteria for schools adopting English as the MOI as recommended in the Report :

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1 According to a research study in 2004, at most 40% of S1 students in Hong Kong are able to learn through English. For details, please refer to paragraphs 3.13 and 3.29 of the Report.

2 The basic requirement is Grade C or above in English Language (Syllabus B) of the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) (or Level 3 or above in English Language of the HKCEE 2007 and thereafter), or other equivalent qualifications (e.g. Level 6 or above in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (academic domain)).

For details, please refer to paragraph 3.35 of the Report. Please note: We will continue to provide classroom observation for “serving EMI teachers”, i.e. teachers who have used English as the MOI to teach one or more subjects in not less than two school years between September 1998 and August 2006. We have reaffirmed schools of the arrangements under a separate cover.

3 The teaching modes of ELA in English include collaboration between non-language subject teachers and English Language teachers to conduct cross-curricular English enrichment programmes; allocation of some lesson time of individual non- language subjects to using EMI to go through subject concepts and contents already taught in CMI; using EMI to teach individual modules or themes in the non-language subjects concerned; using EMI with regard to the nature of the learning materials (e.g. when the materials are mainly English-written information obtained from the Internet); strengthening the bridging programmes to facilitate a smooth transition for students who choose to switch to EMI learning at senior secondary levels, etc. For details on ELA in English, please refer to paragraphs 4.10 to 4.16 of the Report.

4 Since “through-train” secondary schools will admit S1 entrants from their “linked” primary schools and know these students well to better address their learning diversity, we will uphold the recommendations in the Report to adopt 75% as the threshold percentage for calculating the “student ability” of S1 entrants from “linked” primary schools. The threshold percentage for S1 entrants from other primary schools will be maintained at 85%. With regard to the proportion of these two groups of S1 entrants, we will work out the threshold percentage of “student ability” to be met by individual “through-train”

secondary schools by a weighted average methodology.

1) Students possessing the ability to learn through English¹ (“student ability”);

2) Teachers possessing the capability to teach through English² (“teacher capability”);

and

3) Schools with adequate support strategies/

measures in place (“support measures”).

The fine-tuned MOI framework is as follows:

(a) Schools may choose to adopt CMI for teaching non-language subjects.

To enhance the English learning environment of students, we have increased the percentage of the total lesson time (excluding the lesson time for the English Language) allowed for extended learning activities (ELA)³ in English from the original 15%, 20% and 25% for S1, S2 and S3 respectively as recommended in the Report to a uniform 25% at all three levels. With this increase in ELA time, schools should give due regard to teachers’ capability and readiness to teach through English in devising the teaching modes of ELA.

(b) To enhance students’ motivation to learn

English and to ease their transition to senior secondary at which EMI may be adopted in subject teaching, schools may choose to transform this ELA time into the adoption of EMI in individual non- language subjects up to a maximum of two subjects. However, schools should take into consideration the guiding principles set out in Chapter 6 “Schools”

so as not to compromise students’

learning effectiveness.

(c) For schools which fulfil the “student ability”

criterion, i.e. the average proportion of S1 intake of a school admitted to a class belonging to the “top 40%” group in the previous two years under a six-year review cycle reaching 85% of the size of a class (with regard to the allocation class size in 2010, 85% means 29 students⁴), they will be given professional discretion to determine their MOI arrangements in the classes/groups concerned with regard to the other prescribed criteria (i.e.

teachers’ capability and readiness in EMI teaching, and school support measures).

By adhering to the six-year review cycle as set out in the Report, the EDB will enable

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Chapter 2 The Policy

schools to develop its teaching and learning in a more stable environment. Based on the S1 allocation results of 2008 and 2009, the EDB has provided schools with information on the average proportion of their S1 intakes belonging to the “top 40%” group in these two years. The purpose is to enable schools to devise school-based MOI arrangements for the first six-year cycle starting from September 2010 (i.e. 2010/11 to 2015/16 school years). In the sixth year of the first review cycle (i.e. 2015/16 school year), the EDB will provide schools with relevant information of their S1 student profile based on the S1 allocation results of 2014 and 2015. Such data will enable the schools to devise school-based MOI arrangements for the second six-year cycle, starting from the 2016/17 school year, as part of the S1 school places application process. Should schools wish to make any changes to their MOI arrangements, they have to announce the changes one year prior to implementation, starting from S1 and progressing each year to a higher level, in order to safeguard students’ learning effectiveness.

Key points of fine-tuning:

Diversified MOI arrangements

The essence of fine-tuning lies in giving schools room for development to cater for students’ diverse learning needs. Premised on a “student-centred” principle to meet students’ needs, schools should devise a professionally-sound teaching mode (including MOI arrangements) to ensure students’ learning effectiveness.

S c h o o l s h a v e a l r e a d y t a k e n a professional decision regarding their MOI arrangements to be implemented from S1 in the 2010/11 school year. In satisfying the

needs of their students, schools can adopt diversified MOI arrangements including:

1) Mother-tongue teaching complemented with various modes of ELA in English;

2) Chinese or English as their MOI by subject; and

3) Chinese or English as their MOI for all non-language subjects.

In other words, secondary schools will no longer be classified into “CMI schools”

and “EMI schools”.

It is worth noting that the arrangements set out in paragraph (c) under fine-tuning framework do not require the simple segregation of CMI or EMI classes as mentioned in EC’s Report of 2005. Under the fine-tuned arrangements, schools will NOT be required to adopt a uniform MOI. Nor will they be required to crudely divide their classes into CMI or EMI classes. Schools choosing to adopt their MOI by class must be aware that different classes may need specific MOI arrangements as students’

abilities are likely to differ. Therefore, the choice and number of EMI subjects taught would likely vary between individual classes within schools and among schools as a whole. The school-based MOI arrangements would even become more diversified as schools may also conduct ELA in English in classes taught in the mother tongue.

Schools have to provide parents with details of their MOI arrangements by class and by subject. Schools should refrain from using broad-brush descriptions like the number of “CMI classes” and “EMI classes”.

Parents should enquire direct with schools to learn more about their arrangements for each subject and criteria for allocating students to different classes/groups.

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Chapter 3 Parents

– Interpreting Secondary School Profiles:

Addressing parents’ concerns about choosing schools for their children

“Learning English” and “learning in English” are two very different issues. It remains paramount that parents choose a school which can ensure their children to learn most effectively. Parents should refer to the “Subjects Planned to Offer” and

“Whole-school Language Policy” sections of the Secondary School Profiles published each December for a fuller understanding of how schools promote “learning English”

and “learning in English” at junior secondary levels. By doing so, they may facilitate their children’s learning of subjects which may be taught in English at senior secondary levels.

Generally, schools will use either:

1) Mother-tongue teaching complemented with different modes of ELA in English;

2) Chinese or English as their MOI by subject; and

3) Chinese or English as their MOI for all non-language subjects.

In December 2009, the EDB held a series of parent briefing sessions at which some 4,000 parents learnt how to select schools in accordance with the abilities of their children. Parents attending these sessions learnt about diversified MOI arrangements through the following examples:

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Proposed subjects for the 2010/11 school year

Chinese as the MOI

S1

Chinese Language, Putonghua, Mathematics, Integrated Science, Computer Studies, Integrated Humanities, P.E., Religious Studies, Music, Visual Arts, Home Economics, Design and Technology, Life Education

English as the MOI English Language

Adopt different MOIs by class/ group

Remarks

ELA in English will be conducted in S1 in the 2010/11 school year in the subjects of Mathematics, Integrated Science, Computer Studies, Integrated Humanities, P.E., Religious Studies, Music, Visual Arts, Home Economics, Design and Technology and Life Education.

Whole-school Language Policy

C r o s s - c u r r i c u l a r E n g l i s h E n r i c h m e n t Programmes will be conducted for certain topics of different subjects and concepts learnt will be reviewed in English. Relevant English vocabulary will be assessed in the examinations in all subjects at all levels. We would join the

“International Interface Program” to collaborate with volunteers from America to create an English learning atmosphere at school and to promote English enhancement courses.

(1) Mother-tongue teaching complemented with different modes of ELA in English

To enable students to learn non- language subjects more effectively, some schools use CMI teaching supplemented by English ELA or allocate 25% of their total lesson time to teach a maximum of two subjects in English (i.e. “allocation of time to subjects”).

Example (i) The following school offers

cross-curricular English learning in certain topics of various subjects through conducting ELA in English. In addition to increasing its students’ exposure and opportunity to use English at junior secondary levels, the objective is to better prepare students to learn probably in English at senior secondary levels.

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Example (ii) The following school adopts

“allocation of time to subjects”

to teach Mathematics and Geography in English for all S1 students. In addition, the school is striving to enhance students’

English language competency by adapting and integrating its English language curriculum with certain topics in other subjects such as Mathematics, Geography and Science.

Chinese as the MOI

S1

Chinese Language, Liberal Studies, History and Culture, Science, Computer and Information Technology, Music, P.E., Home Economics, Putonghua, Personal, Social and Humanities Education, Visual Arts, Reading and Writing English as the MOI English Language, Mathematics, Geography

Remarks

ELA in English will be conducted in S1 in the 2010/11 school year in the two subjects of Science and Computer and Information Technology.

Reading and writing schemes and project learning will be conducted to foster students’

generic skills. Regarding MOI, ELA in English will be organised where all S1 students will learn English songs and stories through English musicals. English speaking and writing are taught through small-class teaching. Specially devised for junior secondary students, school- based English programmes will be integrated with other subjects (Mathematics, Geography and Science) to help students’ transition to the senior secondary curriculum taught in English.

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Chapter 3 Parents

Example (iii) The following school adopts

“allocation of time to subjects”

to teach Computer Literacy and Mathematics in English for S1 students, including non- Chinese speaking students, who readily adapt well to learning in English.

Chinese as the MOI

S1

C h i n e s e L a n g u a g e , C h i n e s e H i s t o r y, Putonghua, Integrated Science, Liberal Studies, P.E., Music, Visual Arts, Civic Education, Home Economics, Design and Technology

English as the MOI English Language

Adopt different MOIs by class/ group Computer Literacy, Mathematics

Remarks ELA in English will be conducted in S1 in the

2010/11 school year in the two subjects of Integrated Science and Liberal Studies.

Our school adopts mother-tongue teaching, whilst also put emphasis on training our students to be “bi-literate and tri-lingual”. In the teaching team, we have 1 native-speaking English teacher, 3 local and native-speaking English tutors and a number of Putonghua teachers with professional qualifications, who can conduct collaborative teaching in class and offer language strengthening programmes and activities after class or during holidays. According to students’

practical situations, some junior secondary students who are more proficient in English (including non-Chinese speaking students) will be assigned to groups taught in English in the two subjects of Mathematics and Computer Literacy.

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Chinese as the MOI

S1

Chinese Language, Chinese History, Integrated Humanities, Computer Literacy, Music, P.E., Home Economics, Putonghua, Visual Arts, Design and Technology, Life Education, Integrated Science, Mathematics, Geography English as the MOI English Language

Adopt different MOIs by

class/ group Mathematics, Geography, Integrated Science

Remarks ELA in English will be conducted in S1 in the 2010/11 school year in the three subjects of Mathematics, Geography and Integrated Science.

Starting from S1 in the 2010/11 school year, our school will be providing an English learning environment of wider coverage for students with higher abilities. Some junior secondary students will be learning the three subjects of Mathematics, Geography and Integrated Science in English.

Non-language subjects in some classes will use Chinese as MOI, where ELA in English will be conducted in a maximum of 25% of the total lesson time, to enable students’ smooth transition to senior secondary subjects taught in English.

Class streaming is largely based on students’ academic achievements in English to ensure that they are learning in a suitable language. When promoted to S2 or S3, students have the opportunity to be allocated to different classes.

School will put in place a mechanism for allocating students to different classes, and explain it clearly to parents of junior form students.

(2) Using Chinese or English as MOI by subject

To cater for students of diverse abilities, certain schools may adopt either CMI or EMI by subject. The aim is to enable students to adapt gradually to learning subject contents in English while further enhancing their exposure to English.

Example (i) The following school uses English as the MOI in Mathematics,

Geography and Integrated Science for S1 students who adapt well to learning in English. The other S1 students are encouraged to learn these subjects in English more gradually through English ELA which facilitate their transition to learning those subjects which may be taught in English at senior secondary levels.

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Chapter 3 Parents

Example (ii) The following school uses EMI for Integrated Science for all S1 students. It also adopts EMI for Mathematics, Integrated Humanities, Computer Literacy, Music, Visual Arts and Home Economics for those students who adapt well to learning in English. The other S1 students may adapt more gradually to learning these subjects in English through participation in ELA in English that will facilitate their transition to learning those subjects which may be taught in English at senior secondary levels.

Chinese as the MOI

S1

Chinese Language, Putonghua, Chinese History, P.E., Religious Studies, Life Education, Mathematics, Integrated Humanities, Computer, Music and Visual Arts

English as the MOI English Language, Integrated Science Adopt different MOIs by

class/ group Mathematics, Integrated Humanities, Computer Literacy, Music, Visual Arts, Home Economics

Remarks

ELA in English will be conducted in S1 in the 2010/11 school year in the subjects of Mathematics, Integrated Humanities, Computer Literacy, Music, Visual Arts and Home Economics.

It has always been our goal to enable our students to be

“bi-literate and tri-lingual”. As pointed out in the Focus Inspection Report, our school has allocated a lot of resources for enhancing students’ language competence, including teaching Chinese in groups in S1, teaching English in groups in S1 to S7, after-class English enrichment classes for S2 and S3, intensive English programmes for S6, the Putonghua adjustment programme for S3 students in support of their sitting for the “Putonghua Shuiping Kaoshi” at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, as well as various school-based programmes to foster students’ basic language competence. English bridging programmes are offered to students progressing from S3 to S4 and from S5 to S6 so that they can adapt quickly to the change in MOI.

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Example (iii) The following school takes advantage of the flexibility of making professional decisions under the fine-tuned arrangements for all students to learn Mathematics, Science and Computer and Information Technology in English at junior secondary levels.

The aim is to better prepare these students for transition to learning in either English or Chinese in science subjects at senior secondary levels.

Chinese as the MOI

S1

Chinese Language, Liberal Studies, Chinese History, Economics and Public Affairs, Home Economics, Design and Technology, Visual Arts, Music, Putonghua, P.E.

English as the MOI English Language, Mathematics, Science, Computer and Information Technology

Remarks

Starting from the 2010/11 school year, English will be adopted as the MOI in S1 for Mathematics, Science and Computer and Information Technology. At S4 and above, Science will be taught in Chinese or English to cater for students’ different needs. Our school recognises the importance for students to be “bi-literate and tri-lingual”, thus allocating a lot of resources to the teaching of English language, including teaching by class at S2 and above, setting up the English Room to provide an environment for greater use of English, organising outside-classroom activities such as summer English bridging programmes, S1 English pilot classes, weekly English-speaking Days, Morning Newspaper-reading Programme and reading experience sharing at morning assemblies, aiming to enhance students’ English competence.

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Chapter 3 Parents

(3) Using Chinese or English as MOI for all non-language subjects

Proposed subjects for the 2010/11 school year Chinese as the MOI

S1

Chinese Language, Chinese History, Putonghua

English as the MOI

English Language, Mathematics, Liberal Studies, Integrated Science, Geography, Computer Studies, Home Economics, Visual Arts, Design and Technology, Music, P.E.

Adopt different MOIs by class/group Remarks

Except for Chinese Language, Chinese History, Chinese Literature and Putonghua, all subjects are taught in English. Meanwhile, we highly encourage students to deepen their understanding of Chinese culture in order to enhance their competence level of being “bi- literate and tri-lingual” and be proficient in both Chinese and English.

Having considered students’ needs and their own circumstances, certain schools may adopt one language in teaching all students in non-language subjects.

Example (i) While using English as the MOI, the following school encourages all students to learn Chinese culture and be

“bi-literate and tri-lingual”.

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Example (ii) The following school adopts Chinese as the MOI and teaches Chinese Language in Putonghua in some junior secondary classes, whilst striving to promote English activities for students.

Chinese as the MOI

S1

Chinese Language, Mathematics, Science, Computer Literacy, Chinese History, History, Geography, Economics and Public Affairs, Music, P.E., Visual Arts, Design and Technology, Home Economics, Putonghua, Liberal Studies English as the MOI English Language

Remarks

Our school has been adopting mother-tongue teaching for more than 30 years, and fully mastered its advantages.

Improvements were shown in students’ self-learning abilities and psycho-social performance. In recent years, Putonghua has also been used in teaching Chinese Language in some classes at junior secondary levels, and the results are encouraging. At the same time, our school also emphasises the learning of English. More teachers have been employed to teach English by group. Native- speaking English tutors and teaching assistants have been employed. There are other activities including organising English study tours, setting up the English activity room and language learning centre, as well as launching the “English Ambassador” and “English-speaking Day”

schemes (with the number of “English Ambassadors” now exceeding 100), which aim at creating a good English learning environment and fostering students’ abilities of and confidence in communicating in English.

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Chapter 3 Parents

Example (iii) The following school adopts Chinese as the MOI and promotes students’ English competency through measures such as adapting its English curriculum and creating a strong English environment.

Chinese as the MOI

S1

Chinese Language, Mathematics, Integrated Science, Chinese History, Computer and Information Technology, Music, P.E., Home Economics, Visual Arts, Design and Technology, Religious/Ethics Education, Putonghua, Integrated Humanities

English as the MOI English Language Adopt different MOIs by class/

group Remarks

Our school adopts Chinese as the MOI to enhance students’ interest in and effectiveness of learning. To enhance students’ English proficiency, the local and native-speaking English teachers of our school are dedicated to designing a school-based curriculum that meets students’ abilities. Our school has also joined the EDB’s School-based Support Programmes for the English Language subject, established a well-equipped English room and published English newsletters regularly so as to actively create an English learning environment. There are other activities including short speeches at morning assemblies, “English Mini-Oscar”

and “Reading Conference”, in order to foster students’

confidence and public speaking abilities in the three languages.

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Professor Wong Po-choi

Chairperson of the Committee on Home- School Co-operation :

“A school is not just a place for ‘acquiring knowledge’ but also for ‘growing-up happily’.

When selecting a secondary school for our child, we should not only take into account the school’s academic results, but also the ambience of its campus. If our

Making school choices for their children How about you?

son or daughter does not like a school, its teachers or his or her classmates, how can he or she possibly learn happily? My basic indicator is: Do the students at this school love studying here? Do they have a good learning attitude? Do they show a fondness for reading? Do they deal with others politely and are they enthusiastic?”

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Chapter 3 Parents

Dr Man Ying-ling

Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Home-School Co-operation :

“Parents’ choices for schools must be based on the children’ interests. First of all, we as parents need to know our children’s aptitude and abilities. Secondly, we should seek to learn about different schools through such ways as browsing through their websites, studying the Secondary School Profiles, personally visiting the schools and consulting the views of others. We should ultimately avoid choosing schools that are commonly perceived as being ‘prestigious’ in an unquestioned and irrational manner.”

Mr David Leung

President of the Federation of Parent-Teacher Associations of the Central and Western Districts:

“Some people believe that parents will select schools on the basis of the number of classes taught in English. I believe such thinking underestimates parents’ ability to judge. Ultimately, nobody is more concerned about their children’s learning and further education opportunities than their mothers and fathers. As responsible parents, we owe it to our children to select a school according to their learning abilities and attributes. In doing so, we give them the opportunity to excel academically and develop their potential to the full. Parents should never, ever blindly trust superficial data.”

Mr Chung Chun-sing, Albert

President of the Federation of Parent-Teacher Associations of Southern District :

“When selecting a school for our children, we as parents must adjust our mentality, bearing in mind that it is our children and not ourselves who attend the school. Consequently, we should take into account our children’s views on their preferred schools. If their choices differ from our own, we should discuss with our children and listen to them in order to know why they prefer their choices. In any event, parents must stay objective and unbiased during these discussions.”

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Chapter 4 Students

- Our commitment, your efforts:

Learning English and learning in English

Primary school students should be encouraged to learn in the language they feel most comfortable with, integrating their daily experiences with their learnings in class and expressing their ideas and thoughts freely. Mother-tongue teaching may maximise students’ learning effectiveness by fostering confidence and boosting interest in language lessons and reading. In this way, a solid foundation in knowledge can be built, the student’s healthy psycho-social development can be fostered and independent individual qualities can be nurtured. It is also important to note that primary school students who acquire

“listening, speaking, reading and writing” skills in their mother tongue stand a better chance of learning a second language. Therefore, using mother-tongue teaching in primary schools delivers good learning results.

Seen from the perspective of school curriculum and student learning, secondary school education can be divided into junior and senior stages. It seems indisputable that mother-tongue teaching benefits junior students’ overall learning effectiveness in areas such as thinking, acquiring, expressing, motivation, interest and self-confidence. Fine- tuning will give these students greater flexibility to learn subjects in English more progressively.

They are also likely to be exposed to and use more English in “listening, speaking, reading and writing”. This will not only enhance their confidence in applying what they have learnt,

but also facilitate their smooth transition to English usage and learning in their later educational lives and careers.

At senior levels, secondary schools will, as in the past, be free to choose the most appropriate MOI for non-language subjects according to both their own circumstances and their students’ abilities and needs for further studies.

The 21st century will be an era of technological advance and globalisation.

The EDB will continue to work hand-in- hand with parents in perfecting education policies. The ultimate aim is to teach students how to understand and develop life-long learning in order to enhance their personal competitiveness. The fine-tuning will also ensure students to become “bi-literate and tri-lingual” and gain a solid foundation in languages. At the end of the day, mastering language proficiency is something every student can and should strive to do!

Experience sharing

Professor Tsui Lap-chee

Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Hong Kong :

“Students wishing to learn languages well can start with activities and pastimes they are interested in to raise their language competence. Prolonged immersion will mean 22

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* Extracted from “Booklet on Good Practices in English Language Education”. Education and Manpower Bureau (2005), pages 15 and 19.

5 To foster support for non-Chinese speaking students, the EDB has been identifying schools to become “designated schools”

since the 2005/06 school year. These schools have been receiving intensive support, particularly in the teaching and learning of Chinese Language, such that they can collaborate with one another in the development of teaching materials supporting non-Chinese speaking students and share their experience with other schools admitting non-Chinese speaking students, etc.

students can utilise English as a language for both communication and thinking…..Students should also play more active roles in extra- curricular activities such as casual and public English speaking. They can further add to their language skills by listening to and learning the lyrics of English songs and watching English TV shows or movies without reading subtitles. Ultimately, listening more, paying closer attention and practising more often, is the key to progressing naturally!” *

Mr Paul Yin

Permanent Honorary President of the Chinese Manufacturers’

Association of Hong Kong :

“Students need to develop good

reading habits in order to learn more common English sentence patterns and structures. By doing so, their understanding of English will be more comprehensive and learning this language will be much easier.” *

Student Tam :

“In our everyday life, whether travelling by bus, train, ferry or plane, shopping or reading, we should always pay attention to English language signs, advertisements and slogans, jotting down words that we find useful. We should also listen to English news broadcasts and repeatedly listen to the same piece of news for several times. In doing so, our English learning abilities are sure to improve.”

Student Chan :

“When reading a passage, we should first read the Chinese version to grasp the basic information and then read the English equivalent. In this way, we will find it easier to understand the text and be better able to learn

good phrases and sentences.”

Student Wong :

“I use a notebook to jot down vocabulary items and sentences when reading English newspapers and then do my revisions while waiting for public transport.”

The EDB encourages n o n - C h i n e s e s p e a k i n g students to integrate into the local education system and community a s e a r l y a s p o s s i b l e a n d h a s a l s o strengthened Chinese language teaching and learning support for them. Like their local counterparts, non-Chinese speaking students attending public schools will enjoy greater opportunities to be exposed to and use English at junior secondary levels under the fine-tuned arrangements. As non- Chinese speaking students’ families tend to have different expectations and have spent less time living in Hong Kong than local people, the EDB gives them the option of enrolling in “designated schools”⁵. As a result, it is far from true to say that such students may only study in Chinese.

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Chapter 5 Teachers

- Professional development programmes:

Our support, your participation

The EDB will continue to collaborate and provide schools and teachers with a variety of support measures to formulate their school-based MOI policies more effectively.

These support measures include:

Whole-school language policy workshops

The EDB has organised a total of 16 workshops attended by over 1,000 principals and teachers from more than 200 local schools.

Training courses and

professional support for serving teachers of non-language

secondary school subjects

The EDB will launch different modes of professional development courses for teachers by phases. Specific courses will include EMI teaching of non-language subjects and various school-based courses on whole-school language policies, which aim to help teachers in mastering and using the appropriate teaching language and designing and adapting curriculums, teaching strategies and approaches to cater for students’ diverse needs. The EDB will also provide supply teachers to stand in for

serving teachers participating in relevant professional development courses.

Half-yearly experience-sharing sessions

By attending these sessions, schools and teachers can exchange their experience in teaching practices and expertise. At the inaugural November 2009 session, the EDB has invited representatives from 13 schools to conduct professional exchanges with over 1,000 principals and teachers.

Promoting English activities across the curriculum and

researching the use of English in teaching non-language subjects

The EDB will conduct a large-scale longitudinal study to collect data and analyse the effectiveness of various fine-tuned MOI arrangements. We will also work with relevant research institutions to establish ways to develop effective teaching resources for teachers.

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Enhancing teaching and learning of English in primary schools

It is important to build a solid English language foundation for our students in primary education. The EDB will further enhance the teaching and learning of English in primary schools including the establishment of a scholarship to attract young talent to pursue a career in education, the strengthening of school-based support, the provision of professional training for teachers and the enhancement of English environment in primary schools. These measures will complement the fine-tuned MOI arrangements for secondary schools.

The successful implementation of all education policies and initiatives depends upon a team of energetic, dedicated and professional teachers. With the flexibility

allowed under MOI fine-tuning, the EDB hopes teachers will help students learn their subject knowledge and enhance their self- learning abilities effectively.

Reflections of principals and teachers

Mr Kwok Yiu-fung

Principal of Buddhist Wong Wan Tin College:

“Our school’s ‘fine-tuned policy’ will be implemented in accordance with three major principles. They include evaluating the benefits and abilities of our students and teachers, ensuring that all policies are interesting and useful, and increasing students’ learning confidence and enabling them to progress steadily to attain higher language standards.”

Mr Chu Sai-ming

English Panel Head of Maryknoll Secondary School :

“We use interesting topics as the entry point for English learning. In trying to teach certain Mathematical topics in English, we hope to enable our students to gain language skills which they can then decide whether to continue developing at senior secondary levels. We have taken reference from other schools and are considering to raise students’ interest in learning by switching to use English as the MOI in subjects such as Music, Physical Education and Visual Arts.”

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To ensure schools’ proper delivery of the fine-tuned arrangements, the EDB has also drawn up relevant guidelines and monitoring mechanisms in addition to the provision of support.

Meaning of MOI

Under the fine-tuned arrangements, for schools wishing to adopt English as the MOI for any non-language subject, the medium for delivering the subject content in the lesson, the basic textbooks, assignments for learning reinforcement as well as the assessment and evaluation for learning should primarily be in English. Similarly, for schools adopting Chinese as the MOI for any non-language subject, the medium for delivering the subject content in the lesson, the basic textbooks, assignments for learning reinforcement as well as the assessment and evaluation for learning should primarily be in Chinese.

Guiding principles for transforming ELA time to teaching of non-language subjects in English

To e n s u r e s t u d e n t s ’ l e a r n i n g effectiveness, all schools must ensure that their whole-school language policy covers MOI arrangements, and that the two are consistent in their policy objectives. Should a school consider allocating the ELA time

to the teaching of not more than two non- language subjects in English, schools has to make professional judgment on the basis of the following principles:

The school should make sure that the arrangements can be integrated into the school curriculum and that the consistency as well as coherence of the school curriculum can be maintained.

The school should adopt a student- c e n t r e d a p p r o a c h a n d c o n s i d e r thoroughly whether the arrangements can meet students’ ability and progress in learning through English as well as their needs, interests and aspirations.

The school should also consider its own circumstances, including their teachers’ capability, readiness and workload in adopting EMI; its culture of lesson observation and cross- curricular collaboration; and its strategies and measures to enhance teaching effectiveness. The school’s experiences and learning effectiveness in adopting English as the MOI by class/group at senior secondary levels, etc. are useful references.

The school should devise specific assessment criteria for academic and language learning when adopting such arrangement for self-evaluation and internal review to ensure that a

Chapter 6 Schools

– Formulating whole-school language policy

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challenging and interactive classroom environment can be cultivated for students. This is to enhance learning effectiveness and facilitate students’

smooth transition to senior secondary/

tertiary education or preparation for future career.

Rendering support and

exercising parallel monitoring

The EDB will put in place a primarily support-based monitoring system to ensure the successful implementation of the fine- tuning and safeguard the credibility of the arrangements. In line with the School Development and Accountability Framework, schools are held accountable for their MOI arrangements in relation to students’

learning outcomes. Schools should report their MOI arrangements and subsequent changes to the EDB on an annual basis.

If necessary, the EDB will enter into discussions with schools. Under the spirit of the School Development and Accountability Framework, schools will also be accountable to their various stakeholders. As such, they will be required to provide the EDB with explanations whenever necessary and must review and revise their arrangements where appropriate and if situation warrants. The whole-school language policy (including MOI arrangements, the rationales behind and school-based support measures) should be provided in the School Development Plans which will then be uploaded onto the school websites.

In terms of monitoring, schools have to conduct annual review of their whole- school language policy (including evaluation

criteria for MOI arrangements) and report their findings in their School Report. The EDB will organise focus inspections to help schools review the effectiveness of their MOI arrangements. We will also set up an advisory panel made up of expert educationalists to consider observations and findings made during the focus inspections. The panel members will make recommendations to the EDB on follow- up actions. The EDB has the responsibility to ensure that students are learning in a suitable language environment and that their learning effectiveness will not be compromised by MOI arrangements not meeting their needs. The EDB will, if situation warrants, direct schools to revise their MOI arrangements and undertake remedial measures, where appropriate.

In the event of a school’s non-compliance (e.g. implementation of MOI arrangements without meeting the prescribed criteria and without the EDB’s consent), the EDB will consider issuing warning letters to the school concerned. We will also bring the cases to the attention of the general public and undertake follow-up actions as required for individual cases.

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Chapter 7 Reference materials

– Summary of consultations, relevant links and references

Throughout the consultation, the EDB has upheld its belief that students’ interests should always remain our prime consideration and that the fine-tuning is to build on the achievements made by the Working Group of the Education Commission. The EDB has held over 150 consultation sessions and solicited the views of stakeholders such as academics, expert educationalists, school sponsoring bodies, principals, teachers, parents, students and the general public. The EDB would like to extend its sincere thanks to everyone for their patient participation and enthusiastic responses to the various proposals discussed during the consultation.

For further details about the Fine-tuning of Medium of Instruction in Secondary Schools, please visit: http://www.edb.gov.hk/

index.aspx?nodeID=1900&langno=1

For information about the Report on Review of Medium of Instruction in Secondary Schools and Secondary School Places Allocation issued in December 2005 by the Education Commission, please visit:

http://www.edb.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/

Content_2157/moi&sspa_report_eng.pdf

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Enriching Our Language Environment Enhancing Our Global Status

April 2010