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Does the switch of medium of instruction facilitate the language learning of students? A case study of Hong Kong from teachers’ perspective / Angela Choi Fung Tam
// Language and education 2011, Vol25, N.5 2011p. 399-417 The medium of instruction (MOI) and its impact on improving the language proficiency of students has become a debated issue worldwide. The policy-makers of post-colonial Hong Kong believed that the general Chinese competency, Chinese writing and Pu¬tonghua proficiency of students would be improved through the use of a Putonghua- medium-of-instruction (PMI) rather than the Cantonese medium, the mother tongue of students and teachers. Therefore, using Putonghua to teach the Chinese language has been promulgated as a long-term goal by the Curriculum Development Council. Early studies have placed an emphasis on using standardized tests to assess students’ learning outcomes with the use of PMI, but unfortunately the findings have been inconclusive. Despite teachers’ involvement in implementing the MOI policy, there is a dearth of stud¬ies examining the perspective of teachers regarding the language learning of students under PMI. This paper aims to explore this important issue in greater depth through a case study of a high school, which has implemented PMI to teach the Chinese language for 10 years. The findings indicate that there are mismatches between the stated educa¬tional policy intentions and the language learning of students in various aspects. Further studies and follow-up measures on the language policy and education are suggested
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The student experience of English-medium higher education in Hong Kong / Stephen Evans and Bruce Morrison
// Language and education 2011, Vol25, N.2 2011p. 147-162 Research conducted in the 1980s and 1990s pointed to a widening gap on Hong Kong university campuses between institutional language policy, which stipulated the use of English, and classroom practice, which often involved the use of Cantonese to explain and discuss English written materials. This article presents the findings of a multidimensional study which sought to uncover patterns of in-class and out-of-class language use at one officially English-medium institution between 2000 and 2010 and to identify the challenges that its mainly Cantonese-speaking undergraduates experience when listening to and speaking English for academic purposes. The findings were derived from two campus-wide questionnaire surveys and an interview-based longitudinal study of the student experience of English-medium higher education. The findings indicate that the gap between policy and practice has closed noticeably in the past decade in consequence of the increasing internationalisation of the student body and institutional initiatives to enforce the medium-of-instruction policy. While there is a closer, though not watertight, alignment between policy and practice in lectures and seminars, the evidence suggests that students have little need or desire to speak English outside the classroom, apart from situations in which international students or non-Cantonese- speaking students from mainland China are present
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