[Archive] Medium of Instruction

Guidance for Secondary Schools
September 1997

• Why should we teach in the mother tongue?

   

  1.1	Educational research worldwide and in Hong Kong have shown that students learn better through their mother tongue. The educational benefits of mother-tongue teaching include :

   

  • Mother-tongue teaching has positive effects on students' learning;
  • Most students prefer learning in the mother tongue;
  • Students learning in the mother tongue generally perform better than their counterparts using English as medium of instruction (MOI); and
  • Students of traditional Chinese-medium schools consistently achieve a higher pass percentage than the territory-wide average in both Chinese Language and
  • English Language in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination. This shows the positive impact of mother-tongue teaching on the learning of Chinese and English as a subject.

  
  It is therefore Government's policy :

  • to encourage secondary schools to use Chinese as MOI; and
  • to discourage the use of mixed code, ie a mixture of Chinese and English, in teaching and learning.

  
  1.2 This policy has been re-affirmed over time:

  • In 1984, Education Commission Report (ECR) No. 1 established a clear policy to encourage secondary schools to teach in the mother tongue;
  • In 1986, Government introduced support measures to schools using Chinese as MOI;
  • In 1990, ECR4 endorsed the principles for MOI and recommended regular reviews to monitor progress and stronger measures to encourage Chinese-medium instruction and minimise mixed-code teaching;
  • In 1994, Government started to advise schools on the language proficiency of their Secondary 1 intake to assist them in choosing an appropriate MOI;
  • In 1994, Government announced a Policy Commitment to issue firm guidance to all secondary schools on MOI by 1997/98; and
  • In 1996, ECR6 re-affirmed the policy of mother-tongue teaching, supported the publication of advice on the appropriate MOI in 1997 for adoption by individual schools in 1998 and asked for clear indications of sanctions for non-compliance.

   

  1.3	With the use of Chinese as MOI lifting language barriers in the study of most subjects, students will be better able to understand what is taught, analyse problems, express views, develop an enquiring mind and cultivate critical thinking. Mother-tongue teaching thus leads to better cognitive and academic development. Our students can also have more time to concentrate on the learning of English.
  1.4	Nonetheless, Government fully appreciates that some schools have been operating successfully with English-medium teaching and have achieved good results. These schools may continue to teach in English if they wish to do so and satisfy the requirements at paragraph 2.4 below.
  1.5	There is consensus among the education sector that ED should continue to work together with schools and relevant bodies to promote mother-tongue teaching and concurrently enhance the language proficiency of our students. To this end, ECR6 provides a comprehensive strategy for enhancing proficiency in Chinese and English.
  1.6	ED will continue to do all it can to assist schools to upgrade the standard of language teaching and learning.

   

• What are the key considerations?

   

  2.1	For educational reasons, the appropriate MOI for most students is their mother tongue. For the benefit of our students, most schools should adopt Chinese for teaching all academic subjects, starting with their 1998/99 Secondary 1 intake and progressing each year to a higher level of secondary education.
  2.2	Exceptional consideration may be given to the special nature of certain subjects such as religious studies, cultural, commercial and technical subjects, and to the individual circumstances of a school.
  2.3	An individual school should not operate both Chinese-medium and English-medium classes at the same level. Such operation may give rise to "labelling" among students of the same level, thus adversely affecting teaching and learning. There may also be operational problems of allocation after Secondary 3 and additional workload for teachers.
  2.4	Schools should examine their situation to determine the MOI most suitable for their students. Those wishing to use, or to continue using, English as MOI with their 1998/99 and future Secondary 1 intake should ensure that this is educationally beneficial to their students. To give such assurance, schools which intend to do so must demonstrate to ED that they satisfy the requirements necessary for the effective use of English as MOI:
  	student ability to be an average percentage of not less than 85% of Medium of Instruction Grouping Assessment (MIGA) Groups* I and III students in Secondary 1 intake for the past three years; teacher capability to be based on the principal's assessment and certification. (The language benchmarks for teachers, to be developed later, will serve as an objective basis. As necessary, ED inspectors will visit schools to gather information on their state of readiness for using English as MOI); and support strategies and programmes (such as bridging courses) to give sound school-based assistance to students. *Group I: able to learn effectively in either Chinese or English Group II:able to learn more effectively in Chinese Group III:able to learn better in Chinese but may also learn effectively in English
  2.5	ED will continue to provide, and where necessary strengthen, support for schools using Chinese as MOI. These measures aim:
  	to enhance English language teaching and learning; to provide appropriate teacher education and teaching materials; and to promote better understanding of the benefits of mother-tongue teaching.
  2.6	Schools should enlist parents' co-operation and promote their understanding of mother-tongue teaching.
  2.7	Around April each year, ED publishes the Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) Secondary School List to help parents of Primary 6 pupils to choose schools. From the 1998/99 school year, the Secondary School List will indicate the appropriate MOI of individual schools.
  2.8	As the appropriate MOI is crucial to students' effective learning, ED has the responsibility to ensure that schools use the MOI published in the SSPA Secondary School List. ED may give directions to schools which fail toadopt the appropriate MOI.

   

• What are the arrangements?

   

  3.1	This guidance on MOI will apply from the 1998/99 school year.
  3.2	Most secondary schools in Hong Kong should adopt Chinese for teaching all academic subjects, starting with their 1998/99 Secondary 1 intake and progressing each year to a higher level of secondary education.
  3.3	Starting 1997, ED will provide MIGA information to schools in September, instead of November. Schools wishing to use, or to continue with, English must demonstrate to ED that they have satisfied the requirements: student ability, teacher capability and support strategies and programmes. To enable timely publication of the MOI in the SSPA Secondary School List for the 1998/99 school year, intending schools should provide ED with all relevant information before mid-October 1997
  3.4	For balance in the provision and allocation of school places, schools using English as MOI will be grouped to serve a number of neighbouring SSPA school nets. To minimize student movements at Secondary 4, such schools (if asymmetrical in class structure) will have to turn symmetrical wherever possible.
  3.5	A vetting committee chaired by a non-official on the Board of Education will consider information provided by schools. An appeals committee, whose Chairman will be designated by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, will consider any appeals against the decisions of the vetting committee.
  3.6	In January 1998, ED will inform schools of the vetting committee's decision. A school may approach the appeals committee if it so wishes.
  3.7	To ensure that schools use the MOI most appropriate for their students, ED will:
  	liaise with schools, conduct inspections and monitor parent or student feedback; remind schools where appropriate; and give directions to schools in accordance with Section 82 of the Education Ordinance. 3
  3.8	Some schools using Chinese as MOI for their Secondary 1 to Secondary 3, from 1998/99 to 2000/01, may wish to switch to English-medium for certain subjects in some classes at Secondary 4 and Secondary 5. Such schools must demonstrate to ED that they have satisfied the following requirements:
  	subject teachers being capable to teach in English; sound school-based support strategies and programmes (such as bridging courses) for assisting students to switch to English-medium; and students being sufficiently proficient in English for the switch.
  3.9	For Secondary 6 and Secondary 7, schools may decide themselves what MOI to be used, taking into consideration the profile of their Secondary 6 intake, and the needs of their students.
  3.10	ED will monitor the implementation of this guidance:
  	every three years, ED will review generally the MOI adopted by schools; and ED will follow the academic and personal development of the 1994/95 Secondary 1 students in the three-year longitudinal study (from 94/95 to 96/97) up to Secondary 5.

   

• What are the support measures?

  
  
  Additional resources

  4.1	Since 1986, ED has provided a package of positive measures to help enhance English language teaching and learning in schools using Chinese as MOI. These include:
  	additional teachers of English; partitions to create additional rooms for split-class teaching; additional wirefree induction loop system to enhance language teaching through listening; and library grant for additional reading materials and other English teaching aids.
  ED has reviewed these measures and, resources permitting, plans to enhance them from the 1998/99 school year.
  Teacher education
  4.2	ED has been providing training for teachers using Chinese as MOI. Since 1990, the then Colleges of Education and the Hong Kong Institute of Education (now The Education University of Hong Kong) have been running in-service courses for teachers in secondary schools using Chinese as MOI. ED has over the years also conducted numerous training programmes for secondary school teachers of non-language subjects. Such training will continue.
  4.3	With the development of language benchmarks later, teachers will have other opportunities for re-training on language proficiency. Furthermore, teachers should generally take the initiative to upgrade their skills and update their knowledge
  Textbooks and reference materials
  4.4	Since 1986, Government has encouraged publication of Chinese-medium textbooks. There are now over 160 sets on the recommended textbooks list for secondaryschools. For example, for Secondary 1 to Secondary 3, there are:
  Mathematics 18 sets Science 11 sets History 7 sets Geography 7 sets Economics and Public Affairs 7 sets Technical subjects 9 sets Music 9 sets
  Moreover, publishers have responded positively to ED's call for more qualityChinese-medium textbooks to meet the increasing demand.
  4.5	The Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) publishes all curriculum support materials bilingually except for subjects taught in only one language. Such materials include teaching syllabuses, curriculum guides, subject teaching guidelines and curriculum information pamphlets. To assist schools using Chinese as MOI, the CDI has also produced 24 English-Chinese glossaries of terms commonly used in the teaching of Secondary 1 to Secondary 7 syllabuses. These will be updated for re-issue to schools to facilitate their use of Chinese as MOI. The CDI regularly reviews such teaching materials to ensure their adequacy and to develop additional teaching materials.
  4.6	The CDI has issued two booklets to assist schools and teachers in helping their students: "Bridging English across Primary and Secondary Education" " Learning in the English Medium in Secondary 4"
  Public education and promotion
  4.7	ED will strengthen the on-going public education efforts  to promote better understanding of the benefits of mother-tongue teaching.

   

Our students face a unique language environment:

• Our community is essentially Chinese. We speak, read and write Chinese in our daily life. Government has therefore been promoting the use of Chinese over the years.We have also encouraged teaching and learning in the mother tongue.
• Hong Kong is an international business, financial and trading centre, and English is the language of business worldwide. To maintain a good standard of English is crucial to our economic competitiveness. Learning of the English language in schools is therefore a Government priority.

Our aim is for our students to be biliterate (ie master written Chinese and English) and trilingual (ie speak fluent Cantonese, Putonghua and English).