Abel Chan, F.4F (1)
In Hong Kong, students are generally quite good at English, especially reading and grammar, but they are not really good at speaking. Why do I say that, you might ask. The reason is an experience I had while on an exchange program held by our school, the aim of which was to let students discuss more about global issues, and also to provide them with an opportunity to practise their oral skills with people from different countries.
Mostly we were talking about national education. As we know, although Hong Kong is an international, multi-cultural city, there is no area of the SAR curriculum that deals with national education, or comparative education. Therefore students usually don’t have a clear idea about education in their own nation or other countries; such a situation may foster national stereotyping and even engender racism.
In this program, there were people from Korea, Germany, mainland China and also The United States. They tried to share their experience of their own countries, and have fun with us. We were given an introduction to education in their countries, and played fun games like rock-paper-scissors. There was also group discussion.
I strongly recommend students to think deeply about education. Regarding national education, there are 4 phrases to define a nation. Power Distance (PDI), Individualism (IDV), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) and Masculinity (MAS). These 4 phrases encapsulate how the people of a nation or country live. For example, Hong Kong is a place with high power distance or masculinity but low uncertainty avoidance and individualism. That basically means Hong Kong people like to stick to rules and be less different from their friends, as that could lead to a lot of pressure on individuals.
In this program, there were people from Korea, Germany, mainland China and also The United States. They tried to share their experience of their own countries, and have fun with us. We were given an introduction to education in their countries, and played fun games like rock-paper-scissors. There was also group discussion.
I strongly recommend students to think deeply about education. Regarding national education, there are 4 phrases to define a nation. Power Distance (PDI), Individualism (IDV), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) and Masculinity (MAS). These 4 phrases encapsulate how the people of a nation or country live. For example, Hong Kong is a place with high power distance or masculinity but low uncertainty avoidance and individualism. That basically means Hong Kong people like to stick to rules and be less different from their friends, as that could lead to a lot of pressure on individuals.
In my view, all students enjoyed these sessions. However, some students couldn’t really take part in them, as they were too shy to take the first step. Learning English may be a basic element of the curriculum in Hong Kong schools, but have we considered whether lessons go far enough in allowing students to communicate with foreign people? In fact, Hong Kong students have fewer problems with grammar or reading as I have mentioned, but they find it difficult to express themselves verbally, in a discussion.
Because there is a lack of practice in this area, students always need to think about their grammar before they start speaking, which is why they often miss the chance to contribute and have low self-esteem in such situations. After that a student might lose interest in English.
So, my suggestion is for our school to provide some lessons dedicated solely to conversation and discussion, where there is only dialogue in English between students and their English teacher but no homework. This would lead to a more relaxed approach to learning the spoken language, and allow students to feel more confident when speaking English.
Because there is a lack of practice in this area, students always need to think about their grammar before they start speaking, which is why they often miss the chance to contribute and have low self-esteem in such situations. After that a student might lose interest in English.
So, my suggestion is for our school to provide some lessons dedicated solely to conversation and discussion, where there is only dialogue in English between students and their English teacher but no homework. This would lead to a more relaxed approach to learning the spoken language, and allow students to feel more confident when speaking English.
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