8.
8.1
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COMMUNICATION
The formal medium of instruction at the Baptist College. and at the Polytechnic is English, but the normal language of communication for most students is Cantonese. The ability of students to communicate is a major educational issue at the tertiary level. Members have gained the impression that most students understand written and spoken English but that their ability to communicate and to express themselves in English is not nearly so well developed. This limited ability to speak and write English fluently can give the impression that the student does not understand but generally this is not
SO.
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
8.6
The ability to understand and to express himself well varies widely from student to student. Some are extremely fluent others much less so. The practice seems to be for lectures to be conducted in English but for any discussion of the problems arising from the content of the lecture to be carried out in Chinese.
At the Baptist College some of the instruction takes place in Cantonese. This makes good sense if thereby the communication between the student and the staff is improved, but since the majority of texts and manuals are in English and since the language of communication in the upper reaches of the Civil and Structural Engineering industry is English it is essential that the students have a ready facility in the language. There is a lot of evidence that the communicative ability of students plays an important role in determining the extent to which the more factual material can be assimilated.
The more discursive courses at the Baptist College, New Testament studies, Old Testament Studies and Chinese Philosophy probably help students' communicative ability; certainly students welcome the different approach in those courses to that of the more analytical and tight approach in the remainder of their studies. The teaching is in Chinese however.
The ability in English and communication of the students at the Baptist College seems to be superior to that of Polytechnic students, but this may be due to the fact that the Baptist College students are more socially adept and therefore communicate more easily in general.
Members consider that it would repay the effort if the students were to be given more specific instruction in effective communication. Members see this closely linked with the role of the Engineer in Society and perhaps there is benefit in relating these two aspects in the students' instruction.