WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1979
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USE OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, TRANSLATION CLARIFIED
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THE DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, THE HON. KENNETH TOPLEY, TODAY (WEDNESDAY) CLARIFIED IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL THE USE OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND TRANSLATION IN SCHOOLS.
MR. TOPLEY, IN REPLY TO A QUESTION FROM THE HON. JAMES WU, SAID: +IF BY GRAMMAR MR. WU IS REFERRING TO THE REGULAR FEATURES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, THE UNDERLYING SYSTEM WHICH MAKES THE LANGUAGE WORK, THEN THE LANGUAGE TEACHING IN OUR SCHOOLS ALREADY DOES, AND INDEED MUST INCLUDE GRAMMAR,
+IF, HOWEVER, HE MEANS THE USE OF TRADITIONAL GRAMMATICAL NOMENCLATURE SUCH AS THE FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE' OR "DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING ADJECTIVAL CLAUSES'. TOGETHER WITH THE ROTE LEARNING OF VERBAL PARADIGMS AND LISTS OF EXCEPTIONS TO GRAMMATICAL RULES', MODERN EXPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT THESE ARE NOT ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESSFUL LANGUAGE LEARNING, THOUGH SOME KNOWLEDGE OF TERMINOLOGY MAY BE USEFUL FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS, MR, TOPLEY SAID,
HE SAID IT WAS THEREFORE NOT INTENDED TO REINTRODUCE THIS +FORMAL+ GRAMMAR INTO SCHOOLS.
ON TRANSLATION, MR. TOPLEY HAD THIS TO SAY: +1F BY 'TRANSLATION' MR. WU MEANS THE TRANSLATION OF LONG DESCRIPTIVE OR NARRATIVE PASSAGES FROM ENGLISH TO CHINESE AND VICE VERSA, THIS IS A VERY ADVANCED SKILL AND IS CLEARLY NOT A SUITABLE EXERCISE AT THE BEGINNING OR INTERMEDIATE STAGES OF LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE.+
THEREFORE, HE SAID, HE DID NOT CONSIDER IT SUITABLE FOR INCLUSION IN THE NORMAL GENERAL SECONDARY COURSE.
MR. TOPLEY SAID THAT IF MR. WU WAS REFERRING TO THE TRANSLATION OF INDIVIDUAL PHRASES AND SENTENCES TO DEMONSTRATE HOW CHINESE AND ENGLISH DIFFER IN THEIR SYNTAX, THIS WAS STANDARD PRACTICE IN MOST LANGUAGE TEACHING BEYOND THE BEGINNER'S LEVEL.
+ IT ALREADY TAKES PLACE IN OUR SCHOOLS, MR. TOPLEY STRESSED.
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