WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1985
31
HONG KONG MOVING TOWARDS GENUINE BILINGUALISM
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HONG KONG IS MOVING TOWARDS GENUINE BILINGUALISM BECAUSE OF ITS INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION AND FOR OBVIOUS AND PRACTICAL REASONS, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, MR PETER C. WONG SAID TODAY (WEDNESDAY).
SPEAKING AT THE CLOSING CEREMONY OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE SEMINAR ORGANISED BY THE INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATIO.. OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, MR WONG SAID THE SEMINAR ELOQUENTLY REFLECTED THE OBJECT OF THE INSTITUTE, FOCUSING ON WAYS AND MEANS TO IMPROVE STANDARD IN BOTH CHINESE AND ENGLISH LEARNING AND TEACHING.
+ SEMINARS SUCH AS THE PRESENT ONE ARE THEREFORE EXTREMELY VALUABLE, HE SAID. THE THEME OF THE SEMINAR IS +LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION: FUTURE DIRECTIONS+.
APART FROM FOSTERING BETTER AND CLOSER UNDERSTANDING AMONG PARTICIPANTS, MR WONG SAID THE STIMULATING AND ENLIGHTENING EXCHANGES OF VIEWS WOULD NO DOUBT CONTRIBUTE TO THE EFFORTS MADE IN THE FIELD OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION.
MR WONG SAID HE WAS IMPRESSED BY THE RANGE OF THE SPECIAL TOPICS COVERED DURING THE SEMINAR, ADDING THAT THE DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS AND THE PARTICIPANTS MUST HAVE FOUND THE SEMINAR BOTH INTERESTING AND REWARDING.
+MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE EMPHASIS ON THE FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION SO EVIDENT IN THIS SEMINAR WILL NO DOUBT HELP PAVE THE WAY FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THIS VITAL AREA, HE ADDED.
+ALTHOUGH CHINESE AND ENGLISH ARE VERY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES IT IS NOT BEYOND THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY TO DEVISE EDUCATIONALLY SOUND METHODS, WHEREBY PROFICIENCY IN BOTH LANGUAGES MAY BE ATTAINED BY THE AVERAGE STUDENT, HE SAID.
IN THIS CONNECTION, TEACHER PREPARATION WAS, OF COURSE, OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE, MR WONG SAID.
ON LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION, MR WONG SAID THE INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION, THE LANGUAGE TEACHING CENTRES AND THE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION WERE CURRENTLY PROVIDING EXCELLENT COURSES IN THIS FIELD AND WOULD NO DOUBT CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SUCH COURSES, PERHAPS WITH CHANGING EMPHASIS AS CIRCUMSTANCES DICTATE SO THAT LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION WAS KEPT ABREAST OF THE TIMES.
MR WONG SAID THERE WAS A GROWING AWARENESS THAT WHILE ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE WAS IMPORTANT, CHINESE WAS EQUALLY IMPORTANT NOT ONLY BECAUSE CHINESE WAS AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN HONG KONG, BUT ALSO IN VIEW OF THE PROXIMITY OF 1997, IT WAS INEVITABLE THAT THE USE OF CHINESE WOULD BECOME INCREASINGLY PREVALENT.
**E GOVERNMENT
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