XN000022-1987-01-21 — Page 14

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1987

SPEAKING DURING THE ADJOURNMENT DEBATE ON THE EDUCATION COMMISSION REPORT NO. 2 MRS TAM SAID APART FROM WIDELY PUBLICISING ITS BILINGUAL POLICY, THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD SET AN EXAMPLE BY EMP HAS ISING THAT EQUAL IMPORTANCE WOULD BE GIVEN TO THE STANDARDS OF BOTH ENGLISH AND CHINESE IN RECRUITING CIVIL SERVANTS.

SHE ALSO PROPOSED THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD ENCOURAGE TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS WHICH ADOPTED ENGLISH AS THE TEACHING MEDIUM TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE REMEDIAL LANGUAGE COURSES FOR STUDENTS WHO HAD RECEIVED THEIR SECONDARY EDUCATION IN CHINESE SO THAT THEY MIGHT ADAPT THEMSELVES TO THE CHANGE IN THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION.

MRS TAM WAS CONVINCED THAT IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT FAITHFULLY THE POLICY OF ADOPTING CHINESE AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION AND ATTACHING EQUAL IMPORTANCE TO BOTH ENGLISH AND CHINESE, THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD STATE CLEARLY ITS DETERMINATION AND OBJECTIVES.

MRS TAM ALSO BELIEVED THAT THERE SHOULD BE ADEQUATE FAVOURABLE FACTORS CONDUCIVE TO THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW TEACHING POLICY AT SCHOOLS, SHOULD CHINESE BE ADOPTED AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION.

IN ADDITION TO THE PROPOSALS FOR PROVIDING ADDITIONAL TEACHERS OF CHINESE AND ADOPTING SPLIT CLASS TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS RECOMMENDED BY THE COMMISSION REPORT, MRS TAM SAID THE AUTHORITIES SHOULD ALSO TAKE CERTAIN POINTS INTO CONSIDERATION.

FIRSTLY, SHE OBJECTED TO THE MODE THAT, APART FROM TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND CHINESE LANGUAGE SUBJECTS, ALLOWED SCHOOL AUTHORITIES TO ADOPT ENGLISH AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION FOR SOME SUBJECTS AND CHINESE AS THE MEDIUM FOR OTHERS.

+I THINK THAT STUDENTS WILL BE CONFUSED BY THIS MODE AND WILL HAVE DIFFICULTY IN ADAPTATION, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY CHANGE TO ANOT HER SCHOOL.

+1 HOPE THE AUTHORITIES WILL GIVE UP THIS PARTICULAR MODE,+ SHE SAID.

SECONDLY, SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT HAVING AN ADEQUATE PROVISION OF TEXT BOOKS WRITTEN IN CHINESE WAS A PREREQUISITE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY OF ADOPTING CHINESE AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION.

THEREFORE, SHE FULLY SUPPORTED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE FOUNDATION.

ON RAISING THE STANDARD OF ENGLISH, MRS TAM BELIEVED THAT APART FROM RESORTING TO SPLIT CLASS TEACHING, THE AUTHORITIES SHOULD CONDUCT AN OVERALL REVIEW OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT METHODS AND APPROACHES CURRENTLY USED IN TEACHING ENGLISH.

/AT PRESENT,