XN000022-1987-08-17 — Page 3

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MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 1987

J

OF

"THE COMMISSION BELIEVES THAT RAISING THE STANDARDS LANGUAGES IN SCHOOLS IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE AND THAT IS WHY IT HAS ENDORSED THE INTRODUCTION OF A LANGUAGE PACKAGE ΤΟ THIS," MR LAN ADDED.

ACHIEVE

TALKING ON THE LANGUAGE PACKAGE, MR LAN SAID IT WAS A SET OF INTERRELATED MEASURES. THESE INCLUDE THE CHANGES IN THE LANGUAGE CURRICULUM AND SYLLABUSES, PROVISION OF MORE TEACHERS AND TEACHER-TRAINING STAFF, AND THE INTRODUCTION OF UP-TO-DATE TECHNOLOGY AND NEW TEACHING AND TESTING MATERIALS.

"AN INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION (ILE) HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED THAT CARRIES OUT A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES RELATING TO LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING, WITH PARTICULAR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE RE-TRAINING OF TEACHERS OF CANTONESE, PUTONGHUA AND ENGLISH."

MR LAN SAID THAT FOLLOWING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FIRST SET OF MEASURES, A SECOND "LANGUAGE PACKAGE" HAD BEEN INTRODUCED ΤΟ STRENGTHEN THE QUALITY OF CHINESE LANGUAGE TEACHING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND TO ENCOURAGE INDIVIDUAL SECONDARY SCHOOL AUTHORITIES TO ADOPT CHINESE AS THE MEDIUM OF TEACHING.

HAD ALSO BEEN

IN ADDITION, TWO OTHER IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENTS INTRODUCED. THE FIRST WAS THE PROVISION OF EXPATRIATE LECTURERS FOR THE ILE AND THE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION, HE SAID.

"THE SECOND INCLUDED THE EXTENSION OF THE ILE'S FULL-TIME, FOUR-MONTH, IN-SERVICE COURSES FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH TECHERS BY ADDING A THREE-WEEK INTENSIVE RESIDENTIAL COURSE IN HONG KONG AND A FOUR-WEEK COURSE IN ENGLAND AS WELL AS A COMPLEMENTARY SCHEME ΤΟ EMPLOY EXPATRIATE TEACHERS TO TEACH ENGLISH IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

AND

"IT IS THIS SCHEME FOR WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN RECRUITED CALLED UPON TO PARTICIPATE IN, MR LAN TOLD THE EXPATRIATE TEACHERS.

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THE COURSE WILL OFFER THE EXPATRIATE TEACHERS AN INTRODUCTION TO HONG KONG'S SOCIO-CULTURAL BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSIONS AND EXCHANGES ON PROFESSIONAL MATTERS, INCLUDING THE AIMS OF THE SCHEME, THE EDUCATION SYSTEM, THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMMES OF THE SCHOOLS AND THE PROCESS OF ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE PILOT SCHEME.

A

IN CONCLUSION, MR LAN THANKED THE BRITISH COUNCIL FOR ITS EFFORTS IN RECRUITING THE EXPATRIATE TEACHERS TO HONG KONG WITHIN SHORT PERIOD TO ENABLE THE PILOT SCHEME TO BE CARRIED OUT ON TIME.

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