XN000022-1987-09-01 — Page 9

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1987

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MEASURES TO FURTHER IMPROVE ENGLISH IN SCHOOLS

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THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, MR DAVID LAN, (TUESDAY) TOLD A GROUP OF SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ENGLISH, WHO JUST RETURNED FROM A "TOTAL IMMERSION" LANGUAGE TRAINING COURSE FROM BRITAIN FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT, THAT THEY HAD A CRUCIAL ROLE TO PLAY TO FURTHER IMPROVE THE STANDARDS OF ENGLISH IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

AT A TEA PARTY TO WELCOME THEIR RETURN AT THE LEE GARDENS HOTEL, MR LAN SAID THEIR EXPERIENCE AS PARTICIPANTS IN A 23-WEEK LANGUAGE TRAINING COURSE WOULD PROVIDE THEM WITH MANY SUGGESTIONS FOR ACTIVITIES IN WHICH LANGUAGE COULD BE PUT TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM.

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THE 23-WEEK PROGRAMME INCLUDED A 16-WEEK COURSE ORGANISED THE INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, THREE-WEEK RESIDENTIAL COURSE AT THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG AND A FOUR-WEEK OVERSEAS COURSE. DURING THEIR STAY IN BRITAIN, THE TEACHERS STUDIED IN VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS WHICH HAD EXPERIENCE IN RUNNING COURSES FOR OVERSEAS TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AND LIVED WITH

ENGLISH-SPEAKING FAMILIES.

COMMENTING ON THE TRAINING PROGRAMME, MR LAN SAID IT OFFERED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR IN-SERVICE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS TO FURTHER DEVELOP THEIR COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS.

THE PROGRAMME CATERING FOR 100 LOCAL TEACHERS THIS YEAR WOULD INCREASE OVER FIVE YEARS TO 300 A YEAR WITH A COST OF

$3.5 MILLION THIS YEAR RISING TO $10.5 MILLION A YEAR BY 1991/92.

MR LAN SAID THE TRAINING COURSE TOGETHER WITH A PILOT SCHEME ON THE RECRUITMENT OF A NUMBER OF EXPATRIATE NATIVE-SPEAKER TEACHERS OF ENGLISH WAS AN INDICATION OF THE GOVERNMENT'S DETERMINATION TO DO ALL IT COULD TO MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING IN SCHOOLS BOTH NOW AND IN THE FUTURE.

HE ADDED THAT THE PILOT SCHEME WOULD BE SUBJECT TO RIGOROUS EVALUATION BY THE EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, THE HONG KONG EXAMINATIONS AUTHORITY, THE BRITISH COUNCIL AND A UNIVERSITY OUTSIDE HONG KONG WELL KNOWN FOR ITS EXPERTISE LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE, MOST PROBABLY, THE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY.

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"WE ARE, I BELIEVE, MAKING CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS IN SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DIFFERENT MEASURES IN THE LANGUAGE PACKAGES WHICH ARE BOTH INNOVATIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE," HE SAID.

CITING AN EXAMPLE, MR LAN SAID THE MAJOR ADJUSTMENTS THAT HAD BEEN MADE TO THE LANGUAGE SYLLABUSES AT BOTH PRIMARY AND SECONDARY LEVELS WERE BASED ON MAJOR ADVANCES THAT HAD BEEN MADE IN THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION.

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