Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T22:04:12.884Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Learning to Teach English in Hong Kong: Transformation and Tensions Over Two Decades of English Language Teacher Education Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2020

By
Gary James Harfitt
Edited by
Amy Bik May Tsui
Amy Bik May Tsui
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
Get access

Summary

This chapter critically examines twenty years of English language teaching and teacher education reform in Hong Kong as well as the rationale behind these changes and what they mean for Hong Kong’s English language teachers. It throws a light on the role of English language in local teacher education policy, something which has fuelled controversy and debate. The chapter details the wide-ranging reforms that have been enacted by authorities in response to local and global issues in English language teaching including curriculum changes, assessment reform, language proficiency requirements, medium of instruction (MOI) policies across schools, recruitment of overseas language teachers and the provision of mandated continued professional development. Positioning Hong Kong as a complex and multilayered landscape where cultural, political, economic, linguistic and educational factors all intertwine, the chapter concludes that a form of government ‘mandate’ has characterised the implementation of education reforms since 1997.

Keywords

English language teachersteacher educationcurriculum reformlanguage policymedium of instruction (MOI)language proficiency requirements
Type
Chapter
Information
English Language Teaching and Teacher Education in East Asia
Global Challenges and Local Responses
 , pp. 57 - 74
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ACTEQ (Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications). (2003). Towards a Learning Profession: The Teacher Competencies Framework and the Continuing Professional Development of Teachers. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Bolton, K. (2008). English in Asia, Asian Englishes, and the issue of proficiency. English Today, 24(2), 3–12.Google Scholar
Bunton, D. & Tsui, A. B. M. (2002). Setting language benchmarks: Whose benchmarks? Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 12(1), 63–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carless, D. (2004). Issues in teachers’ re-interpretation of a task-based innovation in primary schools. TESOL Quarterly, 38(4), 639–662.Google Scholar
Carless, D. & Harfitt, G. J., (2013). Innovation in secondary education: A case of curriculum reform in Hong Kong. In Hyland, K & Wong, L, (Eds.), Innovation and Change in English Language Education, 172–185. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chan, J. Y. H. (2014). Fine-tuning language policy in Hong Kong education: Stakeholders’ perceptions, practices and challenges. Language and Education, 28(5), 459–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choi, P. K. (2003). ‘The best students will learn English’: Ultra-utilitarianism and linguistic imperialism in education in post-1997 Hong Kong. Journal of Education Policy, 18, 673–694.Google Scholar
Coniam, D. & Falvey, P. (2013). Ten years on: The Hong Kong Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers of English (LPATE). Language Testing, 30(1), 147–155.Google Scholar
Curriculum Development Council. (2014). Basic Education Curriculum Guide (Primary 1–6). Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
EC (Education Commission). (1996). Report No. 6. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
EC (Education Commission) (2000). Learning for Life Learning through Life: Reform Proposals for the Education System in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Education Bureau of Hong Kong. (2007). Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (English Language) Handbook. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Education Bureau of Hong Kong (2009). Enriching Our Language Environment, Realizing Our Vision: Fine-Tuning of Medium of Instruction for Secondary Schools. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
EMB (Education and Manpower Bureau). (2005). The New Academic Structure for Senior Secondary Education and Higher Education: Action Plan for Investing in the Future of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Evans, S. (2010). Language in transitional Hong Kong: Perspectives from the public and private sectors. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31, 347–363.Google Scholar
Evans, S. & Morrison, B. (2017). English-medium instruction in Hong Kong: Illuminating a grey area in school policies and classroom practices. Current Issues in Language Planning, 18(3), 302–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gram, N. P. (2018). ‘The evolving self’: A narrative inquiry of experience shaping and identity shifting in native-speaking English teachers (NETS) in Hong Kong Secondary Schools. Doctoral dissertation, University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Harfitt, G. J. (2015). Class Size Reduction: Key Insights from Secondary School Classrooms. Singapore: Springer Publications.Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A. (2007). Setting attainable and appropriate English language targets in multilingual settings: A case for Hong Kong. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17, 376–391.Google Scholar
Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siriboe, K. & Harfitt, G. J. (2017). A parental perspective of school and familial curriculum making: A narrative inquiry of early childhood education planning in Hong Kong. Education 3–13, 46(5), 535–546.Google Scholar
Tang, S. Y. F. (2015). The creeping of neo-liberal influences into teacher education policy: The case of Hong Kong. Asia-Pacific Educational Researcher, 24(2), 271–282.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. B. M. (1996). Reticence and anxiety in second language learning. In Bailey, K. M. & Nunan, D. (Eds.), Voices from the Language Classroom, 145–167. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. B. M. (2004). Medium of instruction in Hong Kong: One country, two systems, whose language? In Tollefson, J. W. & Tsui, A. B. M. (Eds.), Medium of Instruction Policies: Which Agenda? Whose Agenda?, 97–106. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. B. M., Coniam, D., Sengupta, S. & Wu, K. Y. (1994). Computer-mediated communication and teacher education: The case of TELENEX. In Bird, N, Falvey, P, Tsui, A. B. M., Coniam, D, Falvey, P & McNeill, A (Eds.), Language and Learning, 352–369. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. B. M. & Tollefson, J. W. (2007). Language policy and the construction of national cultural identity. In Tsui, A. B. M. & Tollefson, J. W. (Eds.), Language Policy, Culture and Identity in Asian Contexts, 1–21. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Tung, C. H. (1999). Quality People. Quality Home. Positioning Hong Kong for the Twenty-First Century. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×