Foreword

The language education policy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is to enable the Hong Kong people, particularly students and working adults, to become biliterate (in written Chinese and English) and trilingual (in Cantonese, Putonghua and spoken English). While this policy has extensive community support, how best to achieve its goal has been a subject of ongoing debate both inside and outside the education sector.

For a number of years, there has been growing concern within the community over the need for a more concerted approach to improving the language competencies of our population to ensure that Hong Kong remains a truly cosmopolitan city.

In early 2001, SCOLAR began a review of language education in Hong Kong. My colleagues and I have reviewed academic and official literature on the subject, visited a number of schools, discussed the issue in depth with key stakeholders, and conducted a survey on motivation for language learning.

We issued a consultation document titled "Action Plan to Raise Language Standards in Hong Kong" in January 2003. Copies of the document were made available at District Offices for distribution to members of the public. They were also sent to kindergartens and child care centres, primary and secondary schools, higher education institutions, school councils, teacher organisations, parent-teacher associations, education-related advisory bodies, business associations and professional organisations. We also posted the consultation document and the full review report on the SCOLAR website for online access by the public.

During the eight-week public consultation period, I presented the consultation document at meetings of the Legislative Council Panel on Education, Education Commission, Curriculum Development Council, Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority Council, and Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications. I also conducted two public consultation sessions to reach out to members of the community and solicit their views.

We received a total of 193 submissions by post, e-mail, fax and telephone from a variety of organisations and individuals. The review findings and recommendations were also widely reported in the media.

We would like to thank all members of the public who shared their valuable ideas with us. We have tried to summarise their views and our response to them in this final review report.

Our final recommendations (underlined, with action parties identified in the right margin) attempt to set the direction for future language education policies and measures. They are what we consider to be realistic and achievable, taking into account public opinions and factors such as the availability of resources and the qualifications of serving language teachers. We have also recapitulated our recommendations at the end of this report for ease of reference.

The successful implementation of our final recommendations relies on the support and co-operation of the entire community. I appeal to the Government, school management, teachers, parents, employers, the mass media, and language learners themselves each to do their part. Let's work hand in hand to raise language standards in Hong Kong!

Michael Tien
Chairman
SCOLAR