Present and future standards of English in Hong Kong

1. Present and future standards of English in Hong Kong Chris Wardlaw Deputy Secretary Education and Manpower Bureau 22 April 2006 ___________________________________________________________ Enhancing Effective English Language Assessment in Secondary Schools

2. Trilingualism – Our Expectations • The needs and expectations of the community place a premium on higher levels of trilingualism (Cantonese, Putonghua and English) and biliteracy (Chinese and English) to support the rapid restructuring of Hong Kong, its rich culture and global inter-connectedness.

3. Where do we stand? In the dark all education systems, all schools, all classrooms look similar…. But with some good data …. Important differences become apparent

4. Territory-System Assessment (TSA) 2004 2005 2006 P3 75.9 78.8 ? P6 70.5 ? S3 ? • Improvement expected as teachers engage more with the expected professionally defined competencies

5. Program for International Reading Literacy Survey (PIRLS) Dr SK Tse and colleagues, HKU Study of bilingual literacy of P4 students Findings 2001 – 2004 • Improved literacy in Chinese, but individual differences are growing • For biliteracy our top students are good at both C and E and by international standards are excellent • Girls do better than boys • Parents give importance of learning to Chinese more than they do for English. We may have the impression otherwise • Reading habit and self concept in C is as high as other countries, but not so for E

6. Mean Scores of Pre-S1 HKAT

7. Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 • 43 countries participated; 15-year olds • 1 Mathematics • 3 Science • 10 Reading (five jurisdictions ahead)

8. Student performance in HKCEE "English Language" subject (Syl. B) and HKALE "Use of English" subject (1997-2005)

9. IELTS for university graduates 200320042005 6.46 6.51 6.64 Great majority at 6 and above “competent user”

10. Percentage of teachers with a degree and teacher training

11. Professional upgrading and support • Incentive grants for serving language teachers • LPR. Over 90% attained or in progress 3. NETs <50 in 1995 800 in 2005 Extending to 1,200 over next 2-3 years 4. New languages teachers “all graduate, all trained”

12. Data • It is misused, it is misrepresented. • But this does not mean we abandon. • We have to have protocols • We put data in context/use it judiciously • We use it to drive for improvement Without data, I am just another person with an opinion.

13. The future of English? (Graddol 2005) • Wave of English learning in process of globalisation. • Increasingly pushed down to primary, even pre-primary. • But Mandarin, Hindi-Urdu, Spanish, Arabic all growing. • World is rapidly becoming multi-lingual and English is only one of the languages people in other places are learning. • The question for the next decade is not ‘Have you got English?’ but rather, ‘Of course, you have English, but what else can you offer?’

14. Chinese as a foreign language across the world • Estimated number studying Chinese is rising by 40% annually in Europe • In France 10,000 middle school students learning Chinese; more than English, Japanese or Spanish • Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) (PTH equivalent of TOEFL) 1996 (210,000), 2000 (400,000) • Estimated 30 million non-native took Chinese classes in 2003

15. Developing Conditions to Support Language Learningin Schools • Research and • development Setting Standards Assessment and accountability Professional Qualifications, Training and Development Teaching and Learning Values and Beliefs Parent Support Basic Education Curriculum Guide Chinese + English KLA Guides Targetted Resources & Support Intensified support for students with special needs High Quality Materials and Strategies Class organisation and grouping

16. Most people learn by doing rather than by conceptual thinking (as shown by Glazer’s modalities of learning)

17. Language in 334 – Diversifying Student Learning • Globalisation of knowledge places higher premium on integration of theoretical and applied learning. • Students learn differently. • Build on interest and aptitude and what students know already • Context serves as bridge between theory and application • Context also brings numeracy, generic skills along with language.

18. The future of English insenior secondary A new curriculum and assessment in HKCEE 2007 • a step along the way to 334 • align with changes underway in primary and junior secondary (purposeful, integrative and creative use of English; reading to learn; language arts; language rich environment; assessment for learning…) • standards based reporting • extensive research and development projects to develop level descriptors

19. Assessment A Framework of School Assessment Practices FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT (informs learning and teaching) SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT (measures attainment) Leads to more successful results Learning and Teaching Processes Public Assessment Internal Assessment Feedback Loop

20. School-based assessment • An extra task or a critical component in helping students learn? • Managing diversity • 20% students did not attend or attempt any part of oral language paper in HKCEE English Language in 2005 • Managing change

21. Pragmatism of means, clarity of ends. 筌者所以在魚 得魚而忘筌言者所以在意 得意而忘言 Forget the trap as soon as the fish is caught, forget the means by which the end is attained

22. Our challenge Can all students, who show perseverance, and are supported by good teaching, be motivated to achieve their best… and at least Level 1 in English?