ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING DIFFICULTY IN HONG KONG SCHOOLS:

A B S T R A C T OF THESIS ENTITLED

 “ ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING DIFFICULTY IN HONG KONG SCHOOLS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF THE HONG KONG CONTEXT WITH PROPOSED SOLUTIONS”

SUBMITTED BY GEORGE H. ADAMS, MA OXON.

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSPOHY (PH.D.)

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG IN APRIL 1993.

The study is concerned with the problem of English language learning difficulty for secondary school students in Hong Kong.

The concept of difficulty is first examined and defined for the purposes of the study. Difficulty in language learning is then examined from the perspective of native speakers of English and the errors of first and second language learners are compared. The sociolinguistic orientation of the study examined the status of Hong Kong English to exclude the argument that what are perceived as “errors” are simply aspects of a separate variety of English. A final preliminary is provided by specific models of TEFL, psychology and general education.

The first research project was a close study of the error grading and the perception of difficulty of over 200 students in two secondary schools. Comparison is made between teacher and student perceptions. The working hypothesis, that extra-linguistic factors figure prominently in Hong Kong students’ and teachers’ perceptions of English language learning difficulty, is given strong support if not entirely confirmed (due to the limitations of the research projects themselves). 

The second part of the study looks at some of the areas of difficulty identified prominently by students and teachers in the first research project: interference (here called a “linguistic” factor); the general learning environment (which we term the “sociological/logistic” factor) and the learning style and approach (a main “psychological” factor).

The second research project was concerned with examining the attempts made by teachers to counter aspects of difficulty. Close classroom observation and analysis is made of three serving English teachers.

The study suggests that sociological/psychological factors are not peripheral but essential constituents of English language learning difficulty for Hong Kong secondary students and that teachers rarely intervene effectively to alleviate these difficulties despite ample opportunities and a clear need to do so.

A model of intervention based on Transactional Analysis is proposed as a direction for further research.