ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING DIFFICULTY IN HONG KONG SCHOOLS:

PREFACE

The question of difficulty in English language learning in Hong Kong is complicated for a number of reasons. Firstly, the status of English in Hong Kong’s unique colonial setting is uncertain.  Although it is still accepted as an official language, the extent of its future use is far from clear. Secondly, the rapidly ex­panding education sphere has changed the extent to which English is available and the extent to which it is  needed  and  used.  Thirdly, the political and economic situation of Hong Kong  - although at present stable and prosperous - is fraught with uncertainty, even anxiety, which is transmitted into every sphere, language learning included. Fourthly, English has been used long enough in Hong Kong for a certain type of  ‘Hong Kong English’ to be born, at least in certain social strata and set­ tings, thus calling into question common assertions as to the ‘inaccuracy’ of local English usage.

It seems to follow that any attempt to tackle the problem from a purely linguistic point of view quickly becomes sidetracked or is invalidated by the by the strong and overriding sociological data which quickly impose themselves.

In researching for this thesis, we concentrated in the beginning on error analysis, contrastive linguistics and on basic sociolinguistics. These approaches did not satisfy our intention to discover the fundamental and interconnected sources of English language learning difficulty in Hong Kong and we were compelled to pursue approaches founded in humanistic psychology, educational psychology, educational sociology, systems analysis, classroom observation etc., in short any approach which seemed to shed light on the problem. The unifying thread of the thesis is however present in its shape: in a clear movement from the general to the specific, from general and available data to original data and from speculation and theory to empirical deduction, however limited.

In general terms, the thesis asks two main questions:  ‘What is English language learning difficulty for Hong Kong students and teachers?’ and ‘What attempts are made or could be made by teach­ers to alleviate such difficulty?’  

The approach we employ was termed  ‘ethnographic’ because it seemed the most appropriate term for the scope and, in a certain sense, naivety of the study. The thesis is not ‘ethnographic’ in a strict sense however as little use is made of mainstream an­thropology and ethnology.

The thesis focuses more clearly as the data and arguments are presented. Part One is devoted to answering the first research question whilst Part Two attempts to answer the second. The conclusion gives grounds for the growing realisation in TEFL that psychology and sociology are fundamentals, not peripherals.

I am grateful to my supervisors in this project, Professor Roy Harris (1990-92) and Dr Chris Hutton (1992-93), for their support at every stage. I am also grateful to the English Department of the University of Hong Kong for their generous research grants.

The thesis is however dedicated to my former students in secondary school and tertiary institutions in Hong Kong and to their patient, and at times heroic, teachers.