February 16 2014, Sunday
When I was at school, there were no English Language textbooks per se. A grammar book and a couple of readers were all that we had. With these tools, we learnt to master the basics of language: grammar rules and vocabulary. It was the time before photocopying machine and needless to say computer. We had the mimeograph, a kind of duplicating machine. Printing was both expensive and inconvenient. Rarely did the teachers give out handouts. During lessons, we were practising listening and note-taking all the time without the use of any skill practice books.
These days, students have a whole array of textbooks, workbooks and
sets of practice books for the four language skills of reading, writing,
speaking and listening. Students preparing for Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education
(HKDSE) scramble for more books. And yet, they are not reading much except when
they have been assigned to do the reading of a book or viewing of a movie in
preparation for discussion or individual presentation as part of the English
Language subject requirement of school-based assessment of HKDSE.
Local students are taking the learning of English as an examination
subject and so they keep practising the various examination papers. Teachers
who are aware that parents and the school management are eager about children’s
academic performance tend to drill their students too. Our students are
actually not using the language in authentic situation. They might still be
browsing the English papers or watching western movies with Chinese subtitles. But
seldom do they listen to English radio programmes or write in English. Neither
are they conversing in English! This explains why many children find the
learning of English so uninteresting. I would be bored too!
