Our Community

English syllabus A students in limbo

Correction
In the printed version, there was a mistake regarding the minimum HKCEE English language admission requirement for six JUPAS institutions. The mistake was made during the editing process. The corrected version is as follows. We apologise.

by Alan Liu

Lee Cho-ling looked at her result slip of the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) with a frown - grade “B” in the subject of English language.

“It's just a B in syllabus A,” Miss Lee said when recalling the day she got the result in 2004.

Worrying about her qualification in applying for post-secondary colleges, she then decided to take the English language examination again, but on syllabus B, a more advanced level. “I've heard that several local universities do not accept syllabus A English examination results,” Miss Lee said.

According to the grading system in the HKCEE, the top grade in syllabus A is only equivalent to grade C in syllabus B. The standard of syllabus A is two grades lower than that of syllabus B.

Only a grade in syllabus B receives overseas recognition, and syllabus A is often being labelled as useless by students. However, the number of students taking syllabus A examination has increased by more than thrice over the past years, especially after more secondary schools changed their medium of instruction into Chinese language.

But to her disappointment, Miss Lee got grade E in the syllabus B examination this year, even one grade lower than her standard suggested by the equivalence in the previous syllabus A examination.

In fact, four of the eight member institutions in the Joint University Programmes Admissions System have a minimum language requirement in the HKCEE. Applicants have to obtain at least a pass or above in syllabus B of English language.

That means only grade C students in syllabus A can apply for the four institutions.

The four are the University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

The minimum language requirement of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is at least a grade E in either syllabus A or B. Meanwhile, the Lingnan University and the City University of Hong Kong basically look at a candidate's results in the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination.

The credential of syllabus A guarantees neither a seat at local universities, nor a fair pass in the Use of English subject at the advanced level examination, the major entrance examination for universities here.

Since the English language subject of the advanced level is more difficult than the certificate level's, some teachers point out that students of syllabus A will find it hard to catch up.

Ng Yan-ying, an English teacher of sixth-former classes, said those students were weaker than the ones who studied syllabus B in writing, vocabulary and, especially, listening skills. She cited that they failed to jot down good notes.

Even Miss Lee, now a seventh-former, agrees that she finds herself struggling with the advanced level.

“The standard of the certificate level's English syllabus A exam is really low,” she said.

Besides the prospects of further studies, some candidates of the syllabus A English language examination are concerned about whether future employers will recognise the qualification.

The concern is valid. An employment agent, who declined to be named, said most companies only hired applicants with a pass in the syllabus B examination.

“Among all the cases I've handled, over 80 per cent of our clients required job applicants to have a pass in the syllabus B paper,” the agent said.

She said usually syllabus A examination candidates would not be entertained even though they met the minimum requirement to promote to the advanced level's studies.

As for the government, one of the largest employers, it accepts applicants with grade C or above in syllabus A to be qualified for civil service posts, but that is only applicable to job vacancies which require academic qualifications below the bachelor degree level.

Despite the fact that the recognition of syllabus A results remains unfavourable, the number of people taking the course has increased drastically in recent years.

The number of candidates sitting for syllabus A examination rose to 34,112 this year from 9,282 in 1996. The syllabus B candidate number, however, decreased to 79,405 from 100,107 in 1996.

Christina W. Lee, senior subject officer of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, said the change of candidature could be related to the change of the medium of instruction. More secondary schools have adopted Chinese as the teaching medium since 1998.

Dr Wu Siu-wai of the educational policy and administration department at the Hong Kong Institute of Education explained that syllabus A was tailor-made for the schools teaching in Chinese. It catered for the lower standard of English in those schools. He said the school and the teachers were well aware of the low recognition of the syllabus. But they would still recommend students to attend the syllabus as students' grades were their top concern. From the schools' point of view, it would be better to get a pass in syllabus A than a fail in syllabus B, he said.

Miss Lee, who studied in a school that teaches in Chinese, said her school did not offer the option of syllabus B for students.

“One of my teachers even says that the reason for the school to offer only one option is to maintain a fair pass rate,” Miss Lee said.

However, Mrs Lee from the examinations authority said students of secondary schools with Chinese as their medium of instruction could freely choose to sit for either syllabus A or B examination, depending on their standards.

“The examinations and assessment authority has never forced students of those schools to attempt syllabus A examinations. This is why we provide the two syllabuses – to provide a choice for students to select the right standard of examination for themselves,” she said.

Meanwhile, students who sat for syllabus B argued that the decrease in the number of syllabus B candidates posed a greater competition in the examination, as more students opted for syllabus A.

“The competitions among candidates of syllabus B exam will become very keen, and this is unfair to the relatively weaker candidates,” said Olivia Cheng Wing-ting, who has sat for the syllabus B paper.

But the examinations authority does not see the competition has become more unfavourable to weaker candidates because the grading standard is under constant reviews.

Amid the debates of the labelling effect, the authority will introduce a new syllabus in 2007 for the English language examination at the HKCEE level, which will combine the existing syllabuses.

It considers the new syllabus will be a fairer assessment as all students will be tested according to the same set of standards.

Along with the new syllabus, a new grading system called “standards-referenced grading” will also be set up. Level one to five in the new system will replace grades A to F in the current system, with level five being the highest and level one the lowest.

The new grading system will give assessments in absolute criteria instead of considering the relative performance of other candidates.

Dr Wu said the new English certificate examination would be closer to the standard of international English proficiency tests because of the criteria reference feature.

The assessment will include students' performance at school. Part of the grade will depend on the marks of school assignments given by teachers. The authority will monitor the validity, as they will use public examination marks for reference.