Education

The Government has promoted the policy of biliteracy and trilingualism for many years. Some schools think that using Putonghua as the teaching medium in Chinese lessons may help achieving this goal.

In July, the Standing Committee on Language Education Research of the Education and Manpower Bureau did a survey on schools' opinions about teaching Chinese in Putonghua.

It was found that 18 primary and secondary schools were interested and some even have tried it for years.

The afternoon section of Sun Fong Chung Primary School — that is, Sun Fong Chung Primary School p.m. — has used Putonghua in Chinese lessons in all classes since its foundation in 1987.

Mr. Tsao Tat Wai, the principal of the school, said they wanted to create a better environment for students to learn Putonghua in order to enhance their language proficiency.

He said, "The usage of written Chinese and Putonghua are almost the same. Teaching in Putonghua can therefore improve the language skills of the students."

Mr. Tsao also said he is not worried that the students will find it difficult to learn in Putonghua.

"It's not that difficult for children to learn a new language. I believe they can adapt it easily. Practice makes perfect," said he.

However, Mr. Tsao said there were many difficulties in the beginning.

Said he: "First, we had to employ a number of teachers who were qualified to teach in Putonghua.

"Second, we needed to persuade the parents to accept the new teaching medium.

"Some of them misunderstood that we used Putonghua to teach because we are influenced by the Chinese government, which is totally wrong."

Like Sun Fong Chung Primary School, Ying Wa College is another school that voluntarily started teaching Chinese in Putonghua. This was 2 years ago.

The vice-principal, Mr. So Sui To, said, "We have had Putonghua lessons for many years. And we wanted to let students try learning in Putonghua. They should have the ability to do so."

At the beginning, there were only two classes in Form 2 that used Putonghua in Chinese lessons. Now there are altogether four classes.

Mr. So said using Putonghua in Chinese lessons was welcomed by the students and their parents when it was started.

Said he: "Many students wanted to enter the two special classes. The number of applications exceeded the quota we set.

"We finally accepted about 100 students altogether instead of just 80 students."

Unlike Sun Fong Chung Primary School, Mr. So said they did not encounter many problems in the start.

He said the school has a Chinese teacher who comes from Beijing and also some teachers who are qualified to teach in Putonghua.

"Students have Putonghua lessons from Form 1. They should be able to use Putonghua to learn in Chinese lessons."

Asked if he would make all the classes in the school use Putonghua in Chinese lessons, Mr. So said they wouldn't do so in the coming few years.

However, Mr. So said they will keep an eye on the progress and see when will be the best time to make all classes use Putonghua in Chinese lessons.

He gave an example: "We have asked our Form 4 students whether they would like to learn in Putonghua in their Chinese lessons.

"Twenty five of them are willing to do so. This is really good news to us."

Mr. So said he could not say that the Chinese language proficiency of the students is strengthened a lot after they change the teaching medium, but he was sure the ability of his students in using Putonghua has improved.

In fact, the Centre for Research and Development of Putonghua Education at the Chinese University did a survey of views on using Putonghua as teaching medium few months ago.

The survey aimed to find out the opinions of Chinese teachers on whether they would like to teach in Putonghua.

Of the 106 respondents from 10 primary schools and four secondary schools, 90 percent of them objected to the change even though they all agreed that teaching in Putonghua would brush up students' Chinese standards.

The teachers' main concerns were the abilities of the teachers and the students to communicate in Putonghua, which would directly affect their relationships.

Dr. Ho Wai Kit, the director of the centre, said more research should be done before teaching in Putonghua in Chinese lessons becomes a policy.

Said Dr. Ho: "We should first consider the abilities of the teachers. Are our teachers capable to teach in Putonghua? And are they willing to do so?

"There is no education institute that provides standard Putonghua courses for teachers, not even in tertiary education "

Dr. Ho said the ability of the students is another important consideration.

"If the students can't understand Putonghua and express themselves in Putonghua, launching the scheme is impossible," said he.

"Of course, parents should also be taken into consideration. They could cooperate with the school by encouraging their children to speak Putonghua at home, which would provide more chances for practice."

Also, according to Dr. Ho, the policies of the schools themselves would surely affect the possibility of using Putonghua to teach in Chinese lessons.

"They should encourage students to speak Putonghua after lessons, during assemblies and extracurricular activities."

Mr. Tong Choi Wai, the spokesperson of the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research, said that there are a lot of things to consider before teaching in Putonghua becomes a policy.

"Some schools have their own advantages, and therefore we can't assume that teaching in Putonghua will also will successful in other schools.

"We are happy to see that some schools are willing to be vanguards and help us understand more about the issue.

"We will keep an eye on monitoring progress, but we can't promise that teaching in Putonghua in Chinese lessons will really become a policy."

The Standing Committee Language Education Research does not offer any training course to those schools at this stage, but each school can receive $5,000 from the Government as an encouragement.

Mr. Tong said functions would also be held for those schools to exchange ideas and experiences.

He said it is still too early to say whether the scheme is feasible or not, but it is surely worth a try.

He said, "I believe there would be more schools that use Putonghua in Chinese lessons in the coming future."

Students can learn Putonghua better if they are encouraged to use the language during their extra-curricular activities.