Chinglish is victor in HK's battle of tongues

THE BATTLE to preserve English as the medium of instruction in Hong Kong schools was given new life yesterday when 14 schools successfully appealed against a government ruling that they must use Chinese to teach their charges.

The government's attempts to introduce mother tongue teaching have incited a great deal of passion in Hong Kong where, remarkably, four out of five secondary students are taught in English.

Parents fear that children attending Chinese-medium schools will loose out in the job marketplace. Or as David To, the principal of the United Christian College said yesterday, after hearing his school had failed in its appeal to continue teaching in English, the students "will feel they are second class".

At schools where the appeals were successful, there were enthusiastic celebrations. However Chang Hsin-kai, of the appeals board, said: "It's not meant to be an award." And he insisted that schools which were required to teach in Chinese, as from September, are not being "punished".

Yet this is the general perception. Helen Yu, Hong Kong's Director of Education, is exasperated by this attitude. She argues that the current school system is turning out children who speak "Chinglish", in other words without a good grasp of either language. A visit to one of the Chinese English language schools quickly reinforces Mrs Yu's view. Not only the children, but many of the teachers, are struggling to make themselves understood in English.

Although the move to Chinese medium instruction is sometimes seen as an act of post-colonial nationalistic fervour by the incoming administration, it was in fact initiated by the outgoing colonial regime.

Educational research is on the side of those who advocate mother-tongue teaching. Not only does it tend to mean that children learn more in general but they also have a better chance of learning foreign languages, such as English, if they are systematically taught as foreign languages. However, Hong Kong parents do not seem to be greatly swayed by educational theory. Those with children in schools switching to Chinese are desperately trying to move them to English medium schools. There is talk of defiance and revolt against the new rules.

English remains an official language in Hong Kong, alongside Chinese. Since the handover it has become less prevalent in official circles, but remains the main language of commerce, particularly in the trading and finance sectors.