CUHK Upholds Bilingual Education

Press Releases

return to press release index
return to homepage

7 Septermber 2006

The Committee on Bilingualism of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has completed its draft report, which has been released today to all members of CUHK for consultation. The Committee reaffirms that CUHK should maintain its tradition of bilingual education and enhance the bilingual policy of the University, and in that context defines the roles of liangwen sanyu (“two written languages and three spoken codes”). It recommends that the language of instruction should be determined taking into account the nature of the academic subject, professional requirements, and the language habits, competence and cultural backgrounds of the students and teachers concerned, and practical needs. The aim is to optimize the effectiveness of teaching and learning, allowing for flexibility, and to ensure that CUHK graduates have a very high level of proficiency in both languages.

1. The Report of the Committee on Bilingualism starts from the mission of CUHK and the challenges of globalization in the twenty-first century, and makes recommendations that aim to further enhance the language proficiency of CUHK students and the University’s long-term development.

2. The Report reaffirms the tradition of bilingual (liangwen sanyu) education at CUHK as a distinctive characteristic and strength of the University. The Committee considers that the policy on bilingual education at the University and its objectives should remain unchanged, and that the University should continue to cultivate an environment that maintains and enhances bilingual education.

3. The Committee first defines liangwen sanyu as follows [liangwen, “two languages”, refers to written Chinese (Zhongwen中文) and written English (Yingwen英文), while sanyu, “three spoken codes”, means spoken Cantonese (Yueyu粵語), Putonghua (普通話) and spoken English (Yingyu英語)]. Cantonese is the language of the local community; Putonghua is the national language and also the language common to all Chinese communities around the world; and English is an international language. It is on the basis of this understanding that the following major recommendations on the language of instruction of the University are offered:

(a) The language of instruction should be understood in the context of different teaching and learning activities. It refers to not only the language used at lectures, but also the language used in reading / reference materials, discussions at tutorials, projects or class presentations, laboratory / practicum / clinical sessions, assignments and examinations, as well as individual supervision. The Committee considers that there can be variation among Departments in the proportion of use of Cantonese, Putonghua and English as the language of instruction.

(b) The Committee considers that the language used at lectures should be set having regard to the nature of the academic subject. For academic subjects of a universal nature, English will, in principle, be used at lectures. For subjects related to Chinese culture, society and history, and General Education courses, Chinese (Cantonese and Putonghua) will, in principle, be used at lectures, and the use of Putonghua at lectures should be increased in accordance with actual need. For subjects related to local culture, society and politics, Cantonese will, in principle, be used at lectures.

(i) The language used at lectures should be set by the respective Boards of Departments in accordance with the above principles, taking into account the nature of the academic subject, professional requirements, the language habits, competence and cultural backgrounds of the students and teachers concerned, and practical needs. It should aim to optimize the effectiveness of teaching and learning, and allow for flexibility.

(ii) If a Department or Programme decides to recruit students who can study effectively only in Putonghua or English, it must guarantee that sufficient Putonghua- or English-medium courses are offered.

4. The report recommends that upon the reversion to a four-year normative curriculum, consideration may be given to increasing the Chinese and English language requirement for undergraduate students, from between three and six units to between 12 and 15 units. Humanistic and cultural teaching materials should be introduced to language courses for Year One, thereby promoting appreciation of Chinese and other cultures.

5. The Committee recommends that a Committee on Language Enhancement should be established under the Senate to coordinate, review, improve and promote the policy on bilingual education at CUHK, and to supervise the units and departments concerned in carrying out the University’s policy on bilingual education.

The Committee on Bilingualism was established in February 2005 with the aims to review, uphold and further enhance CUHK’s bilingual education. This 22-member Committee is chaired by Professor Ambrose Y C King, and comprises representatives of teachers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, alumni, council members and university administrators. Having shared their views and deliberated in a total of 21 meetings, members have now made these recommendations. The Committee is arranging forums and seminars to gather feedback from teachers, students and alumni. The report of the Committee is available on the website (http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/bilingualism/en/report.htm).