Letters | Rethink Hong Kong institutions’ English programmes for the digital age

Readers discuss a burgeoning market for practical English courses, the waste of staff time that is a meeting, and the low priority given to language in Hong Kong

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Students arrive for the DSE English exam at a school in North Point in 2023. Senior secondary students have been able to take business and marketing-related English courses as electives under the auspices of the Education Bureau. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 11:30am, 28 Jun 2024

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Given Hong Kong’s status as an international business hub and the high demand for English proficiency across various sectors, both government-funded and self-funded tertiary institutions in the city have long offered English programmes.

However, a steady decline in student enrolment for traditional English programmes at several self-funded institutions has contributed to the phase-out of such courses.

Instead, recent years have seen a burgeoning market for alternative English courses at these institutions, such as those offered by the School of Continuing and Professional Education at City University. Of particular interest are the business and marketing-related English courses that senior secondary students can take as electives at these institutions under the auspices of the Education Bureau.

Judging from a focus group interview I conducted with 15 senior secondary students, it appears that the primary distinctions between these new English courses and the traditional English degree programmes are content and duration.

The new courses tend to be shorter and place great emphasis on practical usage and digital communication, whereas the traditional programmes, which are not related to technology and are increasingly associated with the old economy, are losing their appeal among students.