‘Mother-tongue teaching policy to blame’ as Hong Kong slides down English proficiency index for second year in a row
Hong Kong has dropped on a global English proficiency ranking for the second consecutive year, raising concerns over English education becoming “stratified” under the government policy of mother-tongue teaching.
Hong Kong has dropped in a global ranking on English proficiency for the second consecutive year, reviving concerns over English education becoming "stratified" under the government policy of mother-tongue teaching.
On the latest English proficiency index compiled by EF English First, a Swedish-owned international English training institution, Hong Kong ranked 33rd among 70 countries and territories - a slight decline from its ranking last year of 31.
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This year's showing continued a downward progression dating to 2011, when the city ranked 12th among 44 countries and regions. The only exception was in 2013, when the city rose from 25th to 22nd. In 2011 and 2013, Hong Kong ranked higher than South Korea and Japan, but both placed above the city in 2012, last year and this year.
Although the lack of an English-speaking test caused some to question the rankings, others believed it raised valid concerns over Hongkongers' worsening English proficiency.
JUST SAYING: Appalling English standards in Hong Kong: the biggest culprit is ...
"If Hong Kong scored 10 out of 10 in the past, now it only has 6," said Civic Party lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching, a proficient English speaker herself.
Mo said the government's mother-tongue teaching policy, adopted since the handover in 1997, should be blamed for the decline.
