EMI Policy
As our school is an EMI (English as the medium of instruction) college, speaking English is compulsory for all students during regular school days at all time including lunchtime and recesses. In this way, we can build up an atmosphere of speaking English in school. All students enjoy using English to communicate and they can speak fluently.
There are five English Speaking Ambassodors in each class and their jobs are to encourage shy classmates to speak in English. Also, they are the agents who will check whether or not their classmates are speaking in English.
The Supervisor's view on EMI(an extract from our student post)
As our school had successfully applied for EMI, we are much honoured to have interviewed Sr. Juliana, our supervisor to give us some of her comments on the new language policy. Below is the interview conducted at the library by our students.
Why did our school apply for English as the medium of instruction?
Every decision and policy made by our school is for the benefit of our students. The application to teach in English as the Medium of Instruction (MOI) is no exception. Our first consideration is the ability of our students. Concerning to the intake of our Form 1 students in the past 3 years, their language proficiency was very good. The average percentage of Group 1 students was 99.8%. Our students' ability is far above the requirement of the Education Department. We have confidence that our students can learn well in either English or Chinese.
Our second consideration is the future prospect of our students. English, as an international language, plays a very important role in a metropolitan city like Hong Kong. Our graduates have better opportunities for tertiary education (admission rate to local universities in 1997 was 98.9%) and for good careers. For those who have a chance to study abroad, English proficiency is essential. From the statistics of our graduates admitted local universities in recent years, we can see that they are at an advantage due to their good command of both English and Chinese Languages. On the whole our graduates have very good opportunities for jobs as they are well-equipped with the English language they learnt from Holy Trinity College.
Did our school consult the teachers before making the application?
Some four years ago we had a thorough discussion with our teachers on the adoption of EMI. Our teachers were not ready for the change because our current medium of instruction is English. Hence our teachers unanimously agreed to adopt English as MOI. All our teachers are very supportive of EMI because they know that it is the best policy for our students, for our teachers and for our school.
Has the school done any preparation before making the application?
Before making the application, we found that it was very important to build up a supportive atmosphere in speaking English in school so that students would be used to hearing and speaking English in school all the time, hence we had the arrangement of the English Speaking System. We found that students who could overcome their shyness were better off in their spoken English. In fact, it will be easier for them to get a good job in future if they have a good mastery of English. Furthermore, our subject teachers will take turns to take refresher courses on EMI so that they can have better techniques to teach in English.
How are the students going to tune in with the policy?
If all students understand the importance of the English Language to their studies and to their future careers, they would take the initiative to speak English all the time. This helps them to be fluent in their speech. I appeal to each and everyone of you:
In doing so you can master your oral and written English language. Our graduates have often been praised for their high standard in English. We hope that our present students can help to keep up with this standard.
