Dr Lai: Work closely with teachers

It is almost universally acknowledged that any student or businessperson in pursuit of a golden career in this part of the world needs to buckle down and study Putonghua. Luckily for those in the SAR, Hong Kong University's unique Putonghua Education and Assessment Centre (HKPEAC) administers two globally-recognised examinations, in addition to teaching Putonghua.

One of a kind

Opened in 1996 in preparation for Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty, the HKPEAC remains the first teaching centre of its kind outside China. Although it is independent and self-supporting, it comes under Hong Kong University's Faculty of Education and works in partnership with the State Language Commission of China.

According to the HKPEAC's honorary director, Dr Winnie Auyeung Lai, its value is beyond question. "I always think that speaking Cantonese, which is a dialect, won't help us to go very far, in terms of communication both within and outside China," she explains.

From teacher training ...

No ordinary language school, the centre incorporates an extraordinary range of Putonghua services. First and foremost is a highly-regarded programme which provides teacher training to teachers who are either pre-service, in service or in need of enhancement. "This is so they can teach Putonghua as a subject or teach in Putonghua," explains Dr Lai.

"We have a programme for methods and practices in teaching Putonghua, which takes 132 hours and is split into two sections. Section A is on linguistics; a number of hours are devoted to understanding what the Putonghua language curriculum is and what is required of them. Section B focuses on how to teach Putonghua in a classroom - this includes trial teaching, which is very proactive."

"The teachers are mainly from Hong Kong, but we do have some immigrants from China who are proficient in Putonghua but not certified," she continues. "They come to do a course in pedagogy and take the test to certify their proficiency and become Putonghua teachers."

On the flip side, other courses exist for native speakers of Putonghua who come to Hong Kong and take up teaching. "We provide them with courses about pedagogy, linguistics, phonics, phonetics and Cantonese," says Dr Lai.

... and tailormade courses

The centre doesn't just target teachers. It also provides pre- and post-course assessment and customised courses for organisations requiring in-house staff training that is tailored to specific needs, vocabularies and situations.

"For example, we're now doing a programme for the Equal Opportunities Commission," Dr Lai says. "This involves vocabulary on discrimination issues, how to begin a dialogue and make clients feel comfortable and how to tell people their rights. Plus there's an entirely different way of talking, [for example] to people who have a problem."

What about courses for non-Putonghua speakers? "We used to have set courses for non-speakers, but we found that students' motives and backgrounds were very different. If we put a housewife together with a CEO, it would be a disaster!" says Dr Lai. "So we like to customise [the courses]. We do many individual classes or small groups on request for organisations."

Today, the HKPEAC's principal client is Hong Kong's 180,000-strong civil service, for which it is the principal provider of Putonghua courses. "That is now the bulk of our activities," says Dr Lai. "We teach approximately 7-8,000 people per annum. Since the majority of the courses are on a day-release basis, we have to be able to provide a wide range of courses that take place during different parts of the day."

... to summer schools

For the truly keen student, the centre also provides a matching service which refers individuals to summer immersion courses in mainland China. "We work out a programme for them with the most appropriate schools. For example, teachers can attend the Beijing Language and Culture University, as this is a language university."

"Because we are part of the Faculty of Education and the faculty's primary mission is teacher education, we work very closely with teachers, principals and students," says Dr Lai. "We also offer courses to exchange students from overseas, which are paid by the [University] Registry."

Course information

Official Assessment Regardless of how wonderful your Putonghua is, it's almost essential to have a piece of paper at the end of your course which confirms your skills and ability. Uniquely outside China, the centre has been authorised to administer two national examinations which were developed by the Chinese University of Education for individual assessment. The first of these, the Putonghua Proficiency Test (or PSC) measures the standards of native speakers (including Hong Kong Chinese). Those who pass Level 2 Grade B can be exempted from Paper 3 of the official Language Proficiency Assessment. Meanwhile, the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (or HSK), otherwise known as the Chinese Proficiency Test, is the national standardised test designed and developed by the HSK Centre of the Beijing Language and Culture University. Its target audience includes candidates whose mother-tongue is not Chinese, such as foreigners, Chinese national minorities or, as is largely the case in Hong Kong, returning immigrants who can speak Cantonese but may, for example, be unable to speak Putonghua and/or write Chinese. Although the HSK is often used by employers to assess their employees' Chinese proficiency, it is also attractive as a means of certifying that the holder has attained the required Chinese proficiency to enter a college or university in China as an undergraduate or post-graduate student or to be exempted from studying certain courses in various institutions within China. "The majority of our students and candidates for the HSK are high-school students, including students from international and ESF schools," adds Dr Lai. "If they pass the HSK, they can get credit exemption for their second language requirement at universities in the USA, Canada and the UK." Certainly, if you're thinking of taking either examination, it is worth preparing for these at the HKPEAC. "In actual fact, our examination package courses have been highly commended," reiterates Dr Lai. "We treat each person as an individual, articulate their problems and set a target for them to achieve within a limited time."

Taken from Career Times 2003/04/04