4.2 Problems Encountered by Teachers Switching to Chinese-Medium Instruction

In the Teacher Questionnaire, there were five questions concerning instructional problems that teachers may encounter in the change process. The result indicates that about 50% of the teachers perceive some or many problems in all instructional matters except that of deciding the teaching scope and schedule. (see Table 4.2.) The latter problem has an obviously lower percentage of 24.6%. This may be because teachers, by and large, follow suggestions provided in official Curriculum Guides.

Table 4.2: Instructional Problems Encountered by Teachers

4.2.1 Textbooks and other instructional materials

Selecting textbooks and obtaining instructional materials are similar areas and high percentages of teachers report experiencing problems with both are 46.1% and 54.3% respectively. The slightly lower percentage for textbook selection may be due to the fact that, in practice, not all teachers are directly responsible for, or even involved in, textbook selection. Hence, fewer teachers are concerned about this matter.

When questioned further about the cause of problems in textbook selection (Q.11b), the majority of teachers (74.3%) regard the cause as being that most Chinese-medium textbooks are translated from English and 40% regard the content of Chinese-medium textbooks as being too simple. (See Table 4.2.1a.)

Table 4.2.1a: Causes of Problem in Selecting Textbooks

41% (i.e. 240 respondents) of the teachers indicated the problem in selecting textbooks as “other causes”. Content analysis was conducted on their responses. The response of each case was analyzed into single cause statements. (Note that each teacher may state more than one cause in the response.) Cause statements with similar themes were put together to form a category and their theme identified and labeled. Statements representing less popular or idiosyncratic causes, or statements without clear meaning, were put together under the category labeled “OTHERS.” Table 4.2.1b is a summary of the results.

Table 4.2.1b: Results of Content Analysis of Other Causes to Problem in Selecting Textbooks

The problem becomes clear when Table 4.2.1a and Table 4.2.1b are examined side by side as follows:

First, there are insufficient Chinese-medium textbooks on the market for teachers to choose from. Of the few that are available, the quality is poor; and a significant aspect of the poor quality is associated with translation. In other words, one of the main problems with Chinese medium textbooks is that they are translated or adapted from an English version, rather than developed specifically for mother tongue instruction.

Poor translation can result in different problems in the translated text. Those identified by teachers include substandard writing style in the translated text, inaccurate expression, and the content being inappropriate to mother tongue instruction context. (See Table 4.2.1b for examples.)

The problem of inadequate choice of textbooks is indicative of the fact that before the nineties, the Chinese-medium textbook market was very undeveloped. Publishers invested little in the development of Chinese-medium textbooks because the then Chinese Middle schools represented only a small and diminishing market. Now, to cope with the recent expansion of CMI, the most efficient and low cost approach to the publication of Chinese-medium textbooks is to translate from the existing English versions.

The nature of the problem in obtaining appropriate instructional aids and materials is similar to that of selecting textbooks. The predominant problem is the lack of materials specifically catering for CMI contexts. (See Table 4.2.1c.)

Table 4.2.1c: Causes of Problem in Obtaining Teaching Aids and Materials

Just below 10% (i.e. 69 respondents) of the teachers who reported experiencing problems in obtaining instructional aids reported “other causes” of the problem. Content analysis of responses to Q.13b reveals another factor worth noting. Some teachers reported that they have limited time, knowledge, and clerical support for producing new materials in Chinese-medium or searching for appropriate materials. Moreover, teachers are not provided with additional resources from the school or Education Department. (see Table 4.2.1d.)

Table 4.2.1d Results of Content Analysis of Other Causes of Problem in Obtaining Teaching Aids and Materials

4.2.2 Planning and Classroom Instruction

Questions relating to instructional planning and classroom instruction are:

Q.12 planning of teaching scope and schedule;

Q.14 use of subject-specific Chinese vocabulary in classroom teaching; and

Q.15 setting tests and exercises.

Regarding planning, the most salient problem is setting tests and exercises. (53.5% of the teachers reported experiencing some or a lot of problems. See Table 4.2) Responses to Q.15b suggest that the following three areas are all problems for a considerable number of teachers:

On the other hand, long term planning, namely, deciding the scope and schedule of teaching is a less problematic area. Slightly less than 25% of the teachers reported experiencing problems in this area.

Table 4.2.2a: Causes of Problems in Setting Tests and Exercises

A survey of the descriptive responses to Q.15b (Other causes of problem in setting tests and exercises) indicates that many of the respondents are just reiterating problems already represented by the given options in the question. Some example statements are:

『尚在估計所需題目的數量，因為不知道學生以中文作答時是否較省時。』 (Teacher ID 827)

『大學時少用中文寫作，故字眼運用方面流於口語化。』 (Teacher ID 1113)

『中文文書處理較英文的困難及花時間。』 (Teacher ID 1171)

However, some unanticipated issues do come up in teachers’ responses. One problem raised by some teachers is that there are insufficient reference materials for setting examination questions and exercises. This reflects the fact that often teachers do not design questions from anew but adopt or modify existing materials. Some example statements are:

Another issue worth noting is that some teachers have to prepare two papers for each examination; one in English and another in Chinese. This is because their schools have adopted MOI streaming by class or by students. That is, some schools offer both Chinese-medium classes and English-medium classes in certain grades, whereas others provide students in the same class with a choice of doing the examination in either English or Chinese. These policies have the merit of allowing students more curricular choices. However, this results in an increased workload for teachers. Some example statements reflecting this practice are:

Regarding classroom teaching, 44.1% of the respondents experience problems in classroom presentation due to lack of familiarity with content-specific Chinese vocabulary. (See Table 4.2.) Most teachers attribute the cause to the fact that their own academic training was in EMI. This is likely to be the fundamental cause since this is where teachers learnt the subject specific language. (See Table 4.2.2b.)

Table 4.2.2b: Causes to Problem in Classroom Presentation

Though only 11.3 % (73 respondents) of those teachers who reported problems in classroom presentation mentioned other causes in Q.14b, the findings of the content analysis are revealing. (See Table 4.2.2c.) Many teachers of different subjects contend that Chinese terminology lacks standardization, thus causing confusion. Others complain that some Chinese terms are literally incomprehensible, partly due to the fact that they are translated terms. In particular, the category‘Computer Curriculum’ is set up to include causes connected with the teaching of computer related subjects. This category is created to highlight the fact that there are obviously more computer teachers reporting problems in this area (i.e. classroom presentation). They argue that computer-related concepts are commonly communicated in English. Moreover, the translated Chinese terms are not standardized and hence are confusing. This phenomenon can be understood as stemming from the fact that computer technology has primarily been developed in the English speaking world. A survey of the responses suggests that the computer teachers are but one group stating subject-specific language as a source of problems. Teachers of other school subjects (e.g. mathematics, geography, chemistry, etc.) put forward similar arguments. This reveals that besides language proficiency of students and teachers, the nature of school subjects could also be a factor in the consideration of MOI policy.

Table 4.2.2c: Other Causes of Problem in Classroom Teaching

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