System 31 (2003) 107–123

www.elsevier.com/locate/system

Student attitudes to the learning of English at

secondary and tertiary levels
Anson Yanga,*, Lucus Laub
a
Department of English and Communication, City University of Hong Kong,
Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
b
Department of Physics and Material Science, City University of Hong Kong,
Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

Received 17 April 2002; received in revised form 28 June 2002; accepted 26 August 2002

Abstract
This paper discusses the attitudes students have towards English before and after their tertiary
studies. Although research of a similar nature has been done, the present study complements
others by following 35 students in their university studies, and it provides another avenue for
examining the language situation in Hong Kong. The findings suggested that students were
generally comfortable with the language environments and courses offered in secondary and
tertiary settings; they agreed that learning English is important in the post-1997 era. The
respondents in the present study, who had just obtained their first degree, reported that both a
set syllabus in secondary school and a more liberal choice of English courses at university
helped them obtain the language needed for career and personal growth. They realized how
important it is to possess a positive attitude towards the use of English.
# 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Language attitudes; English language proficiency; Secondary and tertiary education in Hong
Kong; Importance of English

1. Introduction

Hong Kong has been known internationally as a land of good business opportunity.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, garment and textile industries intensified their inter-
national trade. But since then, most factories have moved into Mainland China,
where materials and manpower were abundant and available at a competitive rate.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +852-2788-8554; fax: +852-2788-8894.

E-mail addresses: enanson@cityu.edu.hk (A. Yang), lucus_lau_lau@yahoo.com.hk (L. Lau).

0346-251X/03/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0346-251X(02)00076-3
108 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123

With the talk and eventual success of China’s joining the World Trade Organization,
Hong Kong’s status of financial hub has been strengthened. Rather than laboring,
people in Hong Kong are now dealing mostly with international trade and service
industries including all sorts of information networks. As a result, contact with other
countries at every level of society has become greater. The English language is involved,
whether for personal contact or paper/electronic communications. Thus, English lan-
guage proficiency has always been on the agenda when any education issues are raised.
Hong Kong was a British colony for over a century and English has been the official
language of the land since 1892; nonetheless, people in Hong Kong have been
ambivalent on the topic of English language proficiency, mainly because they see the
language linked to sociolinguistics, culture and identity questions (Bolton, 2000; Bolton
and Lim, 2000). On the one hand, they think it is important to be good at English lan-
guage skills; on the other hand, they refrain from using English publicly. This attitude
has been changing somewhat in the past two decades, both from the points of view of
educators and students. Several papers have addressed this issue (e.g. Lord and Cheng,
1987; Bickley, 1990; Flowerdew and Miller, 1995, 1996; Littlewood and Liu, 1996).
Hong Kong students learn English under a structured syllabus. There are four key
stages. Stages one and two refer to the English training in primary school; stage
three refers to the junior high level; and stage four refers to the senior high level. All
local secondary schools follow the same structure set by the Education Department.
In stage four, students have to take two public examinations: the Hong Kong
Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) at the end of Form 5 (grade 11)
and Advanced Supplementary Level (ASL) at the end of Form 7 (grade 13). Mini-
mum entry level to Hong Kong universities requires a pass (grade E or above) in the
ASL Use of English examination, which is equivalent to a score of 515 on the
internationally recognized Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Most
North American universities require a TOEFL score of 550 for direct entry to an
academic program, which is equivalent to a grade C on the Use of English exami-
nation. However, few Hong Kong students manage to achieve a C on entering uni-
versities; most having only a passing grade D or E, and some are getting accepted
without a pass at all in order to fill the quotas (Flowerdew et al., 1998).
The English syllabus at university level, however, is not standardized. Each uni-
versity has a different set of requirements. Although all universities require students
to have about three language courses in their three university years, these language
courses can be in communication skills, Asian languages, European languages,
business English, engineering English, and literature in English. In short, because of
the abundance of choices, university students receive very different English training.
It is true that the absence of a standardized English syllabus across universities
means that students are allowed to explore the world of English through other vehicles,
but it also presents two issues: (1) there is no guaranteed standard of student English
language proficiency when students leave university; and (2) individual universities, or
tutors of different language programs for that matter, have control over what students
should study. This paper attempts to explore whether university students find their
English language courses satisfactory. In particular, it analyzes whether the university
English courses help improve students’ interest and proficiency in the language.
 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123 109

2. Literature review

Full preparation of their students for the examination is seen in Hong Kong sec-
ondary schools as the responsibility of teachers and principals. It is stated in the
Teaching Syllabus of English (secondary) by the Curriculum Development Council
that the teaching of English at Form five and levels above is heavily examination-
oriented. Therefore, cramming for the examination would be natural in Hong Kong
schools (Cheng, 1997). The need for high standards of English is invariably an
economic one (Lin, 1997; Tsou, 1994; Tung et al., 1997). Hong Kong can maintain
its position as a center for international trade, finance, and information, and
international companies will want to invest in Hong Kong; this argument runs
only if the territory has a work force with high-level English skills (Flowerdew et
al., 1998).
Boyle (1997) points out that, to some extent, Hong Kong people are happy
enough with their variety of English, which serves them for business and inter-
national purposes, and they are not over-worried about constantly purifying it at the
sacred source of Standard English. In addition, the influence of trans-national
organizations is profound, the mass media are very influential, and computer tech-
nology has been given ample attention in both education and business sectors.
A quantitative survey by Walters and Balla (1992), which asked students at a
Hong Kong university to report on which language was used in their classes, showed
that most of the tutorials and many of the lectures at the tertiary level were conducted
primarily in Cantonese, rather than English as stated in the university policy. A study
by Flowerdew et al. (1998) also addresses the language of instruction question at that
same university primarily from the lecturers’ point of view, exploring the reasoning
behind lecturers’ attitudes concerning the language of instruction. Lecturers believed
that it was more important to deliver knowledge and content matter than to use
English in class. The result of this enquiry is a picture of considerable tension
around the role of English as the official medium of instruction that may reflect the
concerns of Hong Kong society in general.
Society, learners and university lecturers do not seem to have the same expecta-
tion. Craig (1997) points out that in a foreign language classroom, the social con-
structionist model of learning translates into learner-centered and peer-assisted
interactional activities based on a functional view of language as purposeful dis-
course. The classroom focus is on developing communicative as well as linguistic
competence through activities that require the creative use of the foreign language in
order to satisfy the students’ socio-communicative needs. Through repeated con-
versations with others in English, students gradually internalize what has been
practiced cooperatively in pairs or groups, ultimately converting peer-assisted per-
formance into individual linguistic competence. The teacher is thus a facilitator
whose role is to break each language assignment down into a series of increasingly
difficult but individually manageable tasks and structure them sequentially so that
students can build their language proficiency collaboratively. Researchers propose
that teachers should outline correct learner expectations and attitudes about how
languages are learned and also explain the reasoning behind classroom methods, in
110 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123

order to reduce any gap between learner and teacher beliefs (e.g. Horwitz, 1985;
Wenden, 1986; McCargar, 1993, Kern, 1995; Peacock, 1999).
Studies comparing learners’ preferences with teachers’ preferences generally indicate
that English teachers prefer communicative activities more than learners do. Inter-
estingly though, Spratt (1999) finds that students generally rated communicative
activities higher than the subjects of Brindley (1984) and Nunan (1988); this may
indicate a possible distinctive learning profile for Hong Kong tertiary learners
(Flowerdew, 1998). Teachers’ decision-making processes have been the focus of
various studies which focus on the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and their
interpretations of syllabuses and methodologies as well as the influence of contextual
factors on teacher decision-making (see Richards and Lockhart, 1994; Woods, 1996;
Binnie-Smith, 1996; Burns, 1996).
But previous studies have too often simply collected and reported data comparing
learner and teacher beliefs about the usefulness of activities, and little has been done to
explore the significance of divergences in opinion (Peacock, 1999). Studies of preferred
activities appear to have focused on three areas: learners’ opinions on their activity pre-
ferences, teachers’ preferred activities, and comparisons of learners’ and teachers’ activity
preferences (Spratt, 1999). Other research on teacher decision-making processes and
classroom behaviors indicates that contextual factors such as teachers’ perceptions of
learners’ activity preferences play a considerable part in influencing these processes and
behaviors (Binnie-Smith, 1996; Burns, 1996; Willcoxson, 1998, Spratt, 1999). Recent
findings on the cognitive, social, and linguistic processes of second language (L2) learning
have suggested a principled approach to L2 instructions. Such principles are charac-
terized by classroom strategies, participant structures, and activities which incorporate
traditional approaches, and reconcile them with communicative practices (Pica, 2000).
The present study investigates how Hong Kong students see the need of English
and their improvement in the four English language skills as they leave the second-
ary school system and after they have obtained tertiary education. It asks two
questions: (1) Have student attitudes and opinions of English language learning
changed as they obtained a higher qualification? (2) Have the English lessons at both
secondary and tertiary levels satisfied students’ needs?

3. Methodology

3.1. Population

Forty-two freshmen at the Orientation Camp at the City University of Hong

Kong in September 1998 were invited to participate in this study. These new uni-
versity students graduated from 37 secondary schools located all over Hong Kong.
Fourteen students each came from the Business Faculty, the Humanities and Social
Sciences Faculty and the Science and Engineering Faculty, with no more than three
students studying in the same department. They were informed that the study would
be carried on for 3 years. All these students obtained a grade D in the ASL Use of
English examination.
 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123 111

3.2. Measures

3.2.1. Questionnaires
The subjects answered a 17-item questionnaire (Appendix A) regarding their lan-
guage attitudes and self-evaluation of their language proficiency in September 1998,
the summer they left the secondary school system and began their tertiary studies.
Subjects were asked to comment on their language attitudes and their habits of
studying and using English in their secondary school life by indicating the extent to
which they agreed with the statements on the Likert scale. The five choices read:
A=strongly agree; B=agree; C=no comment; D=disagree; E=strongly disagree.
A similar questionnaire (Appendix B) was administered in June 2001 to investigate
how differently these students responded when they were about to obtain their first
degree. Thirty-five students answered the second questionnaire; seven students quit
the investigation. The two questionnaires were basically the same; only terms of
institutions and teachers were changed. For example, in questionnaire 1, two items
read:

6. It is important for subject teachers to have a good command of spoken English

when they teach in English.
10. I avoided asking questions in English when I was in secondary school.

In questionnaire 2, however, they read:

6. It is important for subject lecturers to have a good command of spoken English

when they teach in English.
10. I avoided asking questions in English when I was at university.

3.2.2. Discussion sessions

During the 3 years of the study, students in each faculty were invited to come
together for three discussion sessions each year to discuss the use of English in
relation to their progress of study. The discussion sessions were conducted in Can-
tonese, the native language of all students. Although not all students attended the
gatherings, more than 75% of the students participated in each session; no students
missed more than two out of the total of nine sessions. All discussion sessions were
videotaped for further analysis.

3.2.3. Course-end reflections

Each student was asked to write a short reflection at the end of each semester in
which he/she had taken an English language course. The reflections mainly answered
the following questions:

1. What are some of the new language items you have learned from this course?
2. Among the four language skills, which one(s) do you think you have
improved most after taking this course?
112 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123

3. To what extent (in percentage) has this course repeated material and
knowledge you had learned in secondary school?
4. To what extent (in percentage) do you think this course will be helpful in your
language needs after you leave university?
5. Would you take the same course if you were allowed to make the choice
again? Why?

3.2.4. Interviews
All 35 students who answered the second questionnaire were invited to have a
group interview in Cantonese in July 2001. The interviews were a follow-up exercise
to the findings generated from the questionnaires and reflection essays.

3.3. Procedures

Since it took 3 years to follow the students in this study, the procedures were
complicated and tedious. In a simplified form, all students were asked to take Eng-
lish courses according to the requirements of their disciplines and their own interests.
All students participating in this study took at least two English courses as required
by the university. Within a month after a semester was over, students had to submit
the essays reflecting their comments on the English courses they had taken.
Courses offered by the Department of English and Communication fall into two
categories: business/technical communication and language arts (mainly literature).
The former were courses tailor-made for students of a particular major, for example,
Department of Building and Construction, Department of Information Systems, and
the like. The aim of these courses was to allow students to communicate with proper
formats and terminologies in their specialized areas when they used English. Language
arts courses were mainly about fiction and the culture of the English-speaking world.
Students were cooperative in answering both questionnaires. Eventually, only 35
students were able to stay with the study for three years. However, there were a lot
of difficulties in finding a common time which suited all students to attend the dis-
cussion sessions. At least 75% of the students of a particular faculty attended each
session. All students attended the group interviews in July 2001.

4. Findings and discussion

4.1. Questionnaires

Forty-two students answered questionnaire 1, 35 questionnaire 2. The researchers

tallied and ranked the responses. The highest four and the lowest four ranked items
are shown in Tables 1 and 2.
The four items ranked top in both questionnaires are the same, with a slight
change of order. It is possible that most students, before their graduation, still
believed that English would still be important in the future in Hong Kong, so being
proficient in the language would help them obtain a better job. They believed that
 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123 113

Table 1
The highest and lowest four ranked items for questionnaire 1 (n=42)

Items Mean S.D. Rank

16. English should be a compulsory subject in secondary school. 1.45 0.59 1

4. Good English language skills will land me on a good job. 1.57 0.63 2
5. English will still be important in the coming 10 years in 1.57 0.59 2
Hong Kong.
6. It is important for subject teachers to have a good command 1.67 0.61 4
of spoken English when they teach in English.
12. It is important for secondary school teachers to teach in 2.62 0.85 14
English for non-Chinese language subjects.
10. I avoided asking questions in English when I was in 2.67 1.05 15
secondary school.
14. If most of my university lecturers teach in English, I will have 2.69 1.26 16
more improvement in English.
2. In Hong Kong, a Chinese person with good Chinese language 3.29 0.83 17
skills is more respectable than a Chinese person with good
English skills.

Table 2
The highest and lowest four ranked items for questionnaire 2 (n=35)

Items Mean S.D. Rank

6. It is important for subject lecturers to have a good command of spoken 1.34 0.64 1
English when they teach in English.
16. English should be a compulsory subject in secondary school. 1.37 0.60 2
4. Good English language skills will land me on a good job. 1.43 0.56 3
5. English will still be important in the coming 10 years in Hong Kong. 1.46 0.56 4
12. It is important for secondary school teachers to teach in English for 2.43 1.07 14
non-Chinese language subjects.
3. Good Chinese language skills will land me on a good job. 2.47 0.98 15
10. I avoided asking questions in English when I was at university. 3.20 1.37 16
2. In Hong Kong, a Chinese person with good Chinese language skills is 3.49 0.95 17
more respectable than a Chinese person with good English skills.

they would have higher linguistic gains if all teachers in secondary and tertiary
institutes taught in good spoken English.
Items 12, 10, and 2 ranked bottom in both questionnaires. Students at both levels
did not think that Chinese language skills are more respectable and useful than
English in Hong Kong. They also disagreed that they had avoided asking questions
in English when they studied. Item 14 ranked 16th in the first questionnaire (n=42,
114 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123

mean=2.69), but it ranked 13th in the second (n=35, mean=2.2). Although it ranked
low in both questionnaires, the difference of the means may show some significance.
Since relatively more courses are taught in English at the tertiary level, students may
find it beneficial if they had been used to the English-lecture environment. Item 3
ranked 12th in the first questionnaire (n=42, mean=2.45), but it ranked 15th in the
second (n=35, mean=2.46). The two means indicate that students do not think
possessing good Chinese language skills will help them obtain a good job, neither
before nor after university education. This result is perhaps because of the enhance-
ment from the Chinese native lecturers who were able to converse and teach fluently in
English publicly; they present a successful image to university students. Students then
think that the Chinese skills alone will not do them good.
More interesting results were found when individual items were compared with
each other. For example, strong evidence for a difference is presented when item 10
was compared with item 3 (P < 0.05) and item 5 (P < 0.05) (Tables 3 and 4):
The percentage of items 3, 5, and 10 of questionnaire 1 is presented in Tables 5
and 6.
Students believed that the language would still be important in the coming 10
years; in fact, only 4.76% had no comment for item 5 in questionnaire 1. At the
same time, they also generally believed that good Chinese language skills would also
be helpful when they were looking for a job. Their comments shifted somewhat
when students were about to complete university education. More students were

Table 3
ANOVA: single factor (results for items 10 and 3 of questionnaire 1)

Source of variance SS d.f. MS F

Between items 11.905 4 2.976 4.894

Within items 22.500 37 0.608
Total 34.405 41

Table 4
ANOVA: single factor (results for items 10 and 5 of questionnaire 1)

Source of variance SS d.f. MS F

Between items 4.135 4 1.034 3.768

Within items 10.151 37 0.274
Total 14.286 41

Table 5
Individual item comparison (items 3, 5, 10 of questionnaire 1)

Items A B C D E

3. Good Chinese language skills will land me on a good job. 11.90 47.62 23.81 16.67 0.00
5. English will still be important in the coming 10 years in Hong Kong. 47.62 47.62 4.76 0.00 0.00
10. I avoided asking questions in English when I was in secondary school. 7.14 50.00 16.67 21.43 4.76
 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123 115

Table 6
Individual item comparison (items 3, 5, 10 of questionnaire 2)

Items A B C D E

3. Good Chinese language skills will land me on a good job. 20.00 28.57 37.14 14.29 0.00
5. English will still be important in the coming 10 years in Hong Kong. 57.14 40.00 2.86 0.00 0.00
10. I avoided asking questions in English when I was at university. 11.43 25.71 17.14 22.86 22.86

A=strongly agree; B=agree; C=no comment; D=disagree; E=strongly disagree.

willing to ask questions in English in their university years; a few more students
strongly believed that good Chinese language skills would help them get a good job,
but even more have become unsure and provided no comment for item 3 in ques-
tionnaire 2. The university graduates still believed strongly that English language
would still be useful in the coming ten years.
Item 10 was found to have a significance relationship with item 11 in ques-
tionnaire 2 (P < 0.05; Tables 7–9).
Most students in the first questionnaire reported that they were willing to work
harder to learn English when they left secondary school, but their attitudes were shif-

Table 7
ANOVA: single factor (results for items 10 and 11 of questionnaire 2)

Source of variance SS d.f. MS F

Between items 13.211 4 3.303 4.063

Within items 24.389 30 0.813
Total 37.600 34

Table 8
Individual item comparison (items 10 and 11 of questionnaire 1 in percentage)

Items A B C D E

10 I avoided asking questions in English when I was in 7.14 50.00 16.67 21.43 4.76
secondary school.

11 If I could start all over again, I would spend more time 47.62 35.71 14.29 2.38 0.00
learning English in secondary school.

Table 9
Individual item comparison (items 10 and 11 of questionnaire 2 in percentage)

Items A B C D E

10 I avoided asking questions in English when I was 11.43 25.71 17.14 22.86 22.86
at university.

11 If I could start all over again, I would spend more 25.71 42.86 22.86 2.86 5.71
time learning English at university.
116 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123

ted somewhat when they were about to graduate from university. Although students
still thought that English would be useful in the next 10 years, they now probably
understood that the language skill itself was not enough in order to excel in society.

4.2. Discussion sessions, course-end reflections, and interviews

These three instruments had the same objectives: students discussed their progress
of study and language attitudes with or without regard to the English courses that
they were taking. Nine discussion sessions were conducted and each student sub-
mitted at least two reflections throughout the three years, summing at 81 pieces. The
comments from student discussion sessions and reflections are summarized later.
According to the discussion sessions and reflections data, English courses were
taken 81 times:

Courses for business majors: 43

Courses for science and engineering majors: 32
Courses in literatures: 6

No students failed any of the English courses. Although each course has its own
grade-awarding criteria and mark distribution, an overall picture is provided for readers:

Grade Number of students

A+ 0
A 3
A 7
B+ 16
B 21
B 25
C+ 5
C 3
C 1

The skew suggested that the courses were able to differentiate the stronger and the
weaker students. Students who took courses for business majors were mainly from
the business faculty; the courses were required for their degrees. Students reflected
that although contact hours with their university tutors were a lot shorter than the
time they had with their secondary school teachers, the self-reading and preparation
time was a lot longer. In secondary school, the contact hours were the only time
students studied the English subject; with a university business English course,
although the class met for two to three hours a week, additional time was needed
when preparing for an assignment, usually in the form of a group written report or
meeting minutes. Sometimes, the assignments were meeting assimilations and oral
presentations, all of which required research, reading, writing, drafting, and rehearsing,
be it group or individual preparation. Students commented that these courses aimed
to develop two major types of skills that students need in the workplace, especially
 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123 117

when Hong Kong has become a part of China and plays an even more important
part in international trade. First, they aimed to improve student’s research and
reporting skills, both in writing and in speech. On completion of the course, students
were expected to be able to conduct research on business-related topics and report
the findings in writing and in oral presentation. Second, students to prepare effective
job application letters and resumes, and also to handle questions tactfully in
employment interviews.
Students in the engineering English courses shared a similar profile with the business
students; the learning environments at secondary and tertiary levels were similar as well.
These courses aimed to develop students’ abilities to plan and produce effective technical
documentation and to design and conduct software application(s) training programs.
Upon completion of the course, students were expected to be able to apply their investi-
gation skills, to carry out research activities, to identify the characteristics and features of
effective technical documentation and computer application user manuals, and to design
and implement a training programme making use of up-to-date computer and engineer-
ing technologies. In short, students agreed that the knowledge learnt in the courses pre-
pared them more for office work than for their study in their respective departments.
Although literature courses were only taken six times (one each for six different
students), students found that the literature courses adopted an interdisciplinary
approach to examine some major elements in Western civilization through the eyes
of literature. Students agreed that, to a very great extent, life as they experienced it in
their highly developed Asian society bore the imprint of Western civilization. Stu-
dents had already taken these embedded cultural elements so much for granted that
they sometimes thought that they were never different and would never be different.
Reading and appreciating key texts in these courses helped students explore the
contribution Western civilization had made to the world in which they lived. Most
students commented that the courses examined major elements of Western civiliza-
tion and how they shaped today’s world. They also studied written texts from dif-
ferent disciplines side by side with other mediums (e.g. films, visual arts) through the
understanding and appreciation of the course materials so as to gain insight into the
development of ideas in literature in English. Two excerpts of reflections from stu-
dents who took literature courses are provided here:

Excerpt 1
Although we were given a lot of reading, and sometimes we could not finish
them, but [sic] I am happy that we take the science fiction course because
I can have a break from my core courses. The teacher not only lectured on
the texts, he also wanted us to comment from time to time. Sometimes, we
also watched part of the movie of the same text.
Excerpt 2
I guess we should not look at it as a literature course, but a big reading class
in English because except listening, we did a lot of reading, writing, and
speaking in class. The stories provided us with basic content for discussion.
I think it is more useful than to do role-play in other language courses.
118 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123

In general, most students who took various English courses had not learned the
materials given to them in these courses before; for the items which they had learned
in secondary schools, they were glad to have them repeated because the items simply
enhanced their memory. They agreed that the courses were helpful to their overall
university study. In the business and engineering English courses, students believed
that their writing and presentation skills had improved, while literature students
believed that their reading and critical thinking skills had improved. Students in
business and engineering English courses generally agreed that the items learnt may
be similar to real life situations once they start to work in the field of their studies,
although some forms of adaptation may be needed. Literature students believed that
the items learnt would not be useful at all in the future, but the overall improvement
in reading and critical thinking definitely helped raise their English level in general.
Of all 81 reflections collected, 62 reflected that they would take the course anyway if
they were allowed to choose, not because of interest, but because of the possible
needs in the future. Ten reflections did not provide answers to that question, nine
students indicated that they would not want to choose those courses because ‘‘such
skills did not require a semester to teach, you can learn it on the job within two
weeks if you get a job’’ [sic], wrote one student; two other students shared the similar
view, they said that the course contents were irrelevant to their study, but they needed
the language input.
In sum, the majority of the students were happy with the materials and preparation
of their tutors; they agreed that the courses helped improve their English language
proficiency, although a handful of them had reservations regarding how the English
courses were relevant to their core courses. Three students who took literature
courses commented on the huge amount of reading assigned, but they also agreed
that the reading was needed for such a course. Among the 81 courses taken, 42 were
taught by a Chinese teacher, 39 were taught by a native speaker of English. Students
reflected that they did not mind the ethnic background of the tutor since all tutors
taught in English and communicated in English with them outside class hours as
well. But they did comment that the effort a tutor put into teaching affected their
interest in learning. In secondary school, however, English teachers lectured well in
class, but seldom conversed with students in English when the class was over. Most
subject teachers in secondary school refrained from using English altogether, except
for some specific terminologies in the lessons. Students found that subject lecturers
(Chinese native speakers) in university were more willing to lecture in English,
although some tutors chose to discuss issues in Cantonese when the class was over.
In sum, students were satisfied with the English learning environment at university.

5. Limitation

It is true that this study started and ended with a relatively small number of sub-
jects in one university in Hong Kong, but the fact that subjects came from more
than 30 secondary schools and proceeded with university study in various disciplines
was considered a sufficient sampling representing different attitudes among students;
 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123 119

thus, some form of generalization could be made. The second limitation lay in the
arrangement for and participation in discussion sessions and writing of reflections;
these instruments might be factors deterring some students from continuing with the
study.

6. Conclusion

Although all subjects came from the same university, they graduated from more
than 30 different secondary schools and brought along different study habits, atti-
tudes and opinions at the beginning of this study. The fact that they pursued
knowledge in different departments at university also provided a variety of opinions
for the usefulness of the English courses. From the data gathered, students com-
mented positively on communication skills courses; they commended the more
communicative approaches. Although some students said that they had learned
some tasks before, they were pleased to repeat them because the smaller class size
(usually 20, as opposed to 35–40 students in secondary school) allowed more indi-
vidual attention from teachers.
Other students said that materials covered were almost never seen in the second-
ary school setting. Although students agreed that each course offered something new
and they were positive that their overall language proficiency had improved, some
were not sure how useful the course material would be once they start working. One
reason was that students were not sure if they would pursue a career in their major.
Most students agreed that it was more fun taking these courses at university than
those in secondary school because more individual work was needed; students were
allowed to research for a business/technical area that interested them and just
focused on that area. There was no need to be proficient in reading, writing, listen-
ing, and speaking in all areas of their study at the same time.
Although only six students took literature courses, they found the reading and
sharing of experience challenging. They had to read at least 50 pages a week for a
fiction class and wrote at least two papers in a semester; they felt that their language
proficiency had been gradually developing, especially in the reading and critical
thinking areas. They considered the training in literature courses more sophisticated
and such courses should be made compulsory. Students who did not take literature
courses disagreed. In fact, one reason why they did not take literature courses was
the amount of reading involved.
This study concludes that students’ attitudes and comments toward English do
not change much before or after they have obtained tertiary education. Although
Hong Kong has become a part of China, students believe that it is still important for
secondary school teachers and tertiary lecturers to teach in English, regardless of the
subjects; this will invariably enhance their knowledge of English. Although a sylla-
bus and a standard are set for secondary school and flexible choices of English
courses are given at university, students find the choices useful in equipping them-
selves for future career needs and personal growth. More important, these courses
do help sharpen their English language proficiency.
120 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123

Appendix A
 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123 121

Appendix B
122 A. Yang, L. Lau / System 31 (2003) 107–123

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