Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1998

Learning English the fun w a y at t he English C a mp for Secondary 1 Students Examining the integrated skills of teaching and testing at the English language teaching seminar Prof. R i c h a rd H o speaks h i g h l y of the participants and enjoys an amicable relationship w i t h them. He said the camp has increased his understanding of y o u ng people and he is c o n f i d e nt that he w i l l get a l o ng w i t h t h em marvellously if this group of students eventually become students of the University. English Camp for Secondary 1 Students A r e s i d e n t i al E n g l i s h s u mm e r c a mp f o r Secondary 1 students has been organized three years i n a r ow by the University's Department of English and the Co u n s e l l i ng a nd Schools U n i t of the E d u c a t i on D e p a r t m e nt of the H K S A R . T h e c a m p s, s p o n s o r ed b y t he L a n g u a ge F u n d/ benefit an average of 600 students a year. T h r o u g h a c t i v i t i es s u ch as m o r n i n g w o r k o u t, w o r d games, visit to the Tsing M a Bridge, storytelling, song and dance, poetry recital, i n t e r v i ews, and d r ama, participants learn to communicate confidently i n English and acquire an active attitude t owa r ds their studies. The goal is to t r a in t h em to express themselves c om f o r t a b ly a nd a c c u r a t e ly i n English i n real life situations. Local English teachers, educationalists, and researchers also make use of the opportunity to investigate the effectiveness of non-regular, non-formal English courses. Seminars for Language Teachers O t h er t h an camps a nd special courses f or students, the University holds seminars f r om t i me to time for secondary school teachers to examine strategies for r a i s i ng the language standard of their students as well as the future direction of language education: • A n English language teaching seminar on the t h eme ' I n t e g r a t ed Skills: T e a c h i ng a n d Testing' was organized by the Department of C u r r i c u l um a nd I n s t r u c t i on i n N o v emb er 1996 w i t h an attendance of over 200 senior secondary English teachers. • A seminar on Chinese language teaching i n Secondaries 6 a nd 7 a nd u n i v e r s i ty w as o r g a n i z ed b y the De p a r t me nt of Chinese Language and Literature i n M a y 1997 w i t h an attendance of over 200 teachers. • Three w o r k s h o ps we re c o n d u c t ed b y the Faculty of Education at the end of 1997 to collect v i ews of secondary school teachers o n the d r a ft r e p o rt o n the 'Research a nd Development Programme on Teaching and Curriculum for Chinese Language i n Primary and Secondary Schools'. 35 Years of Bilingual Education 11