Bulletin Vol. 6 No. 7 Jul–Aug 1970

1) The importance of learning through mothe r tongue and in order to avoid any difficult y in communication among Chinese, Chinese people should learn to speak both Mandarin and Cantonese; 2) The essential factors for building up the culture of Hong Kong and how they are related to the teaching of Chinese; 3) Special attention must be paid to the suggestions and recommendations of the three seminar groups in order to raise the standard of Chinese; 4) The Symposium had received favourable response. Some intended to establish a translation society and some suggested to publish a journal on translation. Prof. Cho u Fa-Kao's suggestion of publishing a monthly on Chinese Language also received enthusiastic support from the participants of the Symposium; 5) The success of this Symposium and raising the standard of Chinese in Hong Kong depends largely on how hard we work in the future and the follow-up will be a decisive factor. In his statement marking the close of the four- day Symposium, Mr. H.T. Wu, Registrar and Director of the School of Education of the University, thanked all the participants and those who contributed to the smooth running of the Symposium, making it such a noteworthy success. He also pointed out that concerted efforts would still be needed to follow up and further study the suggestions and recommendations made during the Symposium. M r . H. T. Wu's Closing Statement (an outline) We have heard during the past four days experts deliver lectures about the teaching of Chinese language and literature, and participate in the discussion of various problems, some fundamental and some particular 一 all indicating a conglomorat e of opinions. However, what the Symposium expects is not only enthusiastic discussion bu t continuous efforts to strengthen the teaching of Chinese on the one hand, and to follow up with further studies of the problems already analysed on the other. Suppose we have agreed on the objective of the teaching of Chinese language and literature, expecting students, after graduation from the secondary school, to reach a certain standard, qualified for further studies or a job. To attain this purpose, we are expected to select appropriate teaching materials in order to make students reach the desired standard. However, in the course of pursuing the objective, it gives rise to a few problems. First conies the student's ability, whether he can really benefit from the teaching materials. If he fails, the objective cannot be attained, and becomes a mere slogan. By ability is meant both intellect and standard. The standard of a Form 1 student in a Chinese middle school is provided by the primary school education received by him. A survey on the teaching of Chinese language and literature in middle schools cannot be isolated from the problems arising from the primary school stage. Besides ability, there is the problem of time. Enough time must be given to students for comprehensio exercise and application. Insufficient time will not achieve the objective. Thus, the amount of time for each subject must be measured carefully before promotion of the teaching of Chinese takes place. 1 suggest that educators should make a comparative study of the importance of each subject, which should be based on the educational objective and evaluation. Only after a conclusion has been reached could the distribution of time for various subjects be considered. If Chinese language and literature subject needs more time, then which subjects should be reduced or simply dropped? To increase the content of each subject, yet neglect the limited time allotted for it and the ability of the student leads us nowhere. If too high a standard is set, not enough time is allotted and the burden too heavy, both students and teachers could do no better than whitewashing. The standard of secondary school graduates will be lowered, and, in turn, affect the standard of university undergraduates. There is no reason to oppose to set the objective a little higher if efficiency in teaching can be raised even if a limitation of time on a subject is imposed. That's why we have, during the past four days, discussed the objective, the teaching materials as well as the teaching method. I am sure that the Symposium will bring out contributions to these three aspects. — 4 —