English Oral Speaking and Esl Learning in Hong Kong

Running head: ENGLISH ORAL SPEAKING AND ESL LEARNING IN HONG KONG
English Oral Speaking and ESL Learning in Hong Kong
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

ENGLISH ORAL SPEAKING AND ESL LEARNING IN HONG KONG1
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................2
1.1. Aims and Objectives of the Research...............................................................................4
1.2. Key Research Questions...................................................................................................4
1.3. Research Hypothesis.........................................................................................................5
2. Review of Literature.................................................................................................................5
2.1. Gaps in the Literature Review..........................................................................................8
3. Research Methodology.............................................................................................................9
3.1. Research Philosophy.........................................................................................................9
3.2. Research Design................................................................................................................9
3.3. Data Collection and Analysis..........................................................................................10
3.4. Ethical Considerations....................................................................................................10
3.5. Limitations of the Study.....................................................................................................11
4. Findings and Analysis............................................................................................................12
4.1. Findings...........................................................................................................................12
4.2. Analysis...........................................................................................................................13
4.2.1. Challenges of Teaching ESL in Hong Kong...............................................................13
4.2.1.1. The Challenge of Culture Shock..............................................................................13
4.2.1.2. The Challenge of Students speaking in Native Mandarin or Cantonese all the time
instead of English......................................................................................................................14

ENGLISH ORAL SPEAKING AND ESL LEARNING IN HONG KONG2
4.2.2. Process of Teaching English as Second Language.....................................................14
4.2.2.1. Emphasis on Reading and Writing..........................................................................14
4.2.2.2. Follow up action through Home Work Assignments..............................................14
4.2.3. Benefits of Teaching English as a Second Language..................................................15
4.2.3.1. The Benefit of Pursuing an International Career.....................................................15
4.2.3.2. The Benefit of Societal Upliftment..........................................................................15
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................17

ENGLISH ORAL SPEAKING AND ESL LEARNING IN HONG KONG3
1. Introduction
1.1. Background Overview of ESL Teaching and Learning in
Hong Kong
The teaching of English as a second language is always a challenging affair. When
English is taught as a second language, the basics of English language and literature are imparted
to an audience who are not native speakers of the language and who consequently lack the
fluency and the proficiency in the language that is necessary to grasp lessons which are being
taught in the subject (Liontas 2018). When teaching English as a second language, teachers have
to take plenty of care to ensure that the learners are drilled in the basics of the language as fully
as possible in order to understand how to read and write in English for business, professional and
personal communication. Hong Kong in China is an island that had for a long period of time
been under the rule of the British and it was only in the later part of the 1990’s that it was
officially occupied by the Chinese once again. While most people in Hong Kong are familiar
with English, not all of them speak it as native language here, with the predominant language in
this respect being Mandarin or native Chinese (Leki 2017).
Schools in Hong Kong, both secondary as well as primary have the infrastructure and the
tools that are needed in order to be able to part lessons in the English language. The population
of Hong Kong is quite a diverse population with people of varied religions, cultures and ethnic
backgrounds residing in this part of China. Hong Kong, because of the fact that it was under
British rule for such a long span of time, is comprised of a population where several sections are
quite comfortable with speaking the English language and have been doing so over a long period

ENGLISH ORAL SPEAKING AND ESL LEARNING IN HONG KONG4
(Nordin 2017). Yet there are many native Chinese and other groups of foreigners in Hong Kong
who are not familiar with English as a native language or mother tongue and could benefit from
English language lessons that are taught here, for non-native speakers. As a consequence, there
are many primary, secondary and even higher secondary educational institutions in Hong Kong
that offer English lessons for those who speak it as a second language, and an attempt has been
made in this particular study to assess the factors that influence the teaching of English as a
second language in Hong Kong (Suryasa et al. 2017).
Teaching English as a Second Language in the schools and colleges of Hong Kong is no
mean task. The educational authorities in the country have established that schools and
institutions which offer ESL courses must be serviced by experts in the English language who
hold at least a bachelor’s degree in the subject and who have experience of teaching ESL for at
least a year or two. It is clearly evident from the establishment of such a standard that the
teaching of ESL is taken very seriously in Hong Kong and those who do engage in the teaching
process are expected to be top level experts in this particular specialization, in order for them to
be considered good enough to be employed for the same (Bloch 2018). Teaching English as
Second Language in Hong Kong is something that is mostly imparted at the international schools
in Hong Kong. The international schools in Hong Kong are populated with foreign and Chinese
students, with English being a non-native language for many among both groups of students. The
Chinese people and the students in particular who live in Hong Kong are familiar with Mandarin
and Cantonese, and with English too, if they have been living in Hong Kong for a considerable
length of time. However if they are immigrants to Hong Kong from mainland China, it is
unlikely that they will be well versed with English and would require being taught English as a
second language, in order for them to grasp fluency in this. It can be stated that both international

ENGLISH ORAL SPEAKING AND ESL LEARNING IN HONG KONG5
and local schools in Hong Kong offer the teaching of English as a second language. In fact, there
is a huge demand for the learning of English in Hong Kong (Wan 2017). It is recognized across
the length and the breadth of this island state that English is an international language and that it
ought to be learnt and mastered if the people of Hong Kong were to truly consider themselves as
international instead of exclusively Chinese (Wan 2017).
The process of teaching ESL in schools and institutes of learning in Hong Kong is also
quite an elaborate and complicated procedure. Teachers are usually recruited from outside of
China for the most part, for the teaching of ESL in Hong Kong, and it is expected that the
teaching and learning process will be carried out in a way, that students are able to achieve
competency and fluency in English as a native language within a few years or more of the
teaching process (Nordin 2017). As such the teaching of ESL in Hong Kong is a challenging
process and requires further investigation, if researchers on pedagogy are to arrive at a better
understanding of this subject.
1.1. Aims and Objectives of the Research
The objectives and aims of this research are as follows -
 To determine the challenges that are faced by ESL learners at the high school level
in Hong Kong
 To determine the benefits associated with English Oral Speaking for ESL students
at the high school level in Hong Kong?
 To understand the interventions that can be undertaken to address the challenges
that are being faced by ESL learners at the high school level in Hong Kong, in the
area of English speaking