[OT] command of English by non-native speakers

[Christopher Chan]

> Don't get me started on grammar.  My high school students can't pass a 
> simple diagnostic test.  If they haven't gotten grammar figured out by 
> high school, it's too late for them.  Need to place the emphasis at the 
> lower grades when
> 

Definitely! Children should gained mastery over whatever language(s) 
being taught by the end of the primary school years. Everything else 
besides mathematics can take a back seat.

I had to go through English and French during my Primary School years in 
Sierra Leone and it is only the command of English that I gained back 
then that saw me through the rest of my life to this day.

Secondary school education in Hong Kong has taken a turn for the worst 
with lowering standards (like the rest of the world apparently 
so...hmm...) and universities complaining that most, if not all, their 
new students do not reach the level of language ability needed whether 
in English or Chinese.

But what do the local schools emphasize? Their gimmicky teaching 
enhancements, General Studies (knowing how many lines the Light Railway 
runs is so earth shattering apparently) and a host of other nonsense. 
Not one school emphasizes the most important basic. Language. Thanks to 
our esteemed Education Bureau.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=9&art_id=91593&sid=26332318&con_type=1&d_str=20091208&fc=2