Like their counterparts in any other society in the world, Hong Kong
students are a diverse group. My characterization should therefore be
taken as a rough working model (an expedient way of talking about complex
phenomena).
The new immigrant group from China (called NAC in HK--newly Arrived
Chinese) are the most marginalized group. Most of them find themselves
in an even worse situation than the existing working class group in
HK--e.g., poor living conditions (e.g., a family of 4 or 5 crowded into a
small room of 60 sq. feet), don't speak much Cantonese, discriminated by
local chilren. (I'm currently working on a project looking at their
adaptation in elementary schools--despite many frustrating facts, many
teachers and school principals are doing extra work to help them).
<italic>I'm afraid there's not much written on the disdavantaged groups
in schools in Hong Kong. You could say I'm "prioneering"--and quite
lonely in my work here. You could take a look at what I wrote in
Linguistics and Education 1996, vol 8, issue 1, in Journal of Pragmatics
1997 (fall), or in the Encyclopaedia of Language and Education, Vol.
5--Bilingual Education (edited by Jim Cummins).
</italic>
I have written some others on Hong Kong. You can download abstracts at
my web-site:
http://www.cityu.edu.hk/en/staff/angel/angel.htm
You can also go to the TESL-HK Newsletter website-- a newsletter I helped
create for Hong Kong English teachers:
Thanks for your message and for doing great things to your immigrant
students there on your side.
Best and cheers,
Angel
At 08:16 AM 1/2/99 -0500, Kate wrote:
>Angel, I was touched by your New Years note to
>xmca. Yes, of course these structures are the
>same elsewhere. Everywhere? I don't know the
>answer to that. Doesn't seem to be the same in
>Western Europe (say, Switzerland) except perhaps
>in the case of ethnic minorities -- a growing
>group. In any case, the American model is well
>studied and I have a sense of some of its dimensions
>from teaching in New York City: poor neighborhoods,
>high crime rate, low employment, fragmented families,
>racism -- with underfunded schools (low teacher salaries,
>high turnover, decrepit buildings). These elements
>help create the message of low standards and going
>nowhere that you alluded to. And it's a crime.
>
>I would love to know more, though, about the HOng Kong
>situation because I teach students from Hong Kong who
>have resettled in some of these very neighborhoods in
>Brooklyn. I'm sure their experiences in Hong Kong have
>varied, but is there a good study or description of the
>schooling situation there that might help me better
>understand their previous experience? Some of them
>seem to have come from South China -- from small villages
>-- and their fathers first emigrate to Hong Kong and then
>bring the family? Their parents often worked in factories
>in Hong Kong, sometimes bringing piece work home with them.
>They say they see academic opportunity here where there had
>been none before (because of our community college system?
>They are learning academic English with me and if they can
>make fast enough progress, they stand a chance of earing
>a degree).
>In the context of the resistance behavior of New York City
>students, the Hong Kong community seems hopeful rather than
>in revolt. The language hurdle, however, can be formidable
>and not all of my students appreciate what is involved.
>
>Any comments or references you might be able to offer
>would be appreciated.
>
>best for 1999,
> Kate Garretson
>