The 'EMI' Experience

***Disclaimer: The following content is not part of a smear campaign. Rather it documents true events and past happenings from the

perspective of a former student who endured the oppression and neglect of the education system.***

In September 2017 a new page was turned in the book of my life as I started secondary school. In an English as a Medium of Instruction secondary school. Childish and immature, I was unaware of what lay ahead, as the school - located in the Shatin District - was 'Band I' with a high university entrance rate. 'English as Medium of Instruction...' I thought, '...which means that I can freely converse with teachers, staff and students in English.' Growing up, although Cantonese was my mother tongue, I somehow always found English to be easier to use, not to mention the fact that it was, and still is, one of the dominant 'international' languages. My seniors largely ignored me when I attempted to speak to them in English, and being an avid fan of a certain franchise of wizarding fantasy novels at the time, I could be seen with one of those in hand almost all the time - and I was ridiculed in 'secrets' Instagram pages for that.  Nonetheless, I settled in, made some good friends and met like-minded individuals, despite still virtually living in a bubble that filtered out the grotesque details which would soon be presented right in front of my eyes.

One autumn school day, I was summoned to the teacher's desk during a work period in my Personal and Social Education (PSE, as it was called back then) class. The teacher, a middle-aged man with quite an extravagant fashion sense who also taught English, effectively popped the bubble for me as he uttered, 'Don't be so snobbish about your English. Your peers would think that you're a stuck-up showoff...what you should do is join some clubs like the [name of board game] Team instead of speaking in English with your classmates all of the time.' It was only then I realised that I had been such a fool to believe that the school was truly an English-speaking institution. Things only took a turn for the worse as the horrendous pronunciations and grammatical errors of my Science, Geography and History teachers began to show up. As for other subjects that were supposed to be EMI, the vast majority of teachers simply spoke in Cantonese. Even in English, despite my teacher's efforts to include in-class debates for variety, the syllabus was inherently tailor-made to ensure high grammatical proficiency for examinations through intense memorisation, and in oral exams, I was told not to 'steal' all of the points that might be brought up and speak slower. To protest, I eventually made myself a clown as I refused to respond to questions in Putonghua class, in Putonghua. I never expected that there would be more trouble to come. 

Fast forward to a year later in 2018, and the then-Proposed Cabinet of the upcoming Students' Union was holding a live Q&A session in the School Hall during morning assembly. Form 2 me quickly seized the opportunity to ask the inevitable question: what would the Cabinet do to meet EMI and English-Speaking Environment goals if they were elected? The hall erupted into chatter, and although a response was provided, it was never a complete answer. Unfortunately, my Science and Maths teachers both had taught me in the previous year, and it became clear to me that they would not teach in English. I, therefore, decided to file an informal complaint to the 'Dean of Studies', an ancient woman English teacher who also happened to be in charge of EMI affairs at the time. The day after, both teachers addressed my class with a reluctant attitude that someone had told the DoS that they were not teaching in English while gesturing awkwardly at me, and therefore 'from that day onwards' they would be doing so. The English medium of instruction, which was supposed to be the standard bare minimum, only continued for a week, before both of them reverted to their old ways. A charismatic biology teacher-cum-disciplinary master - who had problems with controlling his temper - along with the immensely popular Geography teacher (who took Chinese Literature as a major, Geography as a minor; and taught Chinese courses but was asked to teach Geography due to a staff shortage) expressed on separate occasions that they 'hated' and 'despised' EMI. My English teacher (who later since emigrated) that year also told me that the EMI problem was never a new thing - it had been around for the past three decades, as of 2018. She added that there used to be an 'English Ambassador' programme where similar to what was/is done in Putonghua, students would go around conversing in English. However, 'whenever they saw those Ambassadors coming, they would turn on their heels and run away!', she remarked. 

Things reached a boiling point on 29 November 2019, when I accidentally sent a rageful reply to the whole school after one member of staff sent a schoolwide email in Chinese regarding the collection of an English newspaper for in-class use, when the school guidelines clearly stated that all emails concerning English-related affairs should be in English. I received immediate backlash and a disciplinary warning. Coincidentally, the disciplinary warning was given by my Form 2 Maths teacher, the one I complained about. At the same time as all of this chaos and pandæmonium was happening, I further saw that the ‘English-Speaking Environment’ (ESE) that my school claimed to have was a mirage.  English was only ever used in formal events, though the school continues to label its ESE as being ‘immersive’. In other words, English would never be used for casual occasions such, as the Graduation Dramas and Gospel Dramas, despite being advertised in English, - quelle horreur! I was subsequently told to 'mind my words' and 'give up'. I never did. Three months later, my big break came as I moved to where I currently reside due to family decisions. I thought that I would leave all of this behind, for I was never truly welcomed. But no, I did not. I thought that it would be immensely unfair to the underprivileged who were not receiving the EMI that 'we all - the school - take pride in'. I also thought that improper English (or 'Chinglish') would further contribute to the ever-plummeting global ranking of the Hong Kong English standard. 

A lot has happened since then. I penned a school-wide email titled, ‘The U-Turn’, detailing some of my suggestions for the improvement of EMI, on a personal scale to a school-wide sense. My school Google account got disabled without prior notice. Then came ‘Winds of Change’, another email with more pieces of advice. An incumbent Students’ Union cabinet rudely turned down my suggestions to fix a poorly written and clumsy promotional poster. A whole slew of emails was sent to the teachers in charge, assumed to be read, and presumably, only a few perfunctory replies, if not none, were received. I documented my findings on Wikipedia. I also set up a forum, and almost immediately the hate comments began flooding in. From the scarce email responses - all of which were from my Form 1 PSE teacher, who is now, as of 2023, in charge of EMI affairs - I learnt that my ex-school supports a policy of bilingualism but this too, is a deception - it is unregulated and therefore highly inconsistent. The School website and School Profile - a document detailing contents of formality such as subjects offered, staff and teaching methods - are almost completely either in English or Chinese, with no options to switch languages. Naturally, social media posts of student bodies - clubs/societies/houses - lack bilingual captions as well. The school is celebrating an anniversary this year in 2023, and unsurprisingly, the PR material is almost unanimously monolingual in Chinese. I did offer to help translate, but guess what? Hierarchies make decision-makers blind and deaf because they have been obscured by their pride, prejudice, dignity, and egos. Aside from my former PSE teacher, a middle-aged - arguably seasoned - woman English teacher - who finds it arduous to pronounce almost every single English word one can name - not to mention her incompetency in correcting her errors - is also in charge of EMI. I also discovered that the Education Bureau (EDB) has an extensive list of guidelines for EMI, but these are very vague in definition, and the Bureau fails to include any penalties if schools fail to abide by them whatsoever. 

            I must also acknowledge the fact that some change - albeit very little - has been made. Before the sending of my emails, the school Library tended to prioritise the recommendation of Chinese publications over their English counterparts, and although there was a 15-minute ‘Reading Period’ in the morning, students were never guided on literary analysis and appreciation of that sort of thing. 2021 marked the début of a pair of subjects named ‘Extensive Reading (English/Chinese)’, but this targeted solely Form 4 students. To this day, a Form 2-only compulsory Language Arts course exists, but only ever teaches the very basics of poetry and literature. I also realised that the school is a true ‘grammar school’, as it does not make any efforts to further English learning and appreciation (both of which are EDB goals) beyond the classroom and graduation, other than DSE-oriented material such as grammar drills, vocabulary lists for memorisation, and very formal work-like letter-writing, leaving students on their own - unless one happens to excel in the subject and has been cherry-picked by top-tier English-teaching staff for 'elite' events; resources are present but rarely mentioned. December 2022 probably marked the first time ever that Christmas carols were sung in English at the Christmas Service, albeit the fact that this was riddled with typos. The school is celebrating an anniversary this year in 2023, and at first - due to a Chinese teacher - who openly admitted that her English was ‘very bad’ - being in charge of social media PR - most of the captions and info posted were monolingually in Chinese.  After multiple attempts to provide feedback - and getting blocked by said Chinese teacher -  posts in early March on Instagram were the first ever to be thoroughly bilingual, including a bilingual ‘Reel’.

As I was typing up this backstory of my own, I began to ponder, ‘is this still meaningful?’ Well, after re-examining and thoroughly thinking it through, I believe it is still the case. Just browsing online I have already found that I am not alone. Many ‘EMI’ schools out there suffer from similar issues, and these are not teething troubles, rather they are old wounds that have never been treated properly. So I thought, instead of being selfish and just wasting my time talking to a herd of ostriches addicted to procrastination, why not share my views and suggestions so that people who need these humble words of advice can have a chance to at least know that such things exist?  EMI schools should never become international schools, as this would further the societal divide. What we need is a system that can prepare the majority of Hong Kong students to be able to face the world. After all, it is very ironic for broken business English to be predominantly spoken in this ‘World City’. This is why this website stands here today. The time has come to start making things right, be it in small steps, or be it in one great leap forward. There is hope, but change must be enacted - starting with oneself. Our students deserve better. DC