教師的工資是否偏高?

ChingChingDad

Last time I wrote:
"I heard a joke; who is not using English as a teaching medium? The answer is: local English teachers."

Now I know I was wrong.  This is a fact, not a joke.  How sad!

South China Morning Post
Saturday, February 18, 2006

Usage of English as medium tool rare
------------------------------------------

CHESTER LEE MILLICAN

The great majority of English teachers in Chinese-medium schools are not using English as a medium of instruction. This includes panel heads, fluent in English, teaching top-set classes from Forms Seven to One.

Avoiding the use of English in English lessons represents a wasted opportunity of colossal proportions. No wonder that students tend to pay no attention to MTR announcements in English - they have no expectation and none placed upon them that they might be able to comprehend such spoken English or that it might be useful for them.

English teachers will say that their students simply cannot understand any spoken English and that the students may acquire the teacher's mistakes. A better understanding of "interlanguage" and language acquisition would soon dispel this myth.

Undoubtedly, poor class behaviour and a syllabus pitched humiliatingly high for so many students do not help.

There are a number of valuable, discrete usages of Cantonese in English-medium English lessons which will benefit rather than conflict with the English usage.

However, in the case of grammar, students can also be taught by meaningful activities, good models and worksheets - amongst others. The need to "explain" grammar in Cantonese is vastly over-exaggerated.

The Education and Manpower Bureau helped to sponsor and facilitate my course, Teach English In English. The course was well received particularly because it is a practical, hands-on course taught by someone with eight years experience in low-banded Hong Kong schools.

I am looking forward to running these courses again. However, I am concerned that, contrary to verbal reassurances from the EMB's Quality Assurance Inspectorate division four years ago, the latest Inspection Summary Report for English, 2003-2004, still does not make even one direct reference to the medium of instruction used by English teachers in the lessons observed.

While EMB inspectors may recognise that it may be beneficial to use more English in English lessons it seems that, like the teaching profession, they too believe it is not very practical.

English is still a genuine second language in Hong Kong as it is to be found almost everywhere. Furthermore, unlike, say in Japan, Hong Kong teachers in Chinese-medium schools, whether or not they are English teachers, possess a great natural resource: an ability to speak and understand English, especially the colloquial, communicative language. Teacher educators, inspectors, principals, panel heads and, in particular, parents, should not stand around while this great resource is left to fade away.

Chester Lee Millican is an English teacher in a local school.

熙媽媽

        

ononyoyo 寫道:
睡覺 and Happy!ok!,

          

[quote]
Happy!ok! 寫道:
終於見到比較公道的回應!有point, 社會問題係要大家共同解決, 不停的踩踩踩唔係一個好方法!

[quote]
睡覺 寫道:
不管是人工高也好低也好，那不是重點吧？

如果一個人的工作壓力過大，而這工作又是直接對人的服務性工作，那麼，最終受害的是接受服務的對象。

公立醫生工作及精神壓力大，受罪的是病人；(我就曾遭殃過...因為那個替我做手術的醫生經常長時間要當值)

教師工作及精神壓力大，受罪的是我們的子女；(教師過多工作，有時我想和老師傾多幾句講下我個仔的情況都不好意思...)

其它行業各自有各自的工作壓力係無錯。

但係，一個例如係會計師，工作壓力過大，他可以轉去搵另一份會計師工作就比較容易一點點，而且即使轉不成，就算係因工作壓力過大，導致工作效率降低，或精神失常，受害的最多係果間公司的經濟損失或那個會計師自己或其家人受害。(例如至個會計師因壓大過大，精神失常咁斬死全家然後自殺)....

但係，醫生呀、教師呀，精神失常的話，受害的不單是怹們自己及他們的家人，而是無數的病人及我們幼嫩的孩子啊。

因此，各項各業有的壓力所影響的範圍就有很大分別.....也不能一概而論...

最重要的是去如何正視問題........

不停的踩踩踩....對教師，對學生，對家長都無好處....

:  :

[/quote]

睡覺,

[size=x-large]講得好![/quote]

mission

薪酬檢討擱置 教師續同工不同酬

  【明報專訊】檢討過時的教師薪酬架構是去年《施政報告》教育項目重點之一，但中、小學均面對縮班、教育改革，為免再點火頭引起教師動盪，教育統籌委員會通過擱置檢討薪酬架構，直至2010年。教師「同資歷、同工，不同酬」的情

pohonma

        

睡覺 寫道:

不管是人工高也好低也好，那不是重點吧？

如果一個人的工作壓力過大，而這工作又是直接對人的服務性工作，那麼，最終受害的是接受服務的對象。

公立醫生工作及精神壓力大，受罪的是病人；(我就曾遭殃過...因為那個替我做手術的醫生經常長時間要當值)

教師工作及精神壓力大，受罪的是我們的子女；(教師過多工作，有時我想和老師傾多幾句講下我個仔的情況都不好意思...)

其它行業各自有各自的工作壓力係無錯。

但係，一個例如係會計師，工作壓力過大，他可以轉去搵另一份會計師工作就比較容易一點點，而且即使轉不成，就算係因工作壓力過大，導致工作效率降低，或精神失常，受害的最多係果間公司的經濟損失或那個會計師自己或其家人受害。(例如至個會計師因壓大過大，精神失常咁斬死全家然後自殺)....

但係，醫生呀、教師呀，精神失常的話，受害的不單是怹們自己及他們的家人，而是無數的病人及我們幼嫩的孩子啊。

因此，各項各業有的壓力所影響的範圍就有很大分別.....也不能一概而論...

最重要的是去如何正視問題........

不停的踩踩踩....對教師，對學生，對家長都無好處....

:  :

snchiu

Different ways to read alphabets lead to different accents.  Australian people always say "aa" for the letter "a" and so they say "daa taa".  Another example, Australian/Scotish/some English say "maa ster" for the word "master" whilst most American people say "mae ster", because "a" in America is ususally read as "ae".

On the other hand, if one misses some alphabets here and adds some alphabets there, e.g. bridge becomes bitch, it's not a matter of accent; it's simply wrong.

Another major cause of different accents is the place of the stress, e.g.,  straw 'berry vs 'strawberry.  Everyone knows what you are talking about when you say straw'berry, but one has to guess from the context if you say sitor'belly.

Even studying in an IS, my daughter sometimes finds it confusing when she meets the letter "z".  We, in order to be consistent with Elmo, Big bird, Barney, etc., switched from the british "zed" to the american "zee", but have not been very able to change all "aa" to "ae".  Nevertheless, it's not a bad idea to let her understand that people may speak with different accents. :tongue: