Abstract
As one of the essential skills for success in work and studies, English communication is often made a key component in the GE curriculum of tertiary study programmes. In addition to the provision of required English proficiency courses, many tertiary institutions have established English centres of some description to promote English learning on campus. Yet from students’ perspective, what kinds of programmes and activities should be offered, and how they feel about these initiatives is not very widely discussed in the existing literature.This paper aims to address these questions with practical experiences gained from a project to establish an English language enhancement centre by one self-financing tertiary institution in Hong Kong. Funded by the Quality Enhancement Support Scheme (QESS), the centre, titled the Centre for Academic and Professional Language Enhancement (CAPLE), was set up in March 2016. Cognizant of the benefits of life-wide learning, independent learning and collaborative peer learning, CAPLE offers a series of workshops and various kinds of English and culture learning activities that adopt these pedagogical approaches.Centre usage figures and user feedback were continuously collected for evaluative purposes. Data collected through student diaries, online surveys, usage records of the online programmes and other resources and a focus group interview showed varying levels of popularity of different types of workshops/activities, suggesting there is a need for programme designers to have a more realistic view about students’ actual English learning needs and learning motivation. Recommendations are made accordingly for more economical use of resources.
Highlights
1.1 Inadequate English Proficiency for Tertiary StudiesUnder the forces of globalization, English has become ever more important as a medium of communication for business, academic, professional and social purposes, and there is little doubt that mastery of the language can provide a competitive edge for college graduates in their future pursuits
This paper aims to address these questions with practical experiences gained from a project to establish an English language enhancement centre by one self-financing tertiary institution in Hong Kong
As students reach a tertiary level of study, many of them find their English inadequate for the heightened demand for a strong command of the language for academic and professional purposes, especially for those who come from schools with Chinese as the medium of instruction
Summary
1.1 Inadequate English Proficiency for Tertiary StudiesUnder the forces of globalization, English has become ever more important as a medium of communication for business, academic, professional and social purposes, and there is little doubt that mastery of the language can provide a competitive edge for college graduates in their future pursuits. As students reach a tertiary level of study, many of them find their English inadequate for the heightened demand for a strong command of the language for academic and professional purposes, especially for those who come from schools with Chinese as the medium of instruction. This is reflected by their struggle in courses requiring substantial use of English and in obtaining the required results in English tests and examinations; the problem is more acute upon graduation when a real need arises for them to use English accurately and effectively in professional contexts.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
