Investigating the Impact of English Benchmark Test for Teachers

 

Titled “A decade on from the inception of LPATE in 2001: Can we determine whether teacher English language standards have improved?”, the study will investigate perceptions of changes in Hong Kong English language teachers’ English proficiency.   “Given that LPATE has now been running for over 10 years, it is timely to investigate the extent to which English language teachers' perceived standards of language proficiency have or have not changed,” said Professor Coniam, who is Chair Professor and Head of Department of Curriculum and Instruction at HKIEd. 

 

Described as an “instrument of educational change”, LPATE was pursued by the Education Commission in the 1990s in response to concerns by different sectors of the community regarding the drop in English standards among the workforce.  In 1996, the Commission appointed Professor Coniam and another academic to jointly investigate the establishing of English benchmarks – the result being the introduction of LPATE in 2000.  Starting from 2001, the LPATE has been used as minimum English proficiency standards that all English teachers have to meet before they can teach English in school. 

 

Saying that a teacher’s language proficiency is the cornerstone of English teaching pedagogy, Professor Coniam is now taking a closer look at the impact of the proficiency benchmarks.  His two-year study will start off with a quantitative survey of principals, heads of English department and teachers from both primary and secondary schools on their perceptions of whether English standards of English teachers have improved since the introduction of the LPATE. 

 

Key questions will focus on whether there has been any change in teachers’ ability in the productive skills of writing and speaking, and the English language environment in the school – use of English by either teachers or students, and English language standards in schools generally.   

 

In the second part, the research team will conduct focus group interviews with respondents, including serving English teachers who have taken LPATE, to ascertain their views of the test and its outcomes in positive and negative terms.  “A key issue relates to how far they agree with the policy: to what extent it has helped or hindered the teaching profession,” Professor Coniam said.  

 

The team will also analyse LPATE data from the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority over the years to determine the extent to which levels of proficiency among English language teachers may have changed.   In the third part, the team will examine the unintended outcomes of LPATE, such as a view of language and the status of English in Hong Kong. 

 

Expecting to release his findings in late 2016, Professor Coniam believes that the study will inform the international community about the likelihood of success for mandated teacher language proficiency policies.  “The research will throw light on LPATE in such a way that future directions and decisions may be formulated and implemented for the good of language education in Hong Kong,” he said.