Bulletin Special Supplement Jun 1965

training in school and in some measure also by his social background. ( i i i) They have to be faced at different stages of the student's course; but in particular in the first year of study, at a time when the student has to deal w i t h other problems of adaptation to new tasks, etc., and may not yet fully appreciate the use which he w i ll have to make at a later stage of languages other than his mother tongue. L3.3 It is a matter for congratulation that the Chinese University has, as we note, given so much thought to th e subject, and especially that it has been able to lay down aims for language work in the first two years of studies. As we see them, the aims fall into two distinct groups: (i) "tools of work" related to academic studies at all stages, ( i i ) attainments required of graduates of the University in order that they may play a full and effective part in the life o f the community when they terminate their higher education. O f these two objectives, the latter is common to all students; th e former varies in detail according to disciplines (compare the amount of time spent on studying a single ite m of advanced mathematical symbolism on one hand w i th th e reading of texts in a library subject, say history, on the other hand). We assume therefor e that aim (i) must be to a good extent fulfilled during the first two years of study, and fully attained by further familiarity in the following years, and in any case as quickly as possible to enable students to have access to published material in English which is not available in translation. A i m (ii ) should be achieved by the end of four years; but it is unlikely that when a fourth-year student of, say, a physical science is fully occupied in the subject of his choice he w i ll be able to give a great dea l of his private time to advancing the standards reached by systematic study in hi s first two years. L3.4 As regards objective (ii), a further point is much in the minds of university teachers all over the world at the present time: namely, the real command of the mother-tongue. It is of the nature of higher education that it makes continuous demands on students to improv e the precision and effectiveness w i th which they express themselves, whether in w r i t i ng or by speech, an d whether they are natural scientists, or social scientists, or students of the liberal arts. Th is increased comman d can be developed only if two conditions are present — good examples to observe, and opportunity to practise. The student who first attempts to express himself with precision and effectiveness at the time of an examination will fail to do so, even though his teacher has given him good examples, unless he has had earlier opportunity and incentive to improve his skills ; this applies equally to the arts or to the treatment of a topic in economic studies or in natural sciences. T he experience of many universities in the U.S.A., in France, and in other countries where the deficiencies of students have been discussed, makes it clear tha t only by repeated written and oral work can this command be gained. I n Britain, scientific departments tend increasingly to require students, in the final examination, to write an essay on a general scientific subject, as a means of ensuring that scientists and technologists are able to communicate effectively; this test is often prepare d for by practice during the years of study. The deficiencies of students in writing or speaking w i th ease and precision have in many countries been blamed on the secondary school. But whether or not this blame is justified, there is no doubt that work demanded in higher education is of such a standard, and requires suc h a degree of intellectual maturity, that there is a responsibility on universities to ensure that this particular tool of work becomes progressively sharper and more effective , whatever the standard of the student on entry. For it is only by dealing w i th exacting intellectual tasks that the student will encounter the challenge to use his mother-tongue in a more precise and mature manner. Th is topic is not without its bearing on teaching methods, and we return to it in a later section. The remainder of this section is devoted to problems of languages other tha n the mother-tongue. P a r t i c u l ar P r o b l ems L3.5 T he Committee on Teaching Methods has considered the problems which arise f r om the need for students whose mother tongue is Cantonese to communicate, o r at least to follow lectures effectively, in Mandarin. It is heartening to learn that the Committee is reasonabl y confident that the task is one which student s can take in their stride in their first year at the University. It would hardly be expected that the visito r without expert knowledge on this matter should presume to offer views. The situation is analagous, bu t not identical, to that in many parts o f Europe (Alsace, Slovakia, Ukraine), except of course in th e matter of calligraphy; and we are not surprised to learn that the problems have been overcome, and that a gratifying situation results for Chinese studies in the University, in respect of objectives ( i ) a n d ( i i ) mentioned in paragraph 3 above. L3.6 The problem as regards English is of course of a different kind. It is to be borne in mind, once again, regarding the nature of university studies that while institutions have close ties with, and duties towards, the soi l on which they stand they are also members of a world-wide community devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, and that a book or paper published elsewhere in another tongue may be of immediate use in teaching or urgently needed in research. Quite apart f r om this, in addition to serving as a door into the world community of learning the discipline of learning a foreign language is valuable in itself as part of general education �； this is recognised in university 27