Most Hong Kong people are aware of the importance of English as an international language and their poor proficiency in the language, but few of them would do something about it, a recent survey found out.

According to a survey by English language school Englishtown on 1,006 people aged between 15 and 64 conducted in February, about 90 percent of respondents agreed that English proficiency is important to one's success.

However, over 40 percent considered their English language skills to be "below average" or "poor" and only 3 percent found their English proficiency "excellent".

Meanwhile, only 12 percent said they would consider taking English courses this year.

The survey results seem to tie in with the opinions of many employers who generally find local students' English language skills unsatisfactory.

Tony Lee, acting director of the Hong Kong Institute of Education's Centre for Assessment Research and Development, noted that although the city's English public examination results have not dropped in recent years, many fresh graduates fail to meet employers' expectations in terms of English proficiency, especially spoken English.

"The motivation to learn English in Hong Kong is too examination-oriented," he said. "Hong Kong people do not learn English as a tool for communication but a way to get good grades."

Louisa Li, former director of the University of Hong Kong's Careers Education and Placement Centre, said many enterprises are pleased with local students' written English but find their spoken English particularly weak.

"Many local students have excellent resumes but they can't express themselves properly in English during job interviews," she said. "Although enterprises want to hire local students, they often end up hiring students who have studied abroad because they speak better English."

Lee suggested people learn English through daily life, such as reading road signs, advertisements or even product packaging in English.

He added signing children up for more tutorial lessons is not a good way of learning English.

To arouse children's interest in reading, he said parents should give them books that are easy to understand.

He also said having the courage to speak English is more important than acquiring a certain accent.

He remarked that Hong Kong people should learn from Singaporeans who are not embarrassed to speak English with an accent.

(HK Edition 10/10/2008 page1)