Language in education debates in Hong Kong focus on the role and status of English (as the former colonial language and an important means for international communication); Cantonese, the mother tongue of the majority of the population; and Putonghua, the national language of China. This paper examines the language policy formulated in 1997-1998, and finds that it radically departed from previous policies by mandating the use of Cantonese as the medium of instruction in secondary schools. The paper then analyses two subsequent policy revisions and concludes that, while the tonal emphasis on mother-tongue education has remained, the policy revisions have reversed the language policy to previous practices that emphasised the importance of English.
[Copyright of London Review of Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14748460.2010.487336]

九七年版香港小學普通話科課程綱要頒行以來， 配應的教科書陸續面世。由於課程架構和理念的翻新， 教科書編者又嘗試從不同的角度體現綱要的精神， 各種教材的編排系統、內容重點等難免有不同程度的差異。要有效運用及發揮這些教材， 是新教師面臨的一大挑戰。透過一項新入職教師專業成長的研究，我們探討了一些新教師在教材運用方面遇上的困難和限制， 並歸納出他們有待增強的知識和技能。
Since the implementation of the current Putonghua curriculum in Hong Kong in 1997, corresponding teaching materials have been developed to meet the requirements of the curriculum. Because different textbook writers interpret the curriculum differently in terms of teaching objectives, teaching contents and teaching approaches, etc., teaching materials generated vary in focal points. To use these materials effectively in teaching becomes a big challenge, especially for beginning teachers. In a study on the professional growth of beginning Putonghua teachers, their problems in adopting commercial teaching materials are investigated, and the knowledge and skills with which they need to become competent language teachers are identified.
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education, Hong Kong Teachers' Associationl is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Association at http://www.hkta1934.org.hk/]