目 錄 CONTENTS 學者專訪：“澳門公務員納稅事在必行” ...................................澳門研究中心整理 1 Academic Interview:“The Necessities of Professional Tax for the Civil Servants in Macau………………………Centre for Macau Studies 《國際刑事法院規約》與澳門刑法若干制度之比較 ...................................徐京輝 11 A Comparative Study on the Systems between the "Rome Statute of International Criminal Court" and the Criminal Law of Macau………………………………CHOI Keng Fai 近代世界文明演進中的反差與澳門特殊地位的形成 ...................................楊允中 28 The Contrast in the Evolution of World Civilization and the Formation of Macau's Special Status………………………IEONG Wan Chong 從港澳特區基本法 23 條立法看社會的極化與整合 .................................................... 54 Legalization of the Article 23 of the Basic Laws of the Hong Kong and Macau SARs: Implications of Social Polarization and Integration……………………Penny Y Y Chan, Tsz Kit Cheng 論《澳門基本法》的澳門特色 .......................................................................黃漢強 71 The Distinguishing Features of Macau in the "Basic Law of the Macau SAR"……………………………WONG Hon Keong 澳門回歸三年特首施政的民情回顧 ...............................................................呂國民 85 The 3-year Administration of the Chief Executive on Public Customs After Macau's Handover……………………………LUI Kwok Man 澳門公共行政改革淺議 ...................................................................................何佩珊 96 Some Suggestions on the Macau Public Administration Reform ……………………………………………………………HO Pui San 澳門中文報業在兩岸交流中所扮演的角色 .................................................林 昶 105 III
Macau Chinese Press Acted as a Role of the Exchange Between the Two Sides of Taiwan Strait…………………………LAM Chong 澳門的傳媒生態淺議.....................................................................................鄧祖基 113 Some Suggestions on the Ecology of Macau Media………………TANG Chou Kei 媒介使用與社會建構——澳門傳媒與社會變遷關係初探 .........................林玉鳳 119 The Use of Media and Social Building-A Tentative Investigation on the Relationships between Macau Media and Social Evolution ………………………………………………LAM Iok Fong 澳門高校青年教師與管理人員的自我塑造初探 .............................范劍虹、田青 133 A Tentative Investigation on the "Self-Perfecting" of the Local College Teachers and Managers……………………FAN Jianhong, TIAN Qing 資訊時代澳門圖書館網絡資源的組織與管理 .............................................楊開荊 150 The Organization and Management of the Internet Resources of the Libraries in Macau in an Era of Information……………IEONG Hoi Keng 穗港澳旅遊建築文化比較 .............................................................................彭順生 160 A Comparison of the Tourist Architectural Culture of Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou………………………PANG Shunsheng 鄭和航海的終極點——比剌及孫剌考 .........................................金國平、吳志良 180 The Final Point of Zheng He's Navigations: "Bila" and "Sunla" in the History of Ming Dynasty……………………………………JIN Guoping, WU Zhiliang 讓詩歌豐富英語教學資源 .............................................................................楊秀玲 194Poetry as a Resource for Enriching English Education: An Investigation into the Materials Development of Macau Schools……………………………………………IEONG Sao Leng 澳門小學學校組織氣氛與教師工作滿意度之研究 .....................................曹艷瓊 236 A Research on the Atmosphere of School Organization of Macau Primary School and the Working Satisfaction Degree of the Teachers………………………………………………CHOU Im Keng 澳門學術動態 ....................................................... 267 Macau Academic Activities IV
Academic Interview: "The Necessities of Professional Tax for the Civil Servants in Macau" (II) Honorable Guest: Mr José Rocha Dinis, Director and Administer of Jornal Tribuna de Macau Reporters: Angel Tang and Alice Iong, the Editorial Section of Journal of Macau Studies The fiscal administration of the Macau SAR has deeply engaged in conducting an efficient remodeling of the current tax system since the handover, and it is necessary to propose a new tax law to the Legislative Assembly of Macau. The new tax law (Law No. 12/2003) has been passed by the Legislative Assembly and has been effective since 1 July, 2003. All civil servants in Macau are going to pay tax from 1 October, 2003. Although there have been some controversies during the process of formation, this overall reflects the principle of equality and the interests and demands of the society. The editorial section of Journal of Macau Studies have conducted an interview on the related topic with Mr José Rocha Dinis, Director and Administer of Jornal Tribuna de Macau on 1 4 May, 2003. We now sincerely share the content of the interview (as follow) with our readers. Reporters of the Editorial Section of Journal of Macau Studies (Reporters): What are the necessities and importance of the professional tax for the civil servants in Macau? Mr José Rocha Dinis, Director and Administer of Jornal Tribuna de Macau (Mr Dinis): Since I am not working in the Executive of the Macau SAR, I do not know the exact reasons for the implementation of the professional tax for civil servants. However, I think that there should be some economic and social reasons, which are both clearly connected. In a 8
difficult economic environment, both regional and international, now aggravated by the effects of the SARS, it is a little bit difficult for the general population to see that the civil servants are the only professional group exempted from paying the professional tax. In the name of equality, it is socially more acceptable that everybody be treated in the same way and pay the same taxes. By historical reasons that are connected with the Portuguese administration, the civil servants did not pay taxes before the handover, as a way to attract the more qualified professionals in Portugal to come to work in a distant place like Macau. But times have changed, and Macau is now following the pattern of the great majority of other countries and territories, including Portugal, in which the payment of the professional tax for civil servants have been implemented some years ago. Having said this, the extension of the professional tax to the civil servants, here and now, is a political decision made by the Government. Now, some associations of the civil servants have criticized on the move, claiming that this will breach the Basic Law, especially Article 98. Article 98 of the Basic Law states that after the establishment of the Macau SAR, the civil servants will maintain their existing salaries, subsidies and benefits. Some jurists, also the group of civil servants, have different opinions which is surely a disputable matter. Since the Macau SAR is ruled by law, I expect that this matter will be settled in the courts in the future, in case someone will complain against the implementation. I am convinced that the Government will go ahead with the matter. Reporters: How can Macau learn from other countries in implementing the professional tax? Mr Dinis: For sure, Macau has learnt from other countries to extend the professional tax to the civil servants. I hope that Macau can also learn with a social approach to minimize the effects of this implementation. Reporters: Is progressive tax suitable for Macau? Which classes of the society will be mostly affected? Mr Dinis: Progressive tax is not only suitable for Macau, but also indispensable as a social approach. Those who earn more money must pay more taxes, so the Executive of the Government can exempt a bigger group of people in the lower income classes from tax. A balanced society 9
is that those people who are rich should contribute for the other classes with lessresources, and taxation is the normal way to establish that contribution. This is the general principle that must be applied. Reporters: Is it suitable for the tax rates to be altered? (Which range between 7% to 12% at the detriment of those currently fixed between 10% to 15%) Is it suitable to pass the tax exemption from $85,000 to $95,000? Apart from the taxable amount, is the deduction of the income characterized as the services rendered for obviously social nature reasonable? Mr Dinis: The details of the proposal are now being discussed by the Executive with the professional associations, so everything must be debatable. For me, the most important thing is to establish the related principles and the rest are details to be discussed, but of course I favor a big exemption for the classes of low salaries. Reporters: Should provident fund contribution be remitted from tax? Mr Dinis: My comments are the same as the answer before. The Executive and the professional associations must discuss the details of the proposal themselves. But again, I prefer a big exemption for the classes of low salaries. Reporters: How to prevent fraud and tax evasions? Mr Dinis: At the beginning of the extension of the professional tax to the civil servants, I am sure the Financial Department will constitute a major task to cope with it. From the point of view of the civil servants, it will be difficult for them to have fraud or tax evasions, as it will be the same department, the Financial Department, to pay their salaries and to control their taxes. Reporters: Will the new tax law affect the spirit of the civil servants? Mr Dinis: I think the answer should be "must not" instead of "will not". Because it will be a very bad example for the society if the new tax law affects the spirit of the civil servants, who should not be motivated only by salaries. I am sure that they will not be affected because I have noticed that the civil servants in Macau have a solid spirit of serving the public. I am sure this will continue. 10
華政策的肇始。 塞格拉的船隊於 1509 年駛抵滿剌加後，馬上展開與在當地經商華人的交往。華人運銷滿剌加的主要貨物為麝香、絲綢、樟腦、大黃等，以換取胡椒和丁香。55華商一般趁 3、4月的季風前來滿剌加，於 5、6月又趕風返回中國。葡萄牙人千方百計向華人打探中國的情況，企圖擠入中國與東南亞的貿易網中。他的艦隊在滿剌加逗留了數月，後因無法補充給養而撤退，但與華人進行了初步接觸。 總而言之，“比剌”是“Bilād－al－Sufāla”中“Bilād”的對音，實指莫桑比克島。“孫剌”是“Sūlan”淺灘的對音，代指“索發拉”。它們是鄭和下西洋的極點。56 註釋： 1 《明史》，北京：中華書局，1974 年，第 7768 頁。 2 同上，第 8454 頁。 3 費奇(J.D.Fage)：《非洲史》，里斯本：70年代出版社，1997年，第146頁。 4 W.W Rockhill，“Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and the Coast of the Indian Ocean during the 15th Century”，T′oung Pao，1915，n°16，p.82。 5 對應漢字待考。 6 Paul Pelliot，“Les Grands Voyages Maritimes Chinois au Debut du 15e Siécle”，T′oung Pao，1933，n°30，pp.326－327。 7 J.J.L.Duyvendak，“The True Dates of the Chinese Maritime Expeditions in the Early Fifteenth Century”，T′oung Pao，1939，n°34，p·373. 8 沈福偉：《鄭和寶船的東非航程》，載於《鄭和下西洋論文集》，第 1 卷，北京：人民交通出版社，1985 年，第 180 頁。 9 楊人楩：《非洲通史簡編從遠古至一九一八年》，北京：人民出版社，1984 年，第 102－106 頁；艾周昌、沐濤：《中非關係史》，上海，1996 年，第 27－28 頁。 10 The Encyclopaedia ofIslam，New ed，Leiden，E.J.Brill，vo1.IX，1997，p·698。 190
11 馬查多(JoséPedro Machado)、坎波斯(Viriato Campos)：《達伽馬及其發現航行(Vasco da Gama e as sua viagem de descobrimento)》，里斯本，1969年，第 142 頁。 12 同上註，第 144 頁。 13 楚姆斯基(T.A.Chumovsky)：《達伽馬的阿拉伯領航員馬季得的三份新見航程志(Tr s roteiros desconhecidos de Ahmad Ibn－Madjid，o pilotoárabe de Vasco da Gama)》，里斯本，1960 年，第 43 頁。此重要文獻原件藏原蘇聯列寧格勒蘇聯科學院。它以歌訣形式編寫，由三部分組成：1.索發拉至印度航程；2.印度至馬六甲航程；3.秩達(Djedda)至亞丁航程。1983 年，又出版了新的英譯本，Ahmad Ibn Magid，“As Sufaliyya《ThePoem ofSofala》”，trad.Ibrahim Khonry，Coimbra，Centro de Estudos de Cartografia Antiga，Junta de Investiga es Científicas do Ultramar，1983.(Série separatas，148)我們準備將其與《鄭和航海圖》作系統的比較，以求探討中國航海圖與阿拉伯航海圖之間可能的淵源關係及相互影響。 14 The Encyclopaedia ofIslam，vo1.VII，1990，p.245. 15 同上註，同頁。 16 中央人民廣播電台國際部：《世界地理知識(非洲部分)》，北京，1982 年，第229 頁。 17 應為“Zambeze”。 18 《鄭和寶船的東非航程》，第 180 頁。 19 陳佳榮、謝方、陸峻嶺：《古代南海地名匯釋》，北京：中華書局，1986 年，第 177 頁。 20 同上註，第 178 頁。 21 比較有代表性的有：洪建新：《鄭和航海前後東、西洋地域概念考》，載於《鄭和下西洋論文集》，第 1 集，第 207－220 頁，沈福偉：《鄭和時代的東西洋考》，載於《鄭和下西洋論文集》，第 2 集，第 218－235 頁，劉迎勝：《“東洋”與“西洋”的由來》，載於《走向海洋的中國人－鄭和下西洋 590 週年國際學術研討會論文集》，南京鄭和研究會，1996 年，第 120－135 頁及陳佳榮：《鄭和航海時期的東西洋》，載於《走向海洋的中國人－鄭和下西洋 590 週年國際學術研討會論文集》，第136－147頁。 22 費瑯編、耿昇、穆根來譯：《阿拉伯波斯突厥人東方文獻輯注》，北京：中華 191
書局，1989 年，上冊，第 125 頁。 23 同上註，下冊，第 681 頁。 24 同上註，下冊，第 682 頁。 25 同上註，上冊，第 436 頁。 26 同上註，下冊，第 513 頁。 27 The Encyclopaedia ofIslam，vo1.VII，p.245. 28 《聖塔倫子爵地圖集(Atlas de Santarém)》，阿姆斯特丹，1985 年，第 45－46 頁。 29 《古代南海地名匯釋》，第 391 頁。 30《達伽馬的阿拉伯領航員馬季得的三份新見航程志( s roteiros desconhecidos de Ahmad Ibn－Madjid opilotoárabe de Vasco da Gama)，第40 頁。 31 《新唐書》，北京：中華書局，1975 年，第 6305 頁。 32 《古代南海地名匯釋》，第 1076 頁。 33 同上註，同頁。 34 《新唐書》，第 1154 頁。 35 《中非關係史》，第 31 頁。 36 張星烺編註、朱傑勤校訂：《中西交通史料匯編》，北京：中華書局，1977 年，第 2 冊，第 159 頁。 37 沈福偉：《中國與非洲》，北京：中華書局，1990 年，第 209 頁。38《中非關係史》，第 31－33 頁。39 同上註，第 47－50 頁及《古代南海地名匯釋》，第 505－508 頁。 40 《達伽馬的阿拉伯領航員馬季得的三份新見航程志(Tr s roteiros desconhecidos de AhmadIbn－Madjid opilotoárabe de Vasco da Gama)》，第17、45 頁。 41 汪大淵：《島夷志略》，台灣學生書局，1985 年，第 371 頁。 42 當時的意大利日曆以 3 月 25 日作為年終，因此 1506 年 1 月 10 日相當於公曆1507 年 1 月 10 日。 43 莫桑比克島。 44 意大利曼圖瓦檔案館(Archivio di Stato di Mantova)有一份大同小異的鈔 192
Poetry as a Resource for Enriching English Education: An Investigation into the Materials Development of Macau Schools leong Sao Leng* Abstract This research paper reports an investigation carried out in Macau into two important areas in English education on the use of literature, especially poetry, as a resource for enriching, enlivening and innovating English language teaching and learning (ELT/ELL), first in the formal English curriculum as partly reflected by the content of school textbooks studied here in a corpus of six sets of the most popular English textbooks adopted for use at Forms 1 & 2 levels in Macau schools, and second in extra-curriculum activities as represented by the annual city-wide event on the Macau school calendar—the Macau Speech Festival/ Recitation Competitions, with a focus on an observation-questionnaire-interview survey of the 18th Speech Festival of Macau, together with a corpus study of recitation materials for three consecutive years. In language education, the role of literature, including poetry, has long been widely recognized. l Findings have on the whole confirmed the usefulness of literature and poetry in promoting interesting language teaching and learning activities and in motivating learners and enriching the English curriculum, but at the same time revealed the lack of variety, especially the scarcity of literary texts in formal English curriculum and this paradox: while poetry has proved to be the No. 1 instinctive favourite with children and students, who prefer poetry to other genres for various activities, as reflected by speech festivals and recitation competitions, poetry has been absent from the English language curriculum, as shown by school textbooks on which school teachers still *Assistant Professor of Faculty of Education, University of Macau 194
depend a lot. This points to the necessity of making more rigorous efforts to enrich, innovate and diversify the content of the English curriculum and further research endeavours should be made in specific areas such as materials development, exploring the use of poetry and other literary texts as resources for teaching and learning, encouraging language-rich and culture-rich activities, improving Macau teachers' abilities and boosting their confidence in using various resources by providing them with focused teacher- enhancement programmes, deepening their capacity to teach and learn while preserving the joy and love of teaching, and keeping on growing as teachers, as well as learners and human beings. 1. Preamble 1.1 Background The teaching of English as a foreign or second language has always been one of the most important subjects in Macau schools. Yet it is generally felt (though without accurate figures based on in-depth quantitative research so far) the English proficiency of Macau students is far from satisfactory.2 However, with the liberalization of the gaming industry serving as the locomotive of regional exhibition, tourism and leisure services, and as Macau is further opening up to the outside world, as a regional tourist and transit centre, Macau will definitely go international and its people, particularly school leavers, will need good English proficiency to equip themselves and help create facilitating environment so as to make Macau more competitive for sustainable development. Macau students start learning English from kindergarten days, mostly eight to ten or even more hours a week, but many fail to acquire the competence required for effective communication by the time when they leave school. There are a number and a variety of factors influencing students' performance in learning English and we need to make more efforts to improve the situation. There have been some studies looking into the socio-political factors,3 but few have ventured into the actual teaching and learning activities both in the formal English curriculum and extra-curriculum activities. As a start, we have selected literary texts, and poetry in particular, as our preliminary thrust into the teaching and learning content of both formal and informal English curricula as represented by the textbooks used in the classroom and the texts chosen for the annual speech festivals and competitions. 195
In this investigation, a clear-cut distinction has been made between the study of literature, which makes literature itself the content or subject of an English programme, and the use of literary texts including poetry as a resource, which draws on the wealth of literature as one source among many different kinds of texts for promoting rich and interesting language activities.4 To a large extent, this research reflects a permanent and on-going interest in the use of literary texts in language teaching for non-native speakers, especially Chinese speakers, who have a long tradition of learning a language through literature. This is underpinned by the understanding that teaching a second language through literature is not the same as teaching literature to native or first language speakers, as informed by changes in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) methods and by the developments in linguistics and anthropology.5 Though teaching English as a second language (TESL) or TEFL through literature can be traced at least to 1975, when H.G. Widdowson published his Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature, and though there have been numerous publications on this topic since then, such as Literary Text and Language Study by Carter and Burton in 1982, Literature and Language Teaching by Brumfit and Carter in 1986, and Literature in the Language Classroom by Collie and Slater in 1987, to mention only a few, there is no such a tradition in Macau.6 Therefore this research may be of particular interest to Macau teachers of English by offering them something more stimulating and profound to add to and extend their repertoires. 1.2 Statement of the problem It has long been proved by many researches that the wealth of English literature, including poetry, is an inexhaustible resource for interesting and successful English language teaching and learning and for cultivating personality and fostering humanity, 7 Brumfit supported the development of language competence through literary experience. By literary experience he means that students will read, enjoy and be willing to perceive a literary text as important in relation to their own understanding of themselves and the world. The significance of reading literary texts in ESL/EFL classes is to enhance language development of the reader, as it presupposes an ability to make sense of the words in the text.8 Linguistic and literary understandings are inseparable and complement each other. Then what is the role of literature in the ELT/ELL scenario of Macau? To be specific, what are the content components of school textbooks on which both teachers and students depend so much for teaching 196
and learning English in Macau schools? And what are the content components of the materials used for speech festivals and competitions on which they spend a lot of time practicing and rehearsing? What should we do to deepen, diversify and enrich the content of learning in both formal classroom teaching and learning and extra-curriculum activities? 1.3 Purpose of the study and objectives 1. To investigate to what extent literary texts, especially poetry, are in cludedin school textbooks in order to find out how English syllabus designers and textbook writers perceive the role of literature in formal English curriculum; 2. To investigate to what extent literary texts, especially poetry, are used in extra-curriculum activities so as to identify how students and their teachers feel about the role of literature in stimulating learners' permanent interest and bringing about sustainable intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in learning English; 3. To study the role and implication of literature in cultivating students' personality and developing their intelligence during their growing years and explore the possibility of transferring what they learn inside and outside the classroom from the knowledge and skill domains to the attitude and cultural domains; 4. To make teachers and educators of Macau aware of the importance of using English literature as a valuable resource to develop meaningful and culture-rich materials for English education in Macau; and 5. To propose and improve ways of exploring and using the wealth of English literature, especially poetry, as an inexhaustible resource to enrich,enliven and enhance ELT/ELL in Macau.’ 1.4 Significance of the research for English Education in Macau There have been some misconceptions and controversies amidst the educational circles of Macau about the factors bearing vitally on the success or failure of students learning English. Some have blamed, with a certain degree of justification, the socio-political, socio-linguistic and language policy factors for having failed to create an English-speaking environment for learners.9 Some have shifted criticism on teachers for their poor quality of teaching or for their poor English proficiency and thus have pointed to the necessity of improving teacher training, while others have hold the class size responsible, claiming the common scene of fifty to sixty students crowding in one room may frustrate any attempts, especially oral, communicative activities and defeat confidence 197
and motivation, no matter how professionally capable and qualified the teacher is. And still others have pinpointed the English language curriculum as the major problem area. All these are sound criticisms to a more or less extent and need to be addressed one by one. This preliminary research into the objectively graspable materials, i.e., the textual components of school textbooks, as well as those used for extra-curriculum activities, has revealed the pressing need for materials development in the English language curriculum. As curriculum is the heart of school education, I0 the English language curriculum plays a central role in ELT/ELL activities and will bear significantly on the whole set-up of ELT/ELL in Macau. The success in improving the curriculum content will help bring about improvements in other areas of English language teaching and learning in Macau. 2. Literature Review: Literature/Poetry as Resources for ELT/ELL More than a century ago, Oscar Wilde (1854—1900) made the profound statement about literature, especially poetry: Movement, that problem of visible arts, can be truly realized by Literature alone. It is Literature that shows us the body in its swiftness and the soul in its unrest. Indeed, literature has been with us since the beginning of time. And teaching English as a second language through literature has been with us since the beginning of our profession. The basic tenet underlying the Grammar-Translation Method, which sometimes has been derided as old-fashioned but has actually over the years had a remarkable success in helping learners achieve a high degree of proficiency and enhance their intellectual development, is that a fundamental purpose of learning a second language is to be able to read and appreciate literature written in the target language. As Michael Long, a well-renowned expert in teaching English as second/foreign language (TESL/TEFL), rightly points out that only in the past couple of decades has literature been left out in the cold because some approaches have not always served to develop responses to language or to isolate the different kinds of responses involved. Structural approaches to language learning, with their er ^hasis on discrete-point teaching, "correctness" in grammatical form, and repetition of a range of graded structures, restricted lexis, etc., represent a methodology unsuited to literature 198
shortage of good translated literary works. In fact, numerous classical Chinese poems, which are already very familiar to and well liked by young Chinese learners, have been translated into English and made their ways into prestigious anthologies of English poetry, such as the extremely popular Norton Anthology of Poetry, edited by Ferguson, M. and published by W.W. Norton & Co. For example, the English poem, The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter, was a translation by Ezra Pound from a poem entitled Changgan Xing by the great ancient Chinese poet, Li Bai. Though there may be errors here and there and unlucky accidents growing out of the glosses, the poem that Pound gives us is life-like and touching and has won unanimous applause from both Chinese and Western readers and critics. It has the power of pulling the readers' heartstrings and of crystallizing their troubled conscience. In the words of Ford Madox Ford, a well-known modernist critic of the West, the image of the river-merchant's young wife is able to educate men and women and improve human nature: The quality of great poetry is that without comment as without effort it presents you with images that stir your emotions; so you are made a betterman; you are softened, rendered more supple of mind, more open to the vicissitudes and necessities of your fellow men. When you have read TheRiver Merchant's Wife you are added to. You are a better man or woman than you were before.17Literature, especially poetry, exposes learners to various complex themes and fresh, interesting uses of language. A story or novel may be particularly gripping because it involves the reader in the suspense of unraveling the plot, which is more absorbing for students than the pseudo-narratives frequently found in school textbooks. And a poem may elicit a powerful emotional response from students, like the example just quoted. If the materials are discretely selected, students may feel that what they do in the classroom is relevant and meaningful to their own lives, which facilitates educating the whole person. And there seem to be signs coming from various corners that people are resorting to poetry again for various purposes. One seems to feel the power of poetry exerting itself as economic globalization is accelerating, sounding one note of warning after another against the imminent dangers facing mankind, and at the same time appealing for humanity. It is not uncommon in fiction or other literary works that the authors quote a beautiful little poem to head chapters and books. Publications on teaching and education deal with the rational, reasoning, and hard facts, appealing to the mind rather to the heart. However, nowadays we see more and more non-fictions or books themed on education starting a topic or 202
concluding a chapter with a well-known poem that enhances the subject matter. The Courage to Teach is exemplary of this humanistic trend.The whole book and all the seven chapters are captioned by a popular andhighly emotional and philosophical title poem. Indeed, rarely have we comeacross books such as this that appeals both to the heart and the mind. And thereseems to be no emotional quicksand. "This book is for teachers who havegooddays and bad - and whose bad days bring the suffering that comes only fromsomething one loves," the author begins his book in this heart-warming tone."It is for teachers who refuse to harden their hearts, because they love learners,learning and the teaching life. ... Teachers choose their vocation for reasons of the heart, because they care deeply about their students and about their subject.But the demands of teaching cause too many educators to lose heart. Is it possibleto take the heart in teaching once more so that we can continue to do what good teachers always do - give heart to our students?" 18 The title poem for the Introduction, "Teaching from Within" is "Ah, Not to be Cut Off " 19 Indeed, thanks to this poem, one is drawn into the book once it is opened: Ah, Not to be Cut Off, not through the slightest partition shut out from the law of the stars. The inner — what is it? if not intensified sky, hurled through with birds and deep with the winds of homecoming. An urge springing from the depth of a teacher's heart is crystallized here. Aren't teachers the most warm-hearted beings on earth belonging to the human race and committed to "the healing of our world"? 20The poem that leads the first chapter, "The Heart of a Teacher: Identity and Integrity in Teaching", is "Now I Become Myself ":21 Now I become myself. It's taken Time, many years and places; I have been dissolved and shaken, Worn other's people's faces ... 203
In our era of the Internet, such inspiring poems abound and may fly onto the screen any time, educating both and young and the old, sharing our common world and common aspirations of mankind: What a Wonderful World I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom f or me and you And I think to myself what a wonderful world. I see skies of blue and clouds of white The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night And I think to myself what a wonderful world. The colours of the rainbow so pretty in the sky Are also on the faces of people going by I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do They're really saying I love you. I hear babies crying, I watch them grow They'll learn much more than I'll never know And I think to myself what a wonderful world Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world. Imagine Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people Living for today... Imagine there 're no countries I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man, Imagine all the people 204
Sharing all the world... You may say I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one, I hope some day you 'II join us And the world will live as one. (Anonymous) Interestingly, poetry has found its way into business domains. For example, the booming property market of the 1990s actually rode on some emotion-charged poems in some regions, including Hong Kong and Macau. And then paradoxically, the recession in the property market of recent years also seems to resort to highly aesthetic and sentiment-charged poems to bring about a recovery of the property market, such as Du Fu's lines, which appeared in a full-colour page advertisement:22 杜甫 Let's have a great mansion with thousands of rooms 安得廣廈千萬閒， So that all the poor on earth can be happily 大庇天下寒士俱歡顏，' Safe from storm and rain as it stands firm like a Mountain! 風雨不動安如區！ by Du Fu 23And Su Dong-po's poem to encourage people to buy flats surrounded by beautiful bamboos, the dream of many Chinese scholars:24 蘇東坡 I can have meals without meat, 可使食無肉， But I can't live without bamboos; 不可居無竹； You become slim without meat, 無肉令人瘦， But you get vulgar without bamboos. 無竹令人俗。 by Su Dong Po 2STo this English rendering of mine, I received an unexpected response, cross-culturally and environmentally, thousands of miles away, from a PhD student of the Boise State University, an American lady named Ann Finley, who had attended my session of presentation at the Learning Conference 2002 in Beijing some months before. This is part of her paper concerning my presentation entitled Enhancing Humanity Through Poetry Education: On Thursday I attend a presentation by Dr Sao Leng leong of University of Macau entitled Enhancing Humanity Through Poetry Education. 205
"Poetry, "says Ieong, " is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings." She reads a short poem in Chinese and then in English. Hearing the same poem in each Language, back to back, her audience of mostly English speaking people can savor the tonal beauty and pitch variation of Chinese, while understanding the meaning of the poet's words. The poem is spare: / can have meals without meat, But I can't live without bamboo. You become slim without meat, But you get vulgar without bamboo. That the Chinese people have an abiding love for nature can be seen in their visual art and their gardens. A proper Chinese garden has five elements: a rock, a building, trees, water, and maybe one species of flower in bloom. I want to share Su Dong Po's emotional metaphor, but bamboo is not an indigenous part of Idaho. So I try for an essential, if non-literal translation. Once, driving to Stanley in the early spring, a friend and I spotted a wolf in a snow-covered clearing. This was before wolves were reintroduced and radio-collared and subjected to the horrors of human management. The wolf regarded our stopped vehicle with interested yellow eyes, then turned and vanished into the forest. My friend put his big hand over one of the wolf's paw prints. The hand could not cover the track. So here goes my poem: / can have meals without meat, But I can't live without wolves, You can be slim without meat, But you lose the wild without wolves. I think I know China better—The Chinese soul—for matching the emotion of a Chinese poet with something from my own experience. Yes, this has to be done in my own language—but Dr. Sao Leng Ieong has shown that the study of a poem need not (should not!) be limited to its translated version. The rhythm and intonation of a poem originally composed in Chinese, or Italian, Russian or Arabic, are part of its meaning.26Of course, there have been a lot of anecdotes of political leaders or diplomats quoting poetic lines or allusions to start, stimulate or successfully conclude a business transaction or a political talk, a speech, or diplomatic functions, often to the joy of everybody present. Foreign guests visiting China have cited classical Chinese poems in their addresses. For instance, President Nixon of the United States quoted this verse of Mao Zedong's in one of his speeches during his visit to China in the 1970s: .../ So many deeds. /Bear no delay. / Sun and earth turn; / Time flies away. / Ten 206
thousand years are too long. /Seize but the day! / And President Reagan cited the following couplet of Wang Bo: If you have friends who know your heart, Distance cannot keep you apart. 21And Xu applauded these efforts as demonstrating that "a part of Chinese poetry has already become a part of global culture, which boosts cross-cultural communication and understanding.28But what is most surprising is that poetry has sparkled its way into the most unlikely arena—the Hong Kong SAR Financial Secretary Mr Antony Leung's Maiden Budget Report. After giving all the hard facts on Hong Kong economic performance and prospect, increased unemployment, continuing deflation, the economic slowdowns and downturns both in Hong Kong and externally, competitive advantages and challenges, four consecutive years of operating deficits, shortfalls, etc., and after enumerating the difficulties and hard times that Hong Kong has experienced in recent years following the financial crisis in Asia, and the many advantages that Hong Kong still enjoys, he urges Hong Kong people to unite with one mind to overcome difficulties and strive for a better future. Thus he concludes his first budget as the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR with the following lyrics, Under the Lion's Rock: 獅子山下（黄霑詞） Under the Lion's Rock 放開彼此心中矛盾 Of one mind in pursuit of our 理想一起去追 All discord set aside 同舟人誓相隨 With one heart on the same bright 無畏更無懼 Fearless and valiant inside 同處海角天邊 Hand in hand to the ends of the earth 攜手踏平崎嶇 Rough terrain no respite 我哋大家用艱辛努力寫下 Side by side we overcome ills 那不巧香江名句 As the Hong Kong story we write. 29 The lyrics are extracted from the theme song of a very popular Chinese movie, Under the Lion's Rock, in the 1960s and 1970s, when Hong Kong people were still struggling to make ends meet before the booming years of prosperity brought about by unity and hard work. It was articulated and performed most beautifully by the Canto-pop godfather, Roman Tarn. The effect of this poem on the Hong Kong community is obvious: veterans and 207
old-timers came on TV or wrote articles in local newspapers, recalling hard times, or reminiscing about what they achieved with diligence, unity and determination, and there is a rerun of the old movie to educate the people to join hands to tide over difficulties and build a better future for all. The charismatic Chinese Premier, Mr. Zhu Rongji, enthralled and mesmerized the Hong Kong people during his brisk visit to Hong Kong in November 2002 by reciting this poem again with emotion amidst applauses and cheers, confessing he was deeply touched by it and wished to share it with Hong Kong people, boost their morale and work hard together with the Hong Kong people to overcome all difficulties.30An overview of the literature on teaching and learning English through literature, including poetry, has demonstrated that a good English education should expose learners to the vast wealth and resource of literature for interesting, meaningful and successful learning, for arousing and sustaining their permanent interest and intrinsic motivation, for cross-cultural understanding as world citizens and for their life-long education. Moreover, a good English education should nurture and enhance learners educationally, philosophically, intellectually, aesthetically, spiritually and culturally. And literature, especially poetry, with its humanistic educational values, plays an important role in cultivating these permanent values. Therefore it is time for us to look into our English curriculum, and as a preliminary effort, into the content component of school textbooks in the formal English curriculum and of the recitation materials for extra-curricular activities in Macau schools. 3. Methodology 3.1 The hypothesis The hypothesis that literature, including poetry, plays an important role in English education and in the English curriculum, is based on extensive reading of the ELT/ELL theories and relevant literature, as well as on years of classroom teaching experience at the secondary and tertiary levels. As a preliminary investigation into the English curriculum of Macau schools, this research focuses on two areas representative of the local ELT/ELL scenario: school textbooks mainly reflecting the content component of the formal curriculum and speech festivals and competitions casting some light on content materials of extracurricular activities. 208
3.2 Description of subjects Both psychologically and for practical needs, textbooks are indispensable and important to teachers and students in Macau schools, though, with the development and improvement of both pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes and teacher professional development, more and more teachers of English look for supplementary teaching materials and exercises from the Internet or other resources. A school textbook is "something concrete that gives a measure of progress and achievement " as lessons or units are completed, one by one until finally the book is finished, giving you that sense of achievement.31 In the case of Macau, where students are enrolled at various levels (kindergarten 1—2 or 3; primary 1—6; secondary 1—6/Forms 1—5 plus Form 6/Juniorl—3 and Senior 1—3), it is also a measure of standards. The choice of textbooks and the inclusion/exclusion of literature in the content of textbooks also reflect teachers and textbook writers' perception of and attitude to literature in English education. As over 90% of Macau schools, pre-primary, primary and secondary inclusive, are private education institutions, schools are free to adopt whatever textbooks they deem suitable for their educational objectives and school culture or tradition. Consequently there is neither consensus nor uniform practice as to what textbooks should be adopted, more so at the primary level, where teachers can afford to experiment with different varieties of text materials. As secondary schools have a more immediate mission of preparing students for tertiary education and for university admission examinations, they usually adopt complete sets of textbooks systematically used from Secondary 1 to Secondary 6 (or Forms 1—5 plus Form 6). Therefore, out of the miscellany of textbooks, we have focused on the six most popular sets adopted for use by some forty secondary schools of Macau, including the two government secondary schools. As more texts may be added to the repertoire as students move up the grades, for purposes of analysis and discussion, we have narrowed down the series to Book 1 and Book 2 of each of the six sets of textbooks adopted for use during the academic year 2001—2002. The activities most representative of the informal curriculum are speech festivals and competitions. The annual inter-school Speech Festival of Macau, which has been held for 18 consecutive years, with the 18th Speech Festival held in May 2002, has long become a major event on the local school calendar. It has been the only citywide extra-curriculum activity outside the formal English curriculum that has been attracting more and more schools and students to participate. Indeed, it is one of the few single events involving and 209
uniting almost all schools, of varied and diversified systems, in Macau. The recitation/elocution pieces that the organizers select for the chorus section and others that individual schools, teachers and students choose for the solo section also reflect their preferences and perceptions of the roleof literature, especially poetry, in extra-curricular activities. This study focuses on a search into a corpus of the chorus pieces chosen by organizer-appointed experts for the recent three consecutive English competitions, i.e., for speech festivals 2000—2002 held in Macau, and of the solo pieces chosen by teachers or students themselves, also for the recent three speech festivals (2000—2002). Again, as mentioned above, Macau schools are highly pluralistic, for validity and relevance, all participating schools and students and their teachers are included in the study of this corpus involving a student population of 8,567 for 2002, accounting approximately for a tenth of the student population (primary and secondary) of Macau and 24,430 participating students for the three consecutive years 2000—2002. We also interviewed two important organizers of the event. One is the former President and currently Vice-Chairman of the Macau Educators' Association, Ms. Lao Sin Peng. She initiated this annual event in Macau in the early 1980s and has actively participated in the promotion, preparation and organization of the speech festivals ever since. The other is Mr. Lei Pei Lam, the present President of the Macau Educators' Association and has always played a prominent role in this event. 3.3 Instrumentation For this research we use what David Nunan describes as the elicitation methods and techniques in language teaching and learning,32 with surveys on the two corpora, supplemented by questionnaires for randomly selected participants and teachers, questionnaires for all adjudicators, and individual interviews with two of the principal organizers. Specifically, surveys include: 1. Questionnaire for Students Participating in the 18th Speech Festival of Macau, 2002; 2. Questionnaire for Teachers of Participating Schools or of Students; 3. Questionnaire for Adjudicators of the 2002 Panel, both chorus and solo; 4. Recording of the Interviews with Organizers of the Speech Festival of Macau on CD, Interview Sheet and Report; and 5.To catch participants in action, we also recorded and videoed their performances, both solo and chorus, at the 18th Speech Festival. 210
3.4 Data collection procedures Some alterations and adjustments were made to the proposed working plan in order to take advantage of the upcoming event. The first stage of data-collecting actually started as soon as this project proposal was approved by the Research Committee of the University on 29 April 2002, just in time to cover the 18th Speech Festival of Macau held on the campus of Macau Pui Ching Middle School on 4—5 May 2002, with participants reaching a record high. Questionnaires, consisting of closed and open-ended items, which had already been designed and prepared before the event and enclosed in stamped, self-addressed envelopes, were delivered to participating students and teachers selected at random on the spot, while questionnaires for adjudicators were delivered and collected on the spot by the end of the event. The second stage was completed by a two-pronged approach, i.e., data collection of school textbooks and that of speech festival recitation/elocution materials were carried out concurrently during the summer. First we made contacts with some forty secondary schools of Macau and obtained their booklists. At the same time, we approached the Macau Educators' Association, organizer of the Macau Speech Festivals for the past 18 annual events, and obtained the speech festival recitation/elocution materials, both for the solo and chorus sections, of the recent consecutive years 2000—2002. As the last stage we arranged two oral interviews, semi-structured with prepared questions. There were also a few free, informal chats with individual teachers and parents. The three-stage procedure can be summed up in this diagram: 4. Results and Findings 4.1 Results of the textbook survey Results of the textbook survey covering six sets of main texts of Forms 1—2/Secondaryl—2 (Books 1—2) are shown in Table 1. 211
212
The six most popular sets of text books adopted by some forty secondary English A Modern Course, Oxford Junior English schools of Macau are (Secondary 1—3), English Highway, English Treasure, Progressive English, and Longman Express, published by leading international publishers. They are either published in Hong Kong or readily available in Hong Kong and Macau. They are also adopted for use by Hong Kong schools, indicating that nowadays Macau schools 213
i n general still follow in the footsteps of their Hong Kong counterparts in thec hoice of textbooks, as they have done traditionally. With regard tot ey, non-fiction prose is ext-types/ genres, which is the focus of this survpredominant, obviously for immediate and pragmatic purposes of language learning, in the forms of argumentative, narrative, descriptive, factual writings or reports, diaries, letters, dialogues, personal profiles, and interviews, most common in everyday use and for daily communication. Those few that could be termed literary texts are short simplified or adapted stories. Poetry is obviously absent from all six sets except one, English Treasure, which is the latest textbook published by the Oxford University Press, as if to catch up with the new trend. However, even here there is only one poem in Book 1 for Form 1/Secondary 1 students and none at all in Book 2 for Form2/Secondary 2 students. 4.2 Survey Results of Speech Festival Recitation/Elocution Materials (2000—2002) The results of the survey on text-types/genres of the recitation/elocution materials used for both solo and chorus sections in the past three years (2000— 2002) are shown in Tables 2—7 (Text-type/Genre Survey of the Recitation/ Elocution Materials for the Past Three Speech Festivals of Macau, 2000—2002) and Figures 1—3. For the past 18 years, participants in the Speech Festival of Macau have been grouped into solo and chorus sections in accordance with their levels and the languages they choose. They are Junior Primary (Primary 1—4), Senior Primary (Primary 5—6), Junior Secondary (Forms 1—3/ Secondary 1—3), Senior Secondary (Forms 4—6/Senior Secondary 1—3), and Post-Secondary/Tertiary, in each of the four language-streams: Chinese Mandarin, Chinese Cantonese, English and Portuguese. Table 2 The 16th Speech Festival (2000) — Solo 214
Figure1 The 16th Speech Festival 2000-Solo Table3 The 17th Speech Festival(2001)-Solo Figure2 The 17th Speech Festival 2001-Solo 215
Table4 The 18th Speech Festival(2002)-Solo Figure3 The 18th Speech Festival 2002-Solo Table5 The 16th Speech Festival(2000)-Chorus 216
Table 6 The 17th Speech Festival (2001) — Chorus Table 7 The 18th Speech Festival (2002) — Chorus Here we see a very different picture: literary texts, which are chosen by students themselves or their teachers and the competition organizers, abound in extra-curriculum activities, though they are missing from the formal school curriculum as reflected by the six sets of textbooks adopted by Macau schools. In the case of the Speech Festival of Macau, with the exception of a few famous speeches chosen by senior form students, the recitation/elocution pieces consist entirely of poems and literary texts. And what is particularly noteworthy is the fact that the organizers always go for poetry for this annual inter-school event of Macau. 4.3 Findings from participating students 60 questionnaires were delivered to solo participants on the spot immediately after their performances at the 18th Speech Festival of Macau. A total of 28, 18 from the Junior Secondary Section and 10 from the Senior Secondary Section, have returned their completed questionnaires in theself-addressed stamped envelopes we had prepared for them. All of them say they like the literary texts chosen for them by their teachers and 217
they are selected by their teachers to take part in the competitions. Only 4 out of the 18 say this is their first time while the rest say it is their third or even fourth time already. They all say they have more confidence in speaking English and their school performance is better after participation. Only 1 out of the 10 of the Senior Secondary Section says this is her first time participating in this event and all the rest have been chosen to participate in this event almost every year, and all except one say they like the pieces chosen for them by their teachers. They all believe that participating in this event has helped improve their English. Comments and suggestions made by students in both the junior and senior sections include: 1. There should be at least three adjudicators for the solo section, to ensure impartiality and fair play; 2. The classroom for solo is too small and crowded, with insufficient lighting, and it would be better to find a bigger venue; 3. There should be food and drinks provided for participants; 4. There should be more prizes to attract participants; 5. It would be better to hold the event during some longer holidays so that it would not clash with school work or examinations; 6. There should be MCs and guest performers, and awards and prizes be given the same day on the spot; if possible, audience should be involved in adjudicating; 7. Videos/VCD should be made available to participants or can be purchased; 8. Participants should be informed of their ranking, results or comments from the adjudicators; and 9. There should be frequent change of venues and adjudicators to create a sense of freshness and ensure objectivity. 4.4 Findings from teachers of participating schools A total of 30 questionnaires were delivered on the spot to the teachers leadi been returned in ng the teams for the chorus section and only 11 have the self-addressed stamped envelopes prepared. With the exception of one teacher who has started preparing her students for this event in 2002, all the others are experienced teachers who have been closely involved in coaching their students for the event for many years, some as long as more than ten years. Feedback shows they are generally positive about the literary texts, especially poetry, chosen by the organizers for chorus recitation/elocution. 218
They say they need to acquire more skills so that they will be able to train their students. They all indicate that they have spent a lot of time coaching their students for this event. Their comments and suggestions are: 1. There should be a seminar/seminars for teachers to discuss the skills of recitation; 2. Perhaps a more ideal venue, with more space for parent and student audience and better lighting, should be chosen for this annual event and turn it int fo a un day; 3. To prevent prejudice or partiality on the part of the adjudicators, it would be better to withhold the school names from them for some adjudicators seem f to avour some schools and even native speakers of English; 4. More prizes should be created to encourage participants; 5. Easy and happy poetry should be chosen for chorus recitation; 6. Adjudicator/s should be invited to comment on each contestant's perfo a ' rm nce; and schools and teachers should be informed of their teamsperfo arm nce and the adjudicators' comments; 7. To reduce the pressure on teachers and schools, and to give them sufficient time for training and preparation, only one event in one language should be held each year with the four languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, English and Portuguese) changing in rotation; 8. Adjudicators' feedback, in the form of comments, grades or marks, should be sent to the teachers in charge right after the competition so that teach ers can analyze, learn and improve; 9. The number of prizes should be clearly defined and fixed for all sections of the event; 10. Limit the number of solo participants to two only for each school, otherwise the adjudicators become too fatigued to ensure sound judgment; and 11. There should be only one recitation piece for chorus without any choice and there should be a rule that no gestures are allowed. 4.5 Findings from adjudicators All the 7 adjudicators for chorus returned their completed questionnaires on th ll except one are native speakers of e spot right after the competition. AEnglish and they are all university professors. They are all positive about the suitability of texts chosen for chorus, but one suggested using some new prose/poetry, more relevant to students' lives, should be used in the future. They rated "good" and "very good" on the overall quality of performance, 219
especially in pronunciation and fluency, though most of them believed their interpretation and treatment, expressiveness and skills are rather weak. One adjudicator even wrote, "I found treatments of Frost's Road Not Taken distressingly horrible. I resent the destruction of my culture." Nevertheless, they all agreed the participants' attitude is very good or excellent. However adjudicators differ radically regarding gestures, some applauding them as "very good body language", others dismissing them as "awful", "exaggerated", "over-interpreted" and even "unintelligible". All the 15 adjudicators for solo returned their completed questionnaires on the spot right after the competition. All except four are native speakers of English and they are all university professors. And these four non-native speakers of English are very experienced teachers of English and have been on the adjudicating panel for many years. They are all positive about the suitability of texts chosen by students themselves or their teachers and they believe text choice is very important. However, they also point out that there is a lack of uniformity in the recitation/elocution pieces, some being too difficult or too lengthy, others being too easy or too short. The ratings on the overall quality of solo performances are similar to those of chorus, i.e., "good" or "very good" for pronunciation and fluency, "rather weak" for interpretation, treatment and expressiveness. A couple of judges suggest more efforts should be focused on comprehensibility or understanding of the texts rather than overdoing the acting. They also find some participants "well coached and prepared". Their response to the question "How would you compare the general performance of the Macau event with that of other cities where English is taught as a foreign language?" is invariably "about the same". All the adjudicators believe that behind each successful contestant there must have been an extremely dedicated teacher/coach making a lot of painstaking efforts and working very hard in terms of preparation and rehearsals. 4.6 Findings from speech festival organizers One of the organizers of the event that we interviewed is the former Presi Educators' dent and currently Vice-Chairman of the Macau Association, Ms. Lao Sin Peng. She initiated this annual event in Macau in the early 1980s and has been personally involved in the promotion, preparation and organization of the speech festivals ever since. The other is Mr. Lei Pei Lam, the present President of the Macau Educators' Association, 220
which has a history of over eighty years and a membership of nearly 4,000, including almost all school teachers of Macau, and has always played an important role in this event. When I sent my assistant, Angel Chao, to interview them on separate occasions, both were well prepared and ready to answer the 12 questions we had prepared beforehand. The basic statistics they had provided before the interviews are given bilingually in juxtaposition in Table 8 Table8 Number of students participating in Macau Speech Festivals 1985—2002 hosted by Macau Educators' Association The above statistics have shown that the number of participants directly participating in this event has increased more than fourfold over the past 18 years, with the18th Speech Festival scoring nearly 8,567 participants, which accounts for almost a tenth of the non-tertiary student population of Macau.33 221
Apart from some basic statistics concerning the event that they have been hosting for 18 successive years, they focused on the 12 questions. Their answers to these questions, which cover several different areas, will be summarized and discussed in a separate paper. What is relevant to the present investigation are the roles played by this annual citywide speech/recitation competition in promoting ELT/ELL and education in general and the suitability of literary texts used in extra-curricular activities to promote English education. Both hold very definite and unequivocally positive views. They reveal that actually the Speech Festival of Macau has a history of 22 years instead of 18 years, the first fours years being for preparation, learning from and exchanging with their counterparts in neighboring regions, especially Hong Kong, and searching for a form and content relevant to and suitable for the "3-language, 4-tongue cultural scenario" of Macau, with Chinese, Portuguese and English as the three languages and Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese and English as the four spoken tongues. The English events arouse learners' interest in English, sparkle their imagination and motivate them to learn English better, and at the same time provide an opportunity for teacher training and self-enhancement, as well as a platform for teachers exchanging ideas and experience. Before each event, experts and professors in relevant fields are invited from Macau or neighboring regions to give talks or seminars to teachers. So teachers and students make progress together. Adjudicators are discretely chosen, with no conflict of interest, from qualified professionals. Every effort has been made to ensure that the competition is open and fair and the organizers have won the trust and support of Macau schools and teachers. Ms. Lao, reflecting from the perspective of a veteran educator, also emphasizes the importance of language proficiency for life-long education and of literature and poetry for humanity education and in helping students to grow and develop humanely, culturally and aesthetically. She points out the literary texts they learn, memorize and recite have profound and penetrating values. Those who participate in such activities are more open, enjoy learning and have more confidence. Not only participants themselves benefit, other students, more numerous, also benefit from these activities, because performing participants are selected from students who also receive training and there are usually inter-class recitation/speech competitions held in each school to select those for the annual inter-school event. During the past two decades, they have been witnessing some children growing up with the event, taking part in it annually and making impressive achievements in English with good academic performance and personal development at school and enjoying their work and 222
a full life after leaving school. They believe extra-curriculum activities, like speech festivals or contests, enrich and complement formal school curriculum. The skills, attitudes, aesthetic appreciation, cultural awareness, respect for other people's heritage, etc. that children develop through these extra-curriculum activities are more permanent than facts and knowledge that they learn from the formal school curriculum. The fact that this event has been going on uninterrupted for so many years and attracting more and more schools and students has proved its worth and success. They are convinced that this great annual event has been meaningful and successful and should continue to make contributions to language education in Macau. 5. Analysis And Discussion Language is the arning becomes carrier of culture and language lemeaningful and interesting only when it is imbued with meaning and cultural interest. The textbook survey has indicated that there is a lack of variety and of rich culture in the content of the texts. And the findings from the recitation materials and the extra-curriculum activities as represented by the speech festival and recitation competitions have confirmed that literature is a stimulating and valuable resource for language teaching and learning. Participation, as well as all the text-based preparations, exposes students to varieties of authentic English, enable them to infer meanings by interacting with and responding directly to the text and to make an integrated used of all senses to maximize learning, all of which, indeed, are valid elements in language learning. These activities also create a cultural environment of the target language, thus enriching and enlivening the learning process. They add variety, interest, and excitement to both learning and teaching. From the findings we can see the greatest winners emerging from these activities are those growing up with these activities, which may guide a few gifted students towards their own creativity through imaginative exploitation of a wide range of literature, which in turn leads to personal literary and linguistic satisfaction. They help to motivate students to express themselves vividly in words, sharpen linguistic awareness and improve proficiency, and in this way they leam both language and literature because during the preparations for the contests they must learn to understand the texts. They train students to present themselves by coordinating linguistic strategies with paralinguistic cues such as smiles, eye-contacts and movements and thus to a certain extent enable participants to turn their linguistic competence to performance immediately through dynamic learning. The desire to excel and to win motivates students to work hard and 223
learn to interact with teachers and schoolmates through teamwork. It is generally felt that students in the few English-medium schools have achieved better English proficiency than those in Chinese-medium schools (with some exceptions), and an English test administered to Form/Secondary 3 students of Macau last year shows those from the former achieved an average score some 20% higher than the latter. Of course there are many factors for this difference and one has to study all of them to make a relevant conclusion. However, if one looks into the English curriculum of the English medium schools, one finds that there is English literature in their curriculum. Free, casual chats with parents and teachers are also revealing. A couple of parents, who are also teachers, revealed that their children took part in these activities every year and they never worried about their English. Through activities and a lot of practice and rehearsals for competitions, the children have acquired a good pronunciation and intonation, a feel for the language, and a genuine interest in English, in addition to sense of satisfaction and achievement. A successful medical student even recalled an incident in which the English panel chair helped prepare her for her first participation in such a competition when she was a primary 1 pupil. She remembers the teacher drilling her in pronunciation and intonation, liaison, linking and transition, a final consonant being introduced before a following vowel, in particular. She herself became so fascinated with learning and trying out these skills that she always paid attention to them since then and now whenever she receives foreign guests on behalf of her college she is taken for a native speaker of English because of her excellent pronunciation and fluency. In the latest issue of The New Generation, a magazine owned and published by a young elite force of Macau, with the support of the Macau Foundation, one finds the results of an interesting "English test in a light fashion". 34 The test consists of three parts: Part A: Seven university students randomly selected are asked to describe two big colour pictures on the theme of nature, leaving plenty room for associated or imaginative ideas. Here are their written descriptions: Sam Picture 1: In a dark night, a boy, John and his dog are looking the sky. The wind is blowing. It seems rain. Picture 2: A boy Peter and his cat are looking the tree. There are many leaves on the tree. They think spring coming soon. 224
Karen Picture 1: Suddenly the sky becomes dark. The wind blows strongly. The boy and his dog are looking at the sky. They many think why the weather can change very quickly. Picture 2: One day, Jacky and his cat are wondering around in the street. Suddenly, they hear a bird is singing very happily on the tree. They were attracted by the bird's singing and stop at that tree. Van Picture 1: One day, a man is walking with his dog. When they're walking, the sky suddenly change to be a cloudly. And their moods has changed together. Picture 2: A man is listening a lovely bird singing. He very enjoys it. But a cat that is standing by a man, is also thinking another about the lovely. H.K.C. Picture 1: He had a bad work and hate his boss. He left his country, went to garden. Picture 2: He wish a beautiful day and has good job. Ben Picture 1: The man and his pet were both attracted by the cloud. Not because of the cloud itself. They feel sad. Picture 2: A man and his cat were putting their focus on the bird. The bird was afraid because it couldn't fly away. But cat was disappointed because there were a big distance between him and the bird. Joe Picture 1: It is a cloudy day. There is a boy with a hat and he is standing with his dog. They are looking the sky. They are so enjoyed. Picture 2: There is a boy, a cat and a bird which is on the branch. They the boy and the cat are looking the bird. They want to catch it. Jason Picture 1: One person and a dog. Dog is always an honest friend. It will be raining. Picture 2: One person and a cat. Glasses are beautiful. Cat is always an honest friend. As we have no data concerning the sampling procedure or student population, the seven students may not be typical or representative of all the university students of Macau. Out of the seven some write better than the others and there are a number of contributing variables for this, and moreover we can use different ways or criteria to assess these students' work. Nevertheless, having studied these pieces, we find, to say the least, there is a 225
lack of ideas, which is made worse by the narrow vocabulary range and absence of cultural patina and sophistication. More mature, complex, and meaningful expressions are expected of university students than the childish utterances, more expected of young children, that we see here. The absence or lack of meaningful and culture-rich texts in their English education earlier on may take part of the blame. Part B: Suppose an ICQ friend from the USA pops in with this question:Hello! I'm from the USA. I know you are a Macau student. I really want to know something about Macau - the location, the language, customs, etc. As a Macau student, respond to him. Following are responses from five Forms/Secondary A—6 students. Kinnie Hi! I'm so happy to meet you! I live in Macau. You know Hong Kong, Macau is beside in Hong Kong. You have arrived Macau before? Here's very interesting things. Although my city is so small but here so many people and have manysights on this city. They will spend more money in shopping. I hope you can come here! Winky Macau,is in China, near Hong Kong. In Macau, you can see many good people to help you. There has a lot of different food in street. Althea Macau, a city of china, which is near Hong Kong and located on the eastern coast of China. Macau people are Cantonese (mostly), English and Mandarin (a few people use these). You can buy many beautiful things and try many delicious food in Macau. We are very kind and if you need help, we will be very happy to help you. A-Ha Macau is near the Hong Kong. In Macau speak Chinese. Macau is a very smallcity near to Hong Kong, but Macau is a very small city near to Hong Kong, but Macau is beautiful and special, the people is very nice, have very much dilicous foods. A-Yu Macau is near Hong Kong. Although Macau is a small city, it is beautiful. There are many temples, parks, view for people to visit. There are bridge in 226
Macau.When you are on the bridge, you can see all sight. If an "impression" criterion is used, one may say this group performs better than the first group, because in spite of the grammatical errors, some relevant messages are given. Many will agree with H.D. Brown that as this is a very casual chat and informal register, grammar is less important.35 Nevertheless, they could have done better if they had been exposed to literary and culture-rich texts in their English education, including some more mature, sophisticated ideas, such as Macau being a meeting point of the East and West, Chinese and Portuguese being the official languages, a Sino-Portuguese heritage, etc, in their discussions. Part C: An interview conducted in a Macau street where several secondary schools are located. The interviewers, pretending to be English-speaking tourists, put the following question to students selected at random: Do you kn est police station or hospital/St.Paul's Church/ ow where is the nearMacau Museum/Macau Tower/Hotel Lisboa ? How can I get there ? A few students turned away, and some refused to answer in English. Here are the responses in English: "Sorry I don't know." "Can you repeat again?" "I don't know where is it." "You can walk straight this road and then turn left.. .and turn right.. .you will see a cosmetic.. .make up shop call Sa Sa and turn left.. .go straight and turn right..." "By bus, No.6, cross the road and go straight..." "I think is.. .you know.. .you can go by bus or walk there or by taxi you tell the taxi-driver tell him where's the nearest hospital.. .welcome!" "Go round this road and then .. .can you speak again?" "You go up there to the top and go down .. .will see the hospital." The bits and pieces of English expressions show that these students have learned some everyday English about Macau, being students of Macau, a city of culture and tourism. As a matter of fact, I have been visiting Macau schools and observing classes in my capacity as supervisor of student teachers doing their teaching practice in secondary schools in the past ten years, and have been 227
impressed by the good progress that secondary school students have been making, in both their English performance and attitude towards learning. However, it is also justifiable to assume that if they are exposed to more language-rich and culture-rich literary texts, to cross-cultural education, and if they participate in more extra-curricular activities like the speech festivals or speaking contests, they will develop a more open attitude and broader vision, and have more confidence in speaking out, and the quality of their communication with people speaking English will be better, with more depth and scope. 6. Concluding Remarks At this stage, the f de: ollowing conclusions can be ma1.It is justifiable for textbook writers, materials developers and publishers to place tudents' emphasis on language in everyday use so as to develop sproficiency in daily communication. However, general English curriculum in the formal school education is more than English for survival, or simply for other specific pragmatic purposes. It aims at fostering in students comprehensive language-use abilities including language knowledge (phonetics, grammar, vocabulary, topics and themes), language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), attitude (interest and motivation, confidence, cooperation, identity, regional and international vision, etc.), and cultural awareness (cultural knowledge and understanding, cross-cultural communicative competence, et 36c.) In our over-eager, pragmatic and hasty attempt to teach and learn English " the quick and easy" way as goes the trend of some commercials, the quality of formal English education may suffer in the long run. 2.The content of existing textbooks in the formal English curriculum, tending to be monotonous and rather superficial, has failed to stimulate students' deep intrinsic motivation and sustain their interest. The absence or complete lack of literary texts, of variety, profundity and cultural meanings, deprives learners of their right to the inexhaustible wealth of human intelligence and knowledge as a resource for learning, which would otherwise help them to develop personally, intellectually, aesthetically, socially and cross-culturally. 3.The inter-school speech festivals and competitions serve as an important informal extra-curriculum supporting and complementing the formal school curriculum, such as the annual Macau Speech Festival, have played an active and important role in promoting language education in 228
Macau, with extensive influence and far-reaching significance. These are extremely worthwhile events meticulously organized by enthusiastic and highly motivated professionals and educators. Winning awards and prizes at these competitions produce immediate results in extrinsic motivation, especially in younger children. Schools children growing up with these activities, participating in them year after year and winning prizes are the best achievers, making impressive progress not only in English but also in all-round personal development. However the efforts aimed at gaining prestige and fame may exert enormous pressure on coaching teachers. 4.Variety and diversity in formal curriculum content and extra-curriculum activities, give students opportunity to develop their various abilities and multiple intelligences, help build up their cultural patina, enhance the success rate and thus improve the quality of education as a whole. 7. Recommendations And Suggestions for Further Research In view of the above c to make the following onclusions, I would like suggestions: 1. The formal English curriculum should include more literary texts, including poetry, to enrich the content and cultural meaning. There is nothing wrong for secondary students to learn everyday English or "the ordinary language of newspapers, popular fiction and social history",37 but there should be focus of attention at different stages. More activities for fun should be provided for beginners to arouse their interest and primary school children should be exposed to pleasant, stimulating, real-life situations and activities so that they become conversant with simple classroom English and everyday English for easy communication, developing good habits in listening and speaking and then some reading and writing. As they move up the grades in secondary schools, growing physically, mentally, intellectually and socially, the quality of their English communication should be compatible with their growth. They should be exposed to more and more sophisticated texts, including literary, texts, with brainstorming and discussions, further enhancing their English proficiency and communicative skills. 2. Something should be done to improve the quality of school textbooks.There seems to be an over-dependence on Hong Kong published textb tbooks, ooks. As it needs tremendous resources to produce localized tex 229
local teachers should be encouraged and trained to develop their own teaching materials by taking advantage of online resources and by using the wealth of English literature as a resource. Teacher enhancement programmes on focused areas such as materials development may help. 3. Speech festivals and inter-school contests or competitions as represented by the Macau Speech festival have proved to be successful in prom play an oting language education and should go on. They will continue toimportant role in promoting English education and extra-curricular activities in Macau. Further improvements may include better facilities at the venue of the event, reduction of workload on coaching teachers (or the coaching hours should be counted into their workload), more quality seminars or workshops for teachers, the creation of more varieties in form and content, etc. 4. Very importantly, expert teachers, rather than novice teachers, should be arranged to train young beginners to pick up good pronunciation and intonation during their best receptive years and to ensure best input in listening,speaking and other skills. 5. Future efforts should be directed towards quality rather than quantity once achievements are made in attracting large numbers, and towards deep intrinsic motivation as against the surface satisfaction. 6. Some sort of coordination may be necessary in literary activities and various speech-recitation competitions, and more attention should be paid to understanding and appreciation of the texts to enhance general English proficiency. This general survey leaves many questions to be addressed. For instance, the next research should be to find out the correlations between using literature as a resource for language learning and participation in literary activities and students' academic performance. This study indicates that participants in the competitions are usually students chosen by teachers from the best academic performers. And it is these students who outsmart others and become winners. So the next effort should be made the other way round: do students exposed to literary texts and participating in literary activities perform better than their counterparts with no access to literary texts and not participating in literary activities? Teaching English as a second or foreign language is an extremely complicated matter, involving not only many variables but also the whole ELT and / ELL set-up consisting of policy and aims, administrationorganization, relevant professional disciplines, choice of ELT/ELL types, 230
approaches, teacher training, pedagogy, methodology, instruction & teaching, syllabus design, material construction, constraints on ELT/ELL achievements, learner strategies, assessment and evaluation.38 This research is an attempt at searching for a most relevant area, the material construction, to penetrate into the grass-root level of English education in Macau schools: a general survey of the content of textbooks in the formal school curriculum and of the texts and materials used in informal extra-curriculum activities as represented by the biggest, most influential annual event on the Macau school calendar, the Speech Festival (recitation/speech competitions) of Macau. Notes: 1 Ford, 1972; Carter, R. and Burton, D. (eds.), Literary Text and Language Study, Edward Arnold, 1982; Brumfit, C. J. and Carter, R. (eds.), Literature and Language Teaching, Oxford University, 1986; Long, 1986; Collie, J. and Slater, S., Literature in the Language Classroom, Cambridge University Press, 1987; Ieong, S. L., 'TESL Through Literature in Some Macau Schools", Teaching English as Second Language: The Role of Literature, conference proceedings published by the Faculty of Arts, University of Macau, 1992; Lazar, Gillian, Literature and Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, 1993; Falvey, P. and Kennedy, P. (eds.), Learning Language Through Literature: A Sourcebook for Teachers of English in Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 1997—1999; Leung, 2002, etc. 2 Ho, J. J. et al., "A Survey of Macau Students' English Proficiency at the Secondary and Tertiary Levels", in The New Generation, Issue 15, 2002; Morrison, J. "Education for the Open, Democratic Society in Macau", presentation at the International Seminar on ELT and Translation for the 21st Century, Macau Polytechnic Institute, 10—12 May 2002; Yuan, Tony, A Study of the Major Factors Influencing Macau Form 1Students' Performances in English Language Learning, M. Ed. thesis, 2003. 3 Ieong, S.L., "TESL Through Literature in Some Macau Schools", Teaching English as Second Language: The Role of Literature, conference proceedings published by the Faculty of Arts, University of Macau, 1992; Ieong, W.C., Macau 2020: The Long- Term Objectives and Development Strategies in 20 Years, published by Macau Development Strategy Research Centre and Macau Association of Economic Sciences, 2000; Morrison, J, "Education for the Open, Democratic Society in Macau", 2002, etc. 231
4 See Maley, ELT Documents: 130, p. 10, in Lazar, G., Literature and Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 13—14. L5 See Long, M., Preface to Teaching English as Second Language: The Role of iterature Faculty of Arts, University of Macau, 1991. 6 Ibid. 7 Ford, 1972; Carter, R. and Burton, D. (eds.), Literary Text and Language Study, EdwardArnold, 1982; Brumfit, C.J. and Carter, R. (eds.), Literature and Language Teaching,Oxford University, 1986; Long, 1986; Collie, J. and Slater, S., Literature in theLanguage Classroom, Cambridge University Press, 1987; Ieong, S.L., "TESLThroughLiterature in Some Macau Schools", Teaching English as Second Language: The Role of Literature, conference proceedings published by the Faculty of Arts, University of Macau, 1992; Lazar, Gillian, Literature and Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, 1993; Falvey, P. and Kennedy, P. (eds.), Learning Language Through Literature: A Sourcebook for Teachers of English in Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 1997—1999; Leung, 2002, etc. 8 See Brumfit, C.J. and Carter, R. (eds.), Literature and Language Teaching, Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 124. 9 See Ieong, W.C., Macau 2020 - The Long-Term Objectives and Development Strategies in 20 Years, published by Macau Development Strategy Research Centre and Macau Association of Economic Sciences, 2000, p. 97. 10Xu, M. D. (fà&fà), Curriculum Theories and Designs («t^fMStEHt^Mtxst»), Guangdong Education Press, 1991. 11 Long, 1986. 12 Eg. Naiman et al.1978, Rubin, 1982. 13 Brown, H.D., Teaching by Principles, Prentice Hall Regents, 1994. 14 Lazar, Gillian, Literature and Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, 1993. 15 Ibid. 16 Brock, M., "The Case for Localized Literature in the ESL Classroom", in English Teaching Forum, July 1990, pp. 22—25. 17 See Homberger, Eric, ed. Ezra Pound, The Critical Heritage, London and New York: Routledge, first published in 1972, reprinted in 1997, p. 221. 18 Palmer, 2001. 19 The poem is quoted from the popular album Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke, New York: Modern Library, 1995, p. 191. 20 Quoted from Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self. 21 rom May Sarton's New York: Norton, Taken f Collected Poems 1930—1973, 1974, p 156. 232
22 See Mingpao Daily, Hong Kong, 12 April 2002. 23 , S.L, Fostering Humanity: The Role of Poetry in Language Trans. IeongEducation, presented at the Learning Conference 2001 in Greece, refcreed, revised and published by the Common Ground in 2002; The Power of Poetry: Its Role in Learning and Education, paper presented at the Learning Conference 2002 in Beijing. 24 See Mingpao Daily, Hong Kong, 23 June 2002. 25 y: The Role of Poetry in Language Trans. leong, S.L, Fostering HumanitEducation, presented at the Learning Conference 2001 in Greece, ref ereed, revised and published by the Common Ground in 2002; The Power of Poetry: Its Role in Learning and Education, paper presented at the Learning Conference 2002 * Beijing. 26 See attached doctoral paper by Finley, A., "You know good here; v *, know good there ", forwarded to me via the email by her thesis supervisor Professor Lyons of the Boise State University, who also attended my session of the conference on 27 September 2002. 27 Yuan, X.P. ed. Xu, Y.Z. trans., Gem of Classical Chinese Poetry, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Co., 2000, p. 6 28 Xu, 2000, p. 7. 29 003 Budget, Hong Kong SAR Government, See The 2002—2p. 33. http://www.Budget.gov.hk http://www.Budget.gov.hk/fb/2002/filel8.htm30 ong, 20 November 2002. See Mingpao Daily, Hong K31 Haycraft, 1986. 32 See Nunan, D., Research Methods in Language Learning, Cambridge University Press,1992, pp. 136—158. 33 According to official statistics, non-tertiary student population of Macau has notincreased radically, i.e., 91,767 in 1996—1997 school year, 94,234 in 1997—1998,95,717 in 1998—1999, 98,844 in 1999—2000, 99,457 in 2000—2001, 99,851 in2001—2002, and 99,119 in 2002—2003. Visit website: http://www.dsej.gov.mo34 See Lam Iok Fong, et al., (eds.), The New Generation, Issue 15, 2003, pp. 22-27. Website: http://www.macaudata.com35 wn, H.D., Quoted from Celce-Murcia, "Variables That Determine See BrotheImportance of Grammar" in Teaching by Principles, Prentice Hall Regents, 1994, p.349. 36 See "English Curriculum for Secondary Education" formulated by the Ministry ofEducation, PRC and published by Beijing Normal University, pp. 6—27. 233
37 Quoted from Goldstein, P., The Politics of Literary Theory, Florida State University Press, 1990. 38 See Strevens, P., New Orientations in the Teaching of English, Oxford University Press, 1978, pp. 12—35. Bibliography: 1．Abrams, H.M. (ed.), The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 6th ed., Vols. 1 & 2, New York and London: W. W. Norton & Co., 1993. 2．Baker, J. and Westrup, H., The English Language Teacher's Handbook, London and New York: VSO Continuum, 2000. 3．Brock, M., "The Case for Localized Literature in the ESL Classroom." in English Teaching Forum, July 1990, pp. 22—25. 4．Brown, H. D., Teaching by Principles, Prentice Hall Regents, 1994. 5 Language Teaching, ．Brumfit, C. J. and Carter, R. (eds.), Literature and Oxford University Press, 1986 6．Carter, R. and Burton, D. (eds.), Literary Text and Language Study, Edward Arnold, 1982. 7．Carter, R. and Long, M., The Web of Words, 1987; Teaching Literature, 1991, Cambridge University Press. 8．Collie, J. and Slater, S., Literature in the Language Classroom, Cambridge University Press, 1987. 9．Falvey, P. and Kennedy, P. (eds.), Learning Language Through Literature: A Sourcebookfor Teachers of English in Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 1997. 10． , New Ferguson, M. et al., (eds.), The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 4th Ed.York and London: W. W. Norton & Co., 1996. 11． ay craft, J., An Introduction to English Language Teaching, Longman, 1978. 12． Ho, J. J. et al., "A Survey of Macau Students' English Proficiency at the Secondary and Tertiary Levels", in The New Generation, Issue 15, 2002. 13． Ieong, S.L., "Learning English Through Participation in Literary Activities",in Macau Education, Issue 149, No. 2, 1991; "TESL Through Literaturein Some Macao Schools", Teaching English as Second 234
Language: TheRole of Literature, conference proceedings published by the Faculty ofArts, University of Macau, 1992; ostering Humanity: The Role of Poetryin Language Education, presented at the Learning Conference 2001 inGreece, refereed, revised and published by the Common Ground in 2002;The Power of Poetry: Its Role in Learning and Education, paper presentedat the Learning Conference 2002 in Beijing. http://LearningConference.Publisher-Site.com http://SylviaSaoLengIeong.Author-Site.com 14． Ie tives and Development ong, W.C., Macau 2020: The Long-Term ObjecStrategies in 20 Years, published by Macau evelopment Strategy Research Centre and Macau Association of Economic Sciences, 2000. 15．Kennedy, P. and Falvey, P. (eds.), Learning Language Through Li teraturein Primary Schools: A Resource Book for Teachers of English, Hong Kong University Press, 1998. 16．Kennedy, P. and Falvey, P. (eds.) Learning Language Through Literature in Secondary Schools: A Resource Book for Teachers of English, Hong Kong University Press, 1999. 17．Larsen-Freeman, D., Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, 2000. 18．Lazar, Gillian, "Using Poetry with the EFL/ESL Learner" in Modern English Teacher 6, 3, and 4, 1989; Literature and Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, 1993. 19. Morrison, J., "Education for the Open, Democratic Society in Macau", presentation at the International Seminar on ELT and Translation for the 21st Century, Macau Polytechnic Institute, 10—12 May 2002. 20. Nunan, David, Research Methods in Language Learning, Cambridge University Press, 2001. 21. Ur, P., A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, CambridgeUniversity Press, 2000. 22. Wiersma, W., Research Methods in Education, University of Toledo Press,1986. 23. Yuan, Tony, A Study of the Major Factors Influencing Macau Form 1 Students' Performances in English Language Learning, M. Ed. thesis, 2003. 24. Yuan, X.P. ed., Xu, Y.Z. trans., Gem of Classical Chinese Poetry, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Co., 2000. 235
