BA (Honours) in Language Studies and Bachelor of Education (Honours) (English Language)

Programme Aims

This co-terminal double degree programme aims to prepare students:

• To become effective school teachers or other professionals who have a good command of the knowledge and skills in Language Studies; and
• With a positive work attitude and good interpersonal skills.

Upon successful completion of the programme, students will receive two degrees with a single honours classification and one parchment and a qualified teacher status (QTS) in primary and secondary schools.

Programme Structure

Domain and Credit Points

• Major, 75 credit points
  • Discipline Studies (DS) Major (45 credit points)
  • Education Major (27 credit points)
  • Major Interdisciplinary Course (3 credit points)
• Education Studies, 30 credit points
• Final Year Project, 6 credit points
• Field Experience, 20 credit points
• General Education, 16 credit points
• Language Enhancement, 9 credit points
• Overseas Immersion Programme
  • Credit points shared by DS Major Electives and Education Major Electives (equivalent to 15 credit points)
• Total: 156 credit points

Note: Classes will be held in Tai Po Campus and Tseung Kwan O Study Centre / Kowloon Tong Satellite Study Centre / Sports Centre as decided by the University.

Majors

There are two majors, namely, Education Major and Discipline Studies Major, in this programme. Discipline Studies Major is about language studies. Education Major focuses on theories and practices in English language teaching. It will cover both primary and secondary school settings as BA(Lang Studies) & BEd(EL) programme is a cross-sectoral programme.

To support the English language development of every student, he or she will:

• Be assigned an academic advisor;
• Undertake two mandatory English language enhancement courses in Year 1;
• Undertake the optional International English Language Testing System (IELTS) preparation courses;
• Participate in a compulsory overseas immersion programme and to live and study in an English-speaking country; and
• Study courses with specific objectives for language improvement.

List of Education Major Courses

• Education Major
  • English Grammar for Teachers I
  • English Grammar for Teachers II
  • Primary ELT Methods I: Developing Oracy Skills
  • Primary ELT Methods II: Developing Literary Skills
  • Secondary ELT Methods I: Developing Oracy Skills
  • Secondary ELT Methods II: Developing Literary Skills
  • Words and Their Meanings

List of Discipline Studies Major Courses

• Linguistics
  • English as a Global Language
  • Intercultural Communication
  • Introduction to English Phonetics and Phonology
  • Introduction to Linguistics
  • Introduction to Sociolinguistics
  • Spoken and Written Discourse
• Literature & Culture
  • Approaching English Literature
  • Literature in Context I: 1789-1914
  • Literature in Context II: 1914-2000
  • Literature in English I: Fiction
  • Literature in English II: Drama
  • Literature in English III: Poetry

Education Studies

Education Studies gives students the chance to study teaching and learning from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students will study early childhood/school education from psychological, sociological, philosophical, pedagogical and other perspectives. Students will develop a range of skills necessary for professional practice, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, communication, social interaction, ethical decision making and global perspectives. Education Studies helps students appreciate the importance of professional excellence, ethical responsibility and innovation to the role of a teacher. We aim for our graduates to become beginning teachers who are caring and competent, intellectually enthusiastic, socially committed, and globally aware.

List of Education Studies Core

• Education Studies Core
  • Teachers and Teaching in Context
  • Philosophical and Socio-cultural Issues in Education
  • Basic Psychology for Educators: Useful Concepts from Educational and Positive Psychology
  • School Guidance and Managing Diversity
  • Effective Teaching and Positive Classroom Learning Environment
  • Curriculum and Assessment

List of Pedagogy for Major Courses

• Pedagogical courses for Major
  • Second Language Acquisition and Curriculum Design: Theory and Practice
  • Children’s Literature in the ESL Classroom (for Primary Focus) or Using Language Arts and Non-language Arts in the ESL Classroom (for Secondary Focus)

Final Year Project

Students will complete either an Honours Project or a Capstone Project in the final year of study.

General Education

Students can choose from a wide selection of General Education courses in the following developmental stages to enhance their whole-person development:

• Foundation Course
• Breadth Courses
• Experimental Learning
• University ePortfolio

Field Experience

Students are required to participate in Field Experience (FE), where they observe classes and practise teaching in primary and secondary schools:

• FE Foundation Course
• FE and Professional Learning Portfolio I
• FE and Professional Learning Portfolio II
• Block Practice I
• FE Semester

Important Note: The University will ask students of our full-time teacher education programmes (e.g. Bachelor of Education programmes) to declare whether they have been convicted of or are being prosecuted for any sex-related offence in Hong Kong or elsewhere, and to provide relevant details prior to undertaking teaching practice. Such information may be released to their placement schools. The University reserves the right not to allow these students to attend the block teaching practice. If so, they won't be able to meet the graduation requirements of the programmes.

Language Enhancement

Students undertake English language enhancement courses offered by the Department of English Language Education, and Chinese and Putonghua courses offered by the Centre for Language in Education to meet the Language Exit Requirements for English and Putonghua of the University.

Compulsory Immersion Programme

The Immersion Programme is a compulsory part of the programme and students must participate and meet the requirement of the programme successfully in order to graduate. In the programme, they will:

• Live in an English-speaking country (e.g. Australia, New Zealand, the United States or Canada) and study at a university there;
• Live with a local family;
• Enhance their English language proficiency;
• Learn more about the English language, English-speaking cultures, and other education systems; and
• Increase their general confidence and develop a wider worldview.

Career Prospects/Professional Qualifications

Majoring in English with in-depth academic and professional knowledge, graduates of the programme will have excellent career prospects. They will become fully qualified teachers of English who can teach in both local primary and secondary schools with the following skills and qualifications.

1. Qualified Teacher Status in Hong Kong;
2. Very high English language proficiency; and
3. Ability to help students learn English as a second language effectively in Hong Kong primary and secondary schools.

EdUHK is one of the teacher education providers in Hong Kong. Graduates of the University’s teacher education programmes are eligible to become fully qualified and registered teachers. As regards teacher registration, graduates should approach the Teacher Registration Section of the Education Bureau (EDB) to submit applications directly. All applications will be assessed by the EDB.