KWAN-MEI. YU
Published: 2017-01-27
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This dissertation, "Christianity and English Language Teaching: Astudy of an English Conversation Class for Mainland Chinese Scholarsat an English-speaking Church in Hong Kong" by Kwan-mei, Yu, 余君美, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Abstract of the dissertation Christianity and English language teaching: A study of an English conversation class for Mainland Chinese scholars at an English- speaking church in Hong Kong submitted by Yu Kwan-mei Christian English language teaching (CELT) has of late engendered increasingly heated debate within the English language teaching profession in present times of globalization. Controversial issues involve ethical, professional, ideological, and cultural aspects such as transparency, accountability, the respect for culture, power, integrity and values. The Christian service perspective is criticized with Linguistic Imperialism views, favouring critical pedagogy. Critics note and politicize the ubiquity of evangelicals in the profession and call for reflection on and by these teachers. Christian educators answer with models of professionalism, interculturality, critical thinking and Christian character. Hong Kong poses an opportune research site to address these issues recurrent in the two centuries since Western missionaries introduced the English language to China. Ten teachers, comprising native speakers and Chinese, from an English conversation class, for Mainland Chinese scholars, in an international Anglican church participated in semi- structured in-depth interviews. This qualitative ethnographic study explored teacher beliefs and their probable influence on practice. The findings suggested that positive Christian teacher beliefs may be conducive to ethical, altruistic, faithful and professional practice. More equitable and realistic re-conceptualizations were posited for CELT, whose pedagogy could find inspiration in the critical pedagogy theories. vii DOI: 10.5353/th_b3873293 Subjects: English language - Study and teaching - Foreign speakers Christian education Christian teachers - China - Hong Kong - Attitudes