Arthur McNeill
Associate Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science, Director of Center for Language Education, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Context
Dr. McNeill has been living in Hong Kong since 1988, where he was surprised at the low levels of English language proficiency despite it being a British colony for 150 years. Dr. McNeill long suspected that it was due to a lack of focus on vocabulary development. He found that by the end of 12 years of compulsory education that students only knew 2,000-3,000 English words, which is a poor outcome. He was determined to develop curriculum that would address these problems to increase the English proficiency of all Hong Kong people. Innovation After collaborating with others and experimenting to determine the cause, Dr. McNeill came to the conclusion that teachers did not know where to focus their attention in vocabulary development. In response, Dr. McNeill created a system of word lists placed into key stages that, when used in combination with his curriculum, increases the ESL learner’s vocabulary to the 5,000 English word range by the end of secondary school. Dr. McNeill’s work has since expanded into the university system where vocabulary development is an integral part of HKUST’s 4-year program. Students are required to meet standards and are tested across multiple dimensions. Additionally, students are enabled to improve their own English by making use of a customized Lexical Frequency Profile program that includes the very word lists that Dr. McNeill developed. Impact The impact of McNeill's innovation permeates through every level of English instruction from primary school to the university system in Hong Kong. The framework requires curriculum in which assessment and teaching are closely aligned using appropriate teaching methodology (Task-Based Teaching & Learning), and teachers who understand the framework in order to guide their students through its levels. This led to the government to fully back Dr. McNeill’s curriculum and initiate measures to provide training and materials to all Hong Kong public schools for effective delivery of instruction. Moreover, the public school system is now using more objective measures when evaluating the use of learning materials and vetting of textbooks. At the university level, Dr. McNeill has played a leading role in shaping the University’s language curriculum for the 4-Year Degree program. This resulted in 12 credits out of a total of 120 to be dedicated to English language instruction. One special feature of this new English program has been the setting of internationally-benchmarked exit standards of English in conjunction with a curriculum-based English test. Today, there is an increase of interest from universities in China, such as Northeastern University in Shenyang, to adopt the curriculum framework in an effort to address the needs of their students. Practices Dr. McNeill took a risk and challenged the status quo when implementing his vocabulary program in Hong Kong public schools. He faced a lot of opposition by approaching vocabulary deficiencies as a performance issue. Teachers thought that his goal was too lofty and met him with further resistance. His approach was seen as controversial and appeared to some colleagues to be at odds with some educational principles. This included the streaming of students, target-setting, measurement of attainment, and the introduction of internal and external benchmarking. Moreover, colleagues saw his approach as one with heightened risk of student failures because of the targets that were set. However, he was undeterred and organized a diverse team from all levels of vested interest – ranging from teachers to government officials, in order to provide support and solutions to the obstacles he encountered. By networking with the government, teachers, and educational leaders, he was able to synthesize a series of ideas into a single effective 12-year plan for Hong Kong public schools to follow. Dr. McNeill believes in an inclusive style of leadership in which individuals feel that they contribute to decision-making. He utilized his resources and networked with experts in the field, his colleagues at HKUST, teachers, and the government to identify problems in the public sector. By constantly looking for ways to improve and asking questions about “why” the current English performance was what it was, he was able to uncover the problems that were impeding English development in H.K. He brought new requirements for teachers to possess a high level of metalinguistic awareness and knowledge of content-based language instruction. He ensured that teachers were fully competent in analyzing and explaining language concepts with the development and introduction of the Teacher Language Awareness test, training, and by including English integration within most content subjects. Successfully implemented, Dr. McNeill bridged his work and brought it to the university system and now sits on a board of experts who regularly check and improve upon the vocabulary curriculum in all of Hong Kong. |
Bio
Dr. McNeill is the Associate Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science at HKUST. He holds a PhD in applied linguistics from the University of Wales, UK. His academic interests include second language vocabulary, teacher language awareness and curriculum development. He served as P.I. to develop an English vocabulary curriculum for the twelve years of compulsory education in Hong Kong. At HKUST, he shaped the University’s language curriculum, which is now being used as a model in H.K. and Mainland China. |