Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination - Books - Famous Chinese Shopping City

March 8, 2014


		1 Introduction 2 Background 3 The Use of English Examination 4 The Chinese Language and Culture Examination 5 List of the subjects (2005) 6 Future development 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

Famous Chinese Shopping City Books

Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination

Wikipedia

The Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE, ????????), or more commonly known as "A-level", conducted by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), is normally taken by a senior student at the end of his/her less-than-two-year matriculationary courses in Hong Kong SAR, China. In 2004, 36,004 candidates sat for the examination. 29,106 of them were school candidates and 6,898 were private candidates.

The HKALE is conducted from March to May, and the results are routinely released in the first week of July. There are altogether 19 A-level and 20 Advanced Supplementary Level Examination|AS-level subjects in the HKALE. AS-level subjects are taught in periods of half the number compared to that required for A-level subjects, but they demand the same level of intellectual vigour. Most day school candidates take five subjects in the HKALE. Apart from Chinese Language & Culture and Use of English which are taken by almost every school candidate, and other language-related subjects, all subjects can be taken in either English or Chinese. The same standards are applied in both marking and grading; the instruction medium is not recorded on the results notices or certificates.

The results of the HKALE are expressed in terms of six grades A - F, of which grade A is the highest and F the lowest. Results below grade F are designated as unclassified (UNCL). The abolishment of fine grades used in 2001 and before (i.e. A(01), A(02), B(03), B(04), etc) was in force from 2002.

Grade E at the HK A-level or AS-level is considered equivalent to Grade E in the British GCE counterparts, although most agree it is significantly harder to obtain the equivalent grade in the HKALE.

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Background

Prior to 1993, students would need to choose among two university entrance examinations, the HKALE or the Hong Kong Higher Level Examination. The former originally led to a three-year course in the University of Hong Kong (HKU) at the end of Form Seven (Upper Sixth), mainly for students in English-medium schools. The latter led to a four-year course in the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), then operated in Chinese, at the end of Form Six (Lower Sixth) for students in Chinese-medium schools.

Later on, a majority of education authorities considered that the "dual-band" examination system had became practically unsuitable; and that a unified matriculation system would be urgently needed, as stated in a report presented to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as early as in 1981. In the report, the "dual-band" system was found to be the crux that caused confusion and anxiety among Hong Kong students, in addition to the inevitably keen competition for tertiary places. (Hong Kong Education Department, 1981, p. 178)

Through considerable debates (Tang and Bray, 2000), programmes in CUHK switched to three-year systems as those launched in HKU in 1991. Consequently, the Hong Kong Higher Level Examination was abolished, and finally merged with today's HKALE. Advanced Supplementary Level subjects were also implemented at the same time so as to cater for different needs of candidates. (Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, 2003, p. 4)

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The Use of English Examination

This AS-level examination, which is commonly taken with the A-Levels, tests the ability of students to understand and use English at a level required for tertiary education. Since 1989 it tested students' listening, writing, reading and language skills; plus practical skills for work and study. Since 1994 the inclusion of a 20-minute oral examination was added.

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The Chinese Language and Culture Examination

This AS-level examination is also usually taken along with other examinations. It assesses the ability of students in using the Chinese language and their understanding of Chinese culture. Introduced in 1993, the examination comprises of tests in:

practical writing (paper 1A);

reading comprehension (paper 1B);

questions on culture (paper 2);

listening (paper 3);

oral skills assessment (paper 4); and

reading of five books selected from the given book list (paper 5).

NB 1 In paper 2, the HKEAA has recommended 6 articles as reading materials for referece. In fact, the authority never recommends candidates memorise all the contents of the suggested materials. Furthermore, a wide-ranging reading habit is highly appreciated at all times.

The questions of paper 2 are set based on the following suggested reading materials:
# A Conversation with the Youth about Chinese Culture (Excerpt) (與青年談中國文化), T'ang Ch?n-i (唐君毅)
# Passion and Chinese Culture (Excerpt) (情與中國文化), Wu Sen (吳森)
# Traditional Science: Past, Present and Future (With Appendices) (傳統科學的過去，現在與未來), Liu ch?n-ts'an (劉君燦)
# The Fundamental Essence of Chinese Arts (中國藝術的基本精神), Zhao Yongxin (趙永新)
# Traditional Chinese Society (Excerpt) (中國的傳統社會), Ambrose King|Ambrose Yeo-Chi King (金耀基)
# The Raison d'?tre (人生的意義), Yin Hai-kuang (殷海光)

NB 2 Reading comprehension can be:

a 2-piece reading (usually one passage written in Classical Chinese whereas another in Vernacular Chinese, a language widely used after the May Fourth Movement);

a speed reading--which could be:

*Type (1) usually contain seven to eight articles which are unrelated to each other, or

*Type (2) three unrelated groups of articles (articles within the same group may have the same theme, and occasionally students are required to compare and contrast them).

In 2005, a "new", "unprecedented" format, a 3-piece reading of which all articles are written in Vernacular Chinese was formularised. This change, however, stirred up much controversy among candidates. See below. The new format also demands candidates to have a high proficiency in comprehension and understanding of rhetorical|rhetoric or euphemistic|euphemism words and phrases.

Controversy of new format
Since 2001, the HKEAA has decided on an across-the-board revamp upon the format of questions in the exam. These changes include the replacement of questions on prescribed texts with open-ended questions in the questions on culture paper. This was HKEAA's attempt to prevent candidates from rote-memorising the suggested reading materials. This, however, was dismissed by a number of candidates as a move towards the subject turning out into a "saliva subject" (口水科, Jyutping: Hau2 Seoi2 Fo1), in which candidates only have to appease markers.

NB The Cantonese (linguistics)|Cantonese slang is presumably derived from the word "吹水" (Jyutping: Ceoi1 Seoi2, lit. blowing saliva), as defined in http://hanyu.cuhk.edu.hk Comparative Database of Modern Chinese and Cantonese Vocabulary, developed by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which is equivalent to "吹牛" (Pinyin:Chūi Níu) in Modern Chinese(http://hanyu.chi.cuhk.edu.hk/chetio.asp?chetio=20266). The latter is defined in Lin Yutang's http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/Lindict/ Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage as "braging" http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/cgi-bin/agrep-lindict?query=%A7j%A4%FB&category=full&boo=no&ignore=on&substr=on&order=all.

In 2005, the format of the Reading Comprehension paper was changed from speed reading of various articles to fine reading of only three articles, without prior notice. The move stirred up much controversy from some candidates, some of whom word play|teased the words, which featured in one of the comprehension texts (see HKALE#external links | here). The HKEAA reiterated its stance that there has not ever been a "specific" format for the exam, and thus insisted that there was nothing wrong with the paper.

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List of the subjects (2005)

Although the number of subjects offered is large, choices are still limited as each school is only able to offer a few subjects on the list due to budget constraints, with further restrictions on combinations.

Applied mathematics A AS ¹

Art A AS ²

Biology A

Business studies A

Chemistry A AS

Chinese history A AS

Chinese language and culture AS

Chinese literature A

Computer applications AS ³

Computer studies A ³

Design and technology AS

Economics A AS

Electronics AS ⁴

Engineering science A ⁴

Ethics and religious studies AS

Geography A

Government and public affairs A AS

History A AS

Liberal studies AS

Literature in english A AS

Mathematics and statistics AS ¹

Music A AS

Physics A AS

Principles of accounts A

Psychology A AS

Pure mathematics A ¹

Use of English AS

# Applied Mathematics and Pure Mathematics may not be taken with Mathematics and Statistics
# To be renamed to Visual Arts in 2006
# Computer Applications may not be taken with Computer Studies
# Electronics and Engineering Science may not be taken with Physics

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Future development

Should the proposed reform on senior secondary education be carried out, the HKALE would be abolished and merged with the existing Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination to form the Hong Kong Diploma for Secondary Education examination at the end of the new, three-year senior secondary curriculum.

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References

Hong Kong Education Department (1981), http://www.emb.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_689/edsys_e.pdf The Hong Kong Education System. Retrieved on May 14, 2005.

Tang, Kwok-Chun and Bray, Mark (2000). "Colonial models and the evolution of education systems - Centralization and decentralization in Hong Kong and Macau". Journal of Educational Administration 38 (5), p. 482.

Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (2003). Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination - Regulations & Syllabuses 2005. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. ISBN 962-570-976-2

Leung, Wing Lok (Apl. 19, 2005). "http://hk.news.yahoo.com/050418/12/1bp9e.html 高考生改歌詞諷考評局", Ming Pao.

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