Learning English in shadow education under the ‘oppressed’ contextual realities

Abstract

English has been a powerful instrument for social mobility and the pursuit of higher education worldwide. It has been regarded as an important subject in school, and therefore one of the most popular subjects in shadow education. English private tutoring (EPT) has become a social norm particularly in contexts where standardized testing is valued and academic competitions prevail. However, its promotion of “banking” (Freire, 1972) and learning for assessment seems to be in conflict with the aims of education, which should foster learner autonomy and student-centeredness. This paper aims to illuminate and unveil the reality of English learning in shadow education. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 2,216 Secondary Six (Grade 12) students who participated in EPT in a large-scale tutorial center in Hong Kong. It elicited their reasons for learning English and participating in EPT. One hundred individual phone interviews were then conducted to follow up the questionnaire responses. The data showed that learners were highly instrumentally motivated, with getting good grades in public examinations being the main goal of learning English; and EPT served as a means to reach academic success. However, learners might hold complex or conflicting attitudes toward EPT. The findings were interpreted with reference to the “oppressed” contextual realities from a critical research paradigm. The study calls for scholarship to take on English learning in shadow education as a central part of the research agenda in comparative education because of its profound impact on English Language Education as well as education as a whole.