Exploring local teachers' attitudes towards using Cantonese as the medium of instruction in the Hong Kong secondary English classroom

Whether using the first language as part of the medium of instruction (MOI) in a second language classroom has brought controversies over the past few decades. In the case of English language teaching (ELT), scholars that hold the view of using the first language to teach English emphasize the importance of language exposure which concerns how the first language is learnt through comprehensible input only. On the contrary, some scholars argue that the appropriate use of L1 in ELT can foster students’ learning in their cognitive skills. In the context of Hong Kong, the emphasis on using English to teach English is promoted by the curriculum development council. Despite this, different opinions concerning the use of Cantonese in English classrooms still appear. This paper investigated Hong Kong in-service teachers’ attitudes towards the use of Cantonese in English classrooms. The study adopted semi-structured interviews and collected data from four English teachers in a local secondary school. The result reflected that teachers generally held a negative attitude towards the use of Cantonese in English classrooms, while benefits and limitations of the use of Cantonese are discussed. How to effectively utilize Cantonese as a resource is also discussed.