Professor Kirkpatrick also highlights the fact that the English language has become the lingua franca in ASEAN countries. Similarly Hong Kong people communicate with their counterparts in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, India and other Asian countries in English. What counts across the region is therefore the "intelligibility" and not the "native-speakerness" of English. He cites Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General as another example. Nobody will dispute Annan speaks perfectly intelligible English, albeit in an accent obviously influenced by his African origins. Yet we require local students, the great majority of whom are first language Cantonese speakers, to be able to acquire a native English standard and accent without any first language influences.

"To achieve native English language standards, both parents and children have to pay a high price. For parents, the only viable alternative is to send their children to English-speaking countries. For the children, an obsession with the English language will be at the expense of cognitive acquisition, which is far more efficient in the child's native Chinese language." In the Hong Kong school context, he does not believe the Native English Teacher (NET) policy is the panacea that will enhance English standards. He concludes, "As in the case of Kofi Annan, we should identify a good local English model. For teacher education, we will have to nurture competent local English teachers who will teach their pupils both ably and confidently."

Professor Kirkpatrick is currently involved in research on the role and features of English as the lingua franca of the region. We look forward to learning more about his conclusions in his upcoming publications.