mou5 jyu5 gaau3 hok6母語教學母语教学
Jyutpingmou5 jyu5 gaau3 hok6
Yalemóuh yúh gaau hohk
Definition
Mother-tongue education; teaching using the native language as the medium of instruction.
neutralschool
How it's used
This term is heavily associated with the education policy implemented in Hong Kong after 1997, which mandated that most secondary schools use Cantonese as the medium of instruction. It is a formal, academic, and political term rather than a casual one used in daily chit-chat. When discussing the topic, people often contrast it with English medium instruction, known as 英中.
Examples
Their school is implementing mother tongue teaching.
Do you think mother tongue teaching is helpful for students?
Related words
Common phrases
to implement mother tongue teaching
Common mistake
Learners often confuse this with the general concept of learning a native language, but it specifically refers to the pedagogical policy of using the mother tongue as the medium to teach other subjects like science or history.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
