Whodunnit? – Oxford University Press Launches English Writing Competition (Click here to learn more)
Detective Story Initiative Aims to Foster Better Writing Culture among Secondary Students
HONG KONG, 7 October, 2016 –– English Language Teaching (ELT) expert Oxford University Press (OUP) held a students’ workshop—Catching the Secret of English Learning at Diocesan Boys’ School for junior secondary students. During this event, OUP announced their Oxford English Writing Competition that aims to encourage junior secondary students to express themselves and their ideas through creative writing.
OUP recently published English in Jasper’s Life《英語·人生 曾鈺成》in collaboration with the Hon Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, GBM, GBS, JP, former president of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, to share his inspirational story about learning English. As the guest of honour at the workshop, Mr Tsang shared his experience and insight in learning English with over 800 secondary students and teachers, as well as answering questions and offering advice on effective writing.
Mr Tsang also officiated the Oxford English Writing Competition—Whodunnit? Participants are required to complete a detective story started off by Mr Tsang, who is well read in crime and detective novels. Students are encouraged to give free rein to their imagination to complete the story and use their English language skills to get their ideas across. The top prize in the competition is a study tour to the UK.
Mr Tsang said, ‘I am impressed by OUP’s idea of having students write along with me, especially writing a detective story together. When I was a student, there were quite a few mentors and role models who inspired me along the way in learning English. I hope this competition can motivate local junior secondary students to write creatively and learn from the adjudicators, their teachers and fellow classmates. I am looking forward to reading how students complete the story that I started.’
Mr Tsang related how he enjoyed reading a wide range of English literary classics when he was a schoolboy, and that his father insisted he should learn to recite poetry. ‘Despite the struggle in my childhood, I am grateful for being trained to learn and recite poetry by my father. This hard work and passion in learning English resulted in a solid foundation of English language skills,’ he recounted.
At the workshop, an editor from OUP and two students from Diocesan Boys’ School conducted an open dialogue with Mr Tsang about English learning, especially writing. It was a valuable experience for students to gain insights into improving their English proficiency, especially their creative writing skills, so as to prepare for the writing competition.
‘We are delighted to host the talk today with Mr Jasper Tsang and see hundreds of teachers and students embrace the idea of learning better English from a successful role model in society,’ said Mei Mei Ng, General Manager, OUP China-Hong Kong. ‘Learning English is a life-long endeavour. Hong Kong students in their primary schooling build foundations in their receptive skills to read and listen well. However, when they move on to secondary, most struggle to express themselves and write well in English. OUP is committed to playing a supporting role to local teachers and students. In addition to providing them with quality learning and teaching materials, we also seek to foster the culture and passion in the use of English.’
Along with Mr Tsang being one of the adjudicators, the authoritative panel will include Dr Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, a politician, barrister, writer and columnist in Hong Kong; Dr Page Richards, Associate Professor, School of English, The University of Hong Kong; and Mr Perry Lam, HK01’s Executive Editor-in-Chief, and columnist for the South China Morning Post, Ming Pao and Yazhou Zhoukan.
Oxford Prize—‘Write Your Way to Oxford’
The top winner of the writing competition will be awarded a study tour and return flight tickets to the UK in summer 2017. Other prizes include various book coupons worth HK$1,000 / HK$800 / HK$500, and winners will enjoy a formal group dinner with Mr Jasper Tsang. The school with the highest number of entries will be given the Most Active Participation Award. The first 200 participants to submit their entries will be given an Oxford iWriter. Oxford iWriter is an interactive digital writing CD-ROM which comes with the Oxford Intermediate Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary (5th Edition), designed to help learners plan, write and review their written work.
The results of Oxford English Writing Competition—Whodunnit? will be announced on 18 March, 2017 and the prize presentation ceremony will take place on 8 April, 2017. In addition to OUP’s website, winning stories will also be posted on the website and Facebook page of Education Post, SCMP, OUP’s media partner for this competition.
Video of workshop
News Coverage
Unlocking the secrets of learning English - Education Post, South China Morning Post
「帶違禁品回校遇上搜書包...」曾鈺成出題 初中生創作 - TOPick HKet.com
曾鈺成到訪男拔 暢談學英語奧秘 - Sing Tao Daily
