Medium of Instruction

The Academic Regulation stipulates that “unless otherwise approved by the Senate for a specific course or program of study, English is the medium of instruction and assessment at the University.” All common core courses should in principle adopt English as the medium of instruction.

The Senate has delegated its authority to the School of Humanities and Social Science (SHSS) to use the Chinese language as the teaching medium for courses related to the area of Chinese studies; and Chinese reading materials may be included in courses that focus on Chinese subject matters.

To ensure a good provision of common core courses that are delivered in English for non-Chinese-speaking students, the following guidelines apply:

1. SHSS will ensure that at least 70% of all common core courses offered by the Division of Humanities (HUMA) as well as course places offered each term are taught in English. The use of Chinese as the teaching medium will only be considered when the subject content makes it necessary.
2. SHSS will also ensure that at least 70% of the SSC (School-Sponsored Courses) course places offered in the term are taught in English.
3. When it is necessary to deliver courses in Chinese, SHSS will make every effort to offer courses with similar academic content in English whenever possible to meet the needs of non-Chinese-speaking students.
4. The specific Chinese language to be used (Putonghua or Cantonese) should be indicated for each course.