The South China Morning Post – John Cremer 
Noting such concerns, Lai Chun, an associate professor in the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) faculty of education, points out that most second language curricula and textbooks used in international schools now pay more attention to developing learners’ “communicative functions”. However, there is still room to improve the relevance of topics to students’ daily life and interests, which is an important factor in increasing overall motivation. “The essentials for reaching near-native levels of fluency are sufficient exposure to the language and opportunities to use it in authentic contexts,” Lai says. (more)