I spent last week in Hong Kong as a guest of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Department of English Language. It is interesting to compare the undergraduate programme they offer with that offered by UBD.
We both have an English Language and Literature programme, and in many ways they are quite similar, with students taking core courses in Language and Literature at the start and then being free to choose whichever stream they prefer. But there is one big difference: I asked a number of the CUHK students if they would prefer to be doing just language or literature, and many stated that they would, most expressing a strong preference for literature. In contrast, if you ask the same question of our English Studies undergraduates at UBD, many of them will tell you that they would prefer just to be studying language.
Why does this difference occur? It seems that in Hong Kong there is a passion for reading among quite a few young people; and when asked what they would like to do in the future, many of them said they would like to read more, write poetry, or maybe get engaged in creative writing. But I don't see so much widespread enthusiasm for reading and creative writing in Brunei.
While it is encouraging for me, as a linguist, to see so many students keen to take my courses on the study of language, the lack of enthusiasm for reading fiction by most of my students is unfortunate.
