TY - JOUR
T1 - Language use, and language policy and planning in hong kong
AU - Poon, Anita Y.K.
N1 - Funding Information:
University sector. University education underwent a substantial expansion following the Policy Address of the then Governor Lord David Wilson delivered at the re-opening of the Legislative Council session on 11 October 1989. The number of universities funded by the University Grants Committee, (i.e. the UGC commissioned by the Hong Kong government to oversee the financial affairs and development of universities) increased from two in the 1980s to seven in the 1990s. The provision of additional first-year, first-degree places intended to increase the enrolment from 2.4% of the relevant age group in 1982 to 18% by 1995. In view of this significant expansion, it was anticipated that ‘the overall educational standards of Hong Kong’s tertiary students [would be] worse than before’, including English standards (Education Commission, 1988, p. 23). Accordingly, a series of language enhancement measures were undertaken: e.g.:
PY - 2010/2
Y1 - 2010/2
N2 - This monograph provides an overview of the language situayears from a small fishing port to an international financial centre which forms part of a financial network hailed by Time Magazine as Ny.Lon.Kong (i.e. New York-London-Hong Kong). Hong Kong has gone through changes of sovereignty twice, once in 1842 as a Chinese territory ceded to Britain after the first Opium War, and a second time in 1997 as a British colony returned to China. It is a micro polity with no natural resources except its deep harbour. Economically, Hong Kong has gradually developed from a fishing port when British settlement began in 1841, to an entrepot during 1945-1950s, to a manufacturing hub during 1960-1970s, to an international financial centre since the 1980s. The historical, political and economic development has had a great impact on the language situation in Hong Kong. Its language community started with two separate monolingual groups: one consisting of local Chinese speaking Cantonese and other Chinese dialects, and the other composed of British colonists speaking English. Because of language spread and language shift as a result of political, economic and social changes, the monolingual group of Chinese speakers has become trilingual, speaking Cantonese, English and Putonghua, whereas the monolingual group of English speakers has expanded to include native speakers of such other English varieties as American English, Australian English, Canadian English, Indian English and Singaporean English. In addition, there is a large group of minorities composed of bilingual speakers of English and a south Asian language. Although the development of language use is a natural process, it can be influenced by the government's language policy and planning. In 1997 there was a major political change, and Hong Kong, a capitalist city that practised a free economy for 155 years, was handed back to a socialist regime in China and now functions as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (PRC) under the 'One Country Two Systems' policy. Hong Kong's prospects for a changing language situation depend on its political and economic development as well as PRC's policy.
AB - This monograph provides an overview of the language situayears from a small fishing port to an international financial centre which forms part of a financial network hailed by Time Magazine as Ny.Lon.Kong (i.e. New York-London-Hong Kong). Hong Kong has gone through changes of sovereignty twice, once in 1842 as a Chinese territory ceded to Britain after the first Opium War, and a second time in 1997 as a British colony returned to China. It is a micro polity with no natural resources except its deep harbour. Economically, Hong Kong has gradually developed from a fishing port when British settlement began in 1841, to an entrepot during 1945-1950s, to a manufacturing hub during 1960-1970s, to an international financial centre since the 1980s. The historical, political and economic development has had a great impact on the language situation in Hong Kong. Its language community started with two separate monolingual groups: one consisting of local Chinese speaking Cantonese and other Chinese dialects, and the other composed of British colonists speaking English. Because of language spread and language shift as a result of political, economic and social changes, the monolingual group of Chinese speakers has become trilingual, speaking Cantonese, English and Putonghua, whereas the monolingual group of English speakers has expanded to include native speakers of such other English varieties as American English, Australian English, Canadian English, Indian English and Singaporean English. In addition, there is a large group of minorities composed of bilingual speakers of English and a south Asian language. Although the development of language use is a natural process, it can be influenced by the government's language policy and planning. In 1997 there was a major political change, and Hong Kong, a capitalist city that practised a free economy for 155 years, was handed back to a socialist regime in China and now functions as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (PRC) under the 'One Country Two Systems' policy. Hong Kong's prospects for a changing language situation depend on its political and economic development as well as PRC's policy.
KW - Biliteracy
KW - Code-mixing
KW - Hong kong
KW - Hong kong cantonese
KW - Hong kong english
KW - Hong kong identity
KW - Language policy
KW - Language use
KW - Trilingualism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77951671043&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14664201003682327
DO - 10.1080/14664201003682327
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:77951671043
SN - 1466-4208
VL - 11
SP - 1
EP - 66
JO - Current Issues in Language Planning
JF - Current Issues in Language Planning
IS - 1
ER -
