Racialised Language Ideologies Challenging the Educational Opportunities of South Asian Students in Hong Kong

Compared to the general student population in Hong Kong, South Asian students are well-documented to be challenged by disproportionate academic underachievement. Although research has suggested structural constraints (e.g., limited school choice) to be a significant cause, government interventions often downplay structural barriers and instead highlight South Asians’ “language deficit,” creating a linguistic hierarchy and leading to exclusionary practices and segregation in schools. The Education Bureau prioritises a Hong Kong centric assimilationist approach that upholds Chinese as the linguistic and cultural standard. Such monocultural assumptions set desirable Chinese proficiency as a prerequisite for social integration. The prestigious status of English in education and business further complicates the situation. This chapter unravels how the academic opportunities of South Asian students in Hong Kong are challenged by racialised linguistic ideologies.