1887
Volume 41, Issue 2
  • ISSN 0272-2690
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9889
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

This article discusses the effects of Hong Kong’s language policy changes in education since China reclaimed the territory in 1997. It describes Hong Kongers’ perceptions of English and their mother tongue Cantonese, and considers the effects of the Cantonese medium of instruction (CMI) policy, which was introduced to promote biliteracy and trilingualism among Hong Kongers. The analysis shows that even though CMI results in deeper learning in Hong Kong students, the strength and status of English as the lingua franca in the territory remains strong, and access to the linguistic capital English brings remains restricted to those with financial capital to afford it.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/lplp.41.2.05har
2017-10-27
2025-01-17
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Bourdieu, P.
    (1991) Language and symbolic power. Oxford: Polity Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Choi, P.
    (2003) The best students will learn English: Ultra-utilitarianism and linguistic imperialism in education in post-1997 Hong Kong. Journal of Education Policy, 18, 673–694. doi: 10.1080/0268093032000145917
    https://doi.org/10.1080/0268093032000145917 [Google Scholar]
  3. Cummins, J.
    (1979) Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimal age question, and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 184334.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Education Bureau
    Education Bureau (2009) Enriching our language environment, realizing our vision: Fine-tuning of medium of instruction for secondary schools. Hong Kong: Government Printer.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Education Commission
    Education Commission (1990) report No. 4. Hong Kong: Government Printer.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Education Commission
    Education Commission (2005) Report on review of medium of instruction for secondary school and secondary school places allocation. Hong Kong: Government Printer.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Education Department
    Education Department (1985a) A comparison of academic performance of junior secondary students in Anglo-Chinese and Chinese middle schools. Hong Kong: Government Printer.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Education Department
    Education Department (1985b) A comparison of pupils’ HKCEE results between schools using Chinese as medium of instruction (MOI) in all subjects and schools using Chinese as MOI by subject. Hong Kong: Government Printer.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Education Department
    Education Department (1997) Medium of instruction: Guidance for secondary schools. Hong Kong: Government Printer.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Education Department
    Education Department (2006) Further evaluation on the implementation of the MOI guidance for secondary schools (2002–2004). Hong Kong: Government Printer.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Fishman, J.
    (1967) Bilingualism with and without diglossia: Diglossia with and without bilingualism. Journal of Social Issues, 23(2), 29–38. doi: 10.1111/j.1540‑4560.1967.tb00573.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1967.tb00573.x [Google Scholar]
  12. Glenwright, P.
    (2003) Education reform and policy change in Hong Kong: A critique of the post-colonial legacy. Education and Society, 21(3), 67–89. doi: 10.7459/es/21.3.06
    https://doi.org/10.7459/es/21.3.06 [Google Scholar]
  13. Ho, K. K.
    (1986) The effect of written language in Chinese or English on Form 1 social studies achievement. Education Research Journal, 1, 16–21.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Kan, V. & Adamson, B.
    (2010) Language policies for Hong Kong schools since 1997. London Review of education, 8(2), 167–176. doi: 10.1080/14748460.2010.487336
    https://doi.org/10.1080/14748460.2010.487336 [Google Scholar]
  15. Lao, C. Y. & Krashen, S.
    (1999) Implementation of mother-tongue teaching in Hong Kong secondary schools: Some recent reports. Discovery, 18 October. Retrieved fromwww.ncbe.gwu.edu/ncbepubs/discover/05hongkong.htm
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Li, D. C. S.
    (2002) Hong Kong parents’ preference for English-medium education: Passive victims of imperialism or active agents of pragmatism?In A. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), Englishes in Asia: Communication, identity, power and education (pp.29–62). Melbourne: Language Australia.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Lin, L. H. F. & Morrison, B.
    (2010) The impact of medium of instruction in Hong Kong secondary students on tertiary students vocabulary. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9(4), 255–266. doi: 10.1016/j.jeap.2010.09.002
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2010.09.002 [Google Scholar]
  18. Llewellyn, J. , Hancock, J. G. , Kirst, M. , & Roeloffs, Y. K.
    (1982) A perspective on education in Hong Kong: Report by a visiting panel. Hong Kong: Government Printer.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Mak, S. Y. & Siu, P. K.
    (1991) The relationship between the medium of instruction and the structure of lessons in Form 1. The Chinese University Education Journal, 19, 19–27.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. (1992) The relationship between the medium of instruction and the structure of classroom lessons in junior secondary schools. The Chinese University Education Journal, 20(2), 101–111.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Morrison, K. & Lui, I.
    (2000) Ideology, linguistic capital and the medium of instruction in Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 21(6): 471–486. doi: 10.1080/01434630008666418
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630008666418 [Google Scholar]
  22. Phillipson, R.
    (1992) Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Poon, A. Y. K.
    (2004) Language policy of Hong Kong: Its impact on language education and language use in post-handover Hong Kong. Journal of Taiwan Normal University: Humanities & Social Sciences, 49(1), 53–74.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Salili, F. & Tsui, A. B. M.
    (2005) The effects of medium of instruction on students’ motivation and learning. In R. Hoosain and F. Salili (Eds.), Language in multicultural education (pp.135–156). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Siu, P. K.
    (1979) The final report on the effects of the medium of instruction on student cognitive development and academic achievement. Hong Kong: School of Education, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR)
    Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) (2003) Action plan to raise language standards in Hong Kong – Final review report. Hong Kong: Standing Committee on Language Education and Research.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Tam, A. C. F.
    (2011) Does the switch of medium of instruction facilitate the language learning of students? A case study of Hong Kong from teachers’ perspective. Language and Education, 25(5), 399–417. doi: 10.1080/09500782.2011.573076
    https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2011.573076 [Google Scholar]
  28. Tse, S. K. , Shum, M. S. K. , Ki, W. W. & Wong, C. P. C.
    (2001) The transition from English to mother tongue Chinese as medium of instruction. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 1, 9–36. doi: 10.1023/A:1011512720278
    https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011512720278 [Google Scholar]
  29. Tsui, A.
    (1992) Using English as a medium of instruction and English language acquisition. In K. K. Luke (Ed.) Into the Twenty-first Century: Issues of language in education in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Linguistic Society of Hong Kong.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Wardhaugh, R.
    (2006) An introduction to sociolinguistics (5th ed.). Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Wen, W. P.
    (1999) Mother-tongue teaching must be accomplished consistently (in Chinese). Cited in Y. C. Lo (1999) Curriculum reform. In M. Bray and R. Koo (Eds.) Education and society in Hong Kong and Macau: Comparative perspectives on continuity and change. CERC Studies in Comparative Education 7. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong, Comparative Education Research Centre.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/lplp.41.2.05har
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Cantonese; English; Hong Kong; language policy; lingua franca
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error