Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 November 2013
Since the handover, policymakers in Hong Kong have faced the daunting task of determining the educational roles of two major international languages (Putonghua and English), as well as a vibrant local language (Cantonese), which is the mother tongue of around 90% of the city's predominantly Chinese population. Their response to this unprecedented challenge has been to set the ambitious goal of developing students’ ability to read and write Chinese and English and to speak Cantonese, Putonghua, and English. At the same time, however, they are pursuing policies that in some respects run counter to this commendable if ill-defined aim. This article examines the background to and rationale for the promotion of biliteracy and trilingualism and reviews recent research into the government's major language-in-education initiatives since 1997, namely, the adoption of a compulsory mother-tongue policy at junior secondary level, the recent fine-tuning of this controversial policy, and the use of Putonghua as the medium of instruction in Chinese subjects at primary and secondary levels.
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This article provides an overview of language policy and planning during the colonial period as well as a detailed discussion of current policies and practices in the domains of government, law and education. Bolton points out that Hong Kong has yet to feel the full weight of metropolitan and national policies, but if these are eventually imposed, he argues that the principal source of contention will be the relationship between Cantonese and Putonghua rather than that between Chinese and English.
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This article provides an insider account of a controversy over language policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where, uniquely among Hong Kong's universities, Chinese is an important MOI. The university's tradition of Chinese-medium teaching is being threatened by the current process of internationalization, which inevitably stimulates the use of English as the MOI. Choi examines this controversy in the context of the onslaught of academic capitalism and the hegemony of English. The article highlights the difficulties of promoting mother-tongue education at tertiary level in the current climate.
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This article presents the findings of a study that sought to gauge the effect of school MOI on the size of first-year undergraduates’ English academic vocabulary. Students from English-medium schools were found to possess significantly larger active and passive vocabularies than their Chinese-medium counterparts and were therefore able to write academic essays of a higher quality. The study thus highlights the disadvantages faced by students from Chinese-medium schools when adjusting to English-medium higher education.
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This article provides a comprehensive review of the literature on the language profile of Hong Kong, the causes and consequences of language spread in society, language policy and planning, and the changing language situation. The article offers a detailed account of language-in-education policies and practices in the late 20th century, particularly the formulation and implementation of the controversial mother-tongue policy during the 1990s.