Following the return of sovereignty from Britain to China, Hong Kong
has undergone significant sociopolitical and educational changes. This
study is a quantitative investigation of the language attitudes of 1,048
secondary students from the first postcolonial generation brought up amid
the significant changes after the political handover. The results show
that the respondents feel the most integratively inclined to Cantonese
(the vernacular variety), and they perceive English (the colonizers'
language) as the language of the highest instrumental value and social
status, while Putonghua (the language of the new ruler) is rated the
lowest from both the integrative and the instrumental perspectives. Unlike
what has been predicted by scholars, Putonghua has not yet taken the place
of English as the language of power. Despite this, there are signs of a
subtle transition toward an accommodating attitude to Putonghua, mainly
induced by the growing instrumental value of the language for economic
purposes.