Article published In:
English World-WideVol. 20:1 (1999) ► pp.67–110
The Functions and Status of English in Hong Kong
A Post-1997 Update
This paper is an update of Luke and Richards' (1982) study on the functions and status of English in Hong Kong. The sociolinguistic matrix is described by outlining the distribution of the main functions of the two written languages standard written Chinese (SWC) and English, and the three spoken languages Cantonese, English and Putonghua, in four key domains: government, media, employment and education. Cantonese and English remain the most important spoken languages. The macro-sociolinguistic analysis "diglossia without bilingual-ism" has given way to polyglossia with increasing bilingualism. There are two written H varieties, SWC and English, the former is penetrating into some domains formerly dominated by the latter. Cantonese, typically interspersed with some English, is assigned L functions in both spoken and written mediums. There is some indication that Putonghua is getting increasingly important in post-colonial Hong Kong, but there are as yet no significant social functions assigned to it. Compared with the early 1980s, significant changes have taken place at all levels. Language-related changes are discussed in light of a critical review of recent local research in a number of areas: medium of instruction, language right, linguistic imperialism, Hong Kong accent, Hong Kong identity and language attitudes toward Chinese and English. In view of the tremendous social prestige and symbolic predominance of English, it is argued that "value-added" is a more suitable epithet than "auxiliary" to characterize the status of English in post-1997 Hong Kong.
Cited by
Cited by 66 other publications
Briguglio, Carmela
2012. Linguistic and Cultural Skills for Communication in Global Workplaces of the 21st Century. In New Media Communication Skills for Engineers and IT Professionals, ► pp. 55 ff. 
Briguglio, Carmela
2014. Linguistic and Cultural Skills for Communication in Global Workplaces of the 21st Century. In Cross-Cultural Interaction, ► pp. 832 ff.
Briguglio, Carmela
2016. Gathering Linguistic Data from Multinational Companies: Inter-cultural Communication in the Workplace. In The Ins and Outs of Business and Professional Discourse Research, ► pp. 81 ff.
Chan, Alice Y. W.
2004. Syntactic Transfer: Evidence from the Interlanguage of Hong Kong Chinese ESL Learners. The Modern Language Journal 88:1 ► pp. 56 ff.
Chan, Alice Y. W.
2006. An Algorithmic Approach to Error Correction: An Empirical Study. Foreign Language Annals 39:1 ► pp. 131 ff.
CHAN, ALICE Y. W.
2010. Toward a Taxonomy of Written Errors: Investigation Into the Written Errors of Hong Kong Cantonese ESL Learners. TESOL Quarterly 44:2 ► pp. 295 ff.
Chan, Alice Y. W.
2010. An investigation into Cantonese ESL learners' acquisition of English initial consonant clusters. Linguistics 48:1
CHAN, ALICE Y. W.
2011. The Perception of English Speech Sounds by Cantonese ESL Learners in Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly 45:4 ► pp. 718 ff.
Chan, Alice Y.W
2006. Strategies used by Cantonese speakers in pronouncing English initial consonant clusters: Insights into the interlanguage phonology of Cantonese ESL learners in Hong Kong. IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 44:4
Chan, Brian Hok-Shing
2022. Translanguaging or code-switching?. Chinese Language and Discourse. An International and Interdisciplinary Journal 13:2 ► pp. 167 ff.
CHAN, BRIAN HOK‐SHING
2009. English in Hong Kong Cantopop: language choice, code‐switching and genre. World Englishes 28:1 ► pp. 107 ff.
CHAN, JIM Y. H.
2013. Contextual variation and Hong Kong English. World Englishes 32:1 ► pp. 54 ff.
Chen, Yan & Eliane Rubinstein-Avila
2018. Code-switching functions in postcolonial classrooms. The Language Learning Journal 46:3 ► pp. 228 ff.
Chik, Alice & Sharon Besser
2011. International Language Test Taking Among Young Learners: A Hong Kong Case Study. Language Assessment Quarterly 8:1 ► pp. 73 ff.
Chui, Hin Leung, Yiqi Liu & Bernie Chun Nam Mak
2016. Code‐switching for newcomers and veterans: a mutually‐constructed discourse strategy for workplace socialization and identification. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 26:1 ► pp. 25 ff.
Crystal, David
2003. English as a Global Language,
Dan Lu
2003. English in Hong Kong. Super Highway or Road To Nowhere? Reflections On Policy Changes in Language Education of Hong Kong. RELC Journal 34:3 ► pp. 370 ff.
Evans, Stephen
2010. Language in transitional Hong Kong: perspectives from the public and private sectors. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 31:4 ► pp. 347 ff.
EVANS, STEPHEN
2011. Hong Kong English and the professional world. World Englishes 30:3 ► pp. 293 ff.
Evans, Stephen
2015. Testing the Dynamic Model. Journal of English Linguistics 43:3 ► pp. 175 ff.
EVANS, STEPHEN
2015. Modelling the development of English in Hong Kong. World Englishes 34:3 ► pp. 389 ff.
Evans, Stephen
2016. English as a Business Lingua Franca. In The English Language in Hong Kong, ► pp. 53 ff.
Evans, Stephen
2016. Introduction: Exploring the Diffusion and Diversification of English. In The English Language in Hong Kong, ► pp. 1 ff.
Evans, Stephen
2016. Conclusion: Investigating the Past, Illuminating the Present, Imagining the Future. In The English Language in Hong Kong, ► pp. 109 ff.
Evans, Stephen
2016. Language Trends in the Organs of Government. In The English Language in Hong Kong, ► pp. 15 ff.
Evans, Stephen
2016. The Evolutionary Dynamics of Hong Kong English. In The English Language in Hong Kong, ► pp. 91 ff.
Flowerdew, John, Lindsay Miller & David C S Li
2000. Chinese Lecturers' Perceptions, Problems and Strategies in Lecturing in English To Chinese- Speaking Students. RELC Journal 31:1 ► pp. 116 ff.
Hansen Edwards, Jette G.
2018. English language schooling, linguistic realities, and the native speaker of English in Hong Kong. Multilingua 37:3 ► pp. 275 ff.
Jackson, J.
2005. An inter-university, cross-disciplinary analysis of business education: Perceptions of business faculty in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes 24:3 ► pp. 293 ff.
Jiang, Yushan, Carrie Lau & Cheng Yong Tan
2024. Socioeconomic Status and Children’s English Language and Literacy Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Home Literacy Environment. Early Education and Development 35:3 ► pp. 588 ff.
Ladegaard, Hans J.
2012. Rudeness as a discursive strategy in leadership discourse: Culture, power and gender in a Hong Kong workplace. Journal of Pragmatics 44:12 ► pp. 1661 ff.
Ladegaard, Hans J.
2020. Language competence, identity construction and discursive boundary-making: Distancing and alignment in domestic migrant worker narratives. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2020:262 ► pp. 97 ff.
Li, David C. S
2001. L2 lexis in L1: Reluctance to translate out of concern for referential meaning. mult 20:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Li, David C. S.
1999. Linguistic Convergence: Impact of English on Hong Kong Cantonese. Asian Englishes 2:1 ► pp. 5 ff.
Li, David C. S.
2017. Towards ‘Biliteracy and Trilingualism’ in Hong Kong (SAR): Problems, Dilemmas, and Stakeholders’ Views. In Multilingual Hong Kong: Languages, Literacies and Identities [Multilingual Education, 19], ► pp. 179 ff.
Li, David C.S. & C.Y. Elly
2002. One day in the life of a “purist”. International Journal of Bilingualism 6:2 ► pp. 147 ff.
Li, David C.S. & Sherman Lee
2006. Bilingualism in East Asia. In The Handbook of Bilingualism, ► pp. 742 ff.
Lin, Angel M. Y.
2008. The Ecology of Literacy in Hong Kong. In Encyclopedia of Language and Education, ► pp. 3170 ff.
Lin, Minfen & Doreen D. Wu
2022. Rapport building by Chinese celebrities on Weibo and Facebook. Chinese Language and Discourse. An International and Interdisciplinary Journal 13:1 ► pp. 7 ff.
Ling, Cheung Yin & George Braine
2007. The Attitudes of University Students towards Non-native Speakers English Teachers in Hong Kong. RELC Journal 38:3 ► pp. 257 ff.
Liu, June Yichun
2014. Problems, Strategies, and Impact of SSCI Publication in English. In The SSCI Syndrome in Higher Education [Comparative and International Education, ], ► pp. 109 ff.
Lock, Graham
2003. Being International, Local and Chinese: Advertisements on the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway. Visual Communication 2:2 ► pp. 195 ff.
Loh, Elizabeth K. Y., Loretta C. W. Tam & Kwok-chang Lau
2019. Moving between language frontiers: the challenges of the medium of instruction policy for Chinese as a second language. Language Policy 18:1 ► pp. 131 ff.
Low, Winnie W.M. & Dan Lu
2006. Persistent Use of Mixed Code: An Exploration of Its Functions in Hong Kong Schools. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 9:2 ► pp. 181 ff.
Luke, Kang-kwong & Chaak-ming Lau
2008. On loanword truncation in Cantonese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 17:4 ► pp. 347 ff.
Moody, Andrew
2019. World Englishes in the Media. In The Cambridge Handbook of World Englishes, ► pp. 652 ff.
Ng, Chi Wui
2021. Cantonese‐English code‐switching in Cantopop television drama theme songs. World Englishes 40:3 ► pp. 354 ff.
Qian, David D.
2008. English language assessment in Hong Kong: A survey of practices, developments and issues. Language Testing 25:1 ► pp. 85 ff.
Sachs, Gertrude Tinker & David C. S Li
2007. Cantonese as an additional language in Hong Kong: Problems and prospects. mult 26:1 ► pp. 95 ff.
SETTER, JANE, PEGGY MOK, EE LING LOW, DONGHUI ZUO & RAN AO
2014. Word juncture characteristics in world Englishes: A research report. World Englishes 33:2 ► pp. 278 ff.
Su, Xiaoli, Dorottya Ruisz & Xiao Zhang
2024. A Cross-cultural Comparison of ELT Curricula of Senior Secondary Schools in Mainland China and Hong Kong. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE) 8:1
Sung, Chit Cheung Matthew
2015. Hong Kong English: Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Perspectives. Language and Linguistics Compass 9:6 ► pp. 256 ff.
Sung, Chit Cheung Matthew
2021. Identities and Language Use across Contexts in a Multilingual University in Hong Kong: A Filipina International Student’s Narrativized Account. Journal of Language, Identity & Education ► pp. 1 ff.
Tam, Hugo Wing-Yu & Samuel C. S. Tsang
2023. Towards a reconceptualisation of the Cantonese lexicon in contemporary Hong Kong: classificatory possibilities and their implications for the local Chinese-as-an-additional-language curriculum. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 26:4 ► pp. 428 ff.
Tsang, Wai King
2004. Feedback and Uptake in Teacher-Student Interaction: An Analysis of 18 English Lessons in Hong Kong Secondary Classrooms. RELC Journal 35:2 ► pp. 187 ff.
Tsang, Wai King & Matilda Wong
2004. Constructing a Shared ‘Hong Kong Identity’ in Comic Discourses. Discourse & Society 15:6 ► pp. 767 ff.
Tsang, Wai Lan
2015. Learning more, perceiving more? A comparison of L1 Cantonese–L2 English–L3 French speakers and L1 Cantonese–L2 English speakers in Hong Kong. International Journal of Multilingualism 12:3 ► pp. 312 ff.
Wakefield, John C.
2018. Turning English into Cantonese: The Semantic Change of English Loanwords. In Cultural Conflict in Hong Kong, ► pp. 15 ff.
Wong, May
2017. Hong Kong English: An Overview. In Hong Kong English, ► pp. 1 ff.
Woon Yee Ho, Judy
2006. Functional complementarity between two languages in ICQ. International Journal of Bilingualism 10:4 ► pp. 429 ff.
Yee Ho, Judy Woon
2008. Code choice in Hong Kong. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 31:2 ► pp. 18.1 ff.
Yee Ho, Judy Woon
2008. Code choice in Hong Kong. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 31:2 ► pp. 18.1 ff.
Wu, Doreen D. & Kara Chan
2007. Multilingual Mix in Hong Kong Advertising, Pre- and Post-1997. Asian Journal of Communication 17:3 ► pp. 301 ff.
Yao, Xinyue
2016. Cleft constructions in Hong Kong English. English World-Wide. A Journal of Varieties of English 37:2 ► pp. 197 ff.
[no author supplied]
[no author supplied]
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.