This article reports the findings of an investigation into the roles of English and Chinese in the workplace in post-1997 Hong Kong. The findings are derived from a questionnaire survey of 1 475 professionals, focus-group interviews and case studies. The study found that English continues to function as the unmarked language of internal and external written communication in both the public and private sectors. Chinese professionals who work for foreign-owned organisations in Hong Kong apparently make greater use of English in written communication than their counterparts in Hong Kong-owned companies, while professionals who work for large Hong Kong concerns read or write in English slightly more than those who work for small local companies. Cantonese is the unmarked language of intra-ethnic spoken communication, particularly in informal situations, while English is generally restricted to situations where expatriates are present.
2019. Ethnicity and Equity: The Development of Linguistic Capital for a Subgroup of South Asian Individuals in Hong Kong. In Education, Ethnicity and Equity in the Multilingual Asian Context [Multilingual Education, 32], ► pp. 15 ff.
Crystal, David
2003. English as a Global Language,
Evans, Stephen
2009. The medium of instruction in Hong Kong revisited: policy and practice in the reformed Chinese and English streams. Research Papers in Education 24:3 ► pp. 287 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
2010. Business as usual: The use of English in the professional world in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes 29:3 ► pp. 153 ff.
EVANS, STEPHEN
2011. Hong Kong English and the professional world. World Englishes 30:3 ► pp. 293 ff.
Evans, Stephen
2016. English as a Business Lingua Franca. In The English Language in Hong Kong, ► pp. 53 ff.
Fluegel, Sabrina & Kendall King
2022. #workfromhome: how multi-level marketers enact and subvert federal language policy for profit. Language Policy 21:1 ► pp. 121 ff.
Gonçalves, Kellie
2020. Managing people with language: language policy, planning and practice in multilingual blue-collar workplaces. Language Policy 19:3 ► pp. 327 ff.
Huang, Zhe, Emily Ying Yang Chan, Chi Shing Wong & Benny Chung Ying Zee
2021. Clustering of Socioeconomic Data in Hong Kong for Planning Better Community Health Protection. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18:23 ► pp. 12617 ff.
Lee, Tim S. O. & Shu Yang Lin
2019. English teachers’ uses of motivational strategies beyond an established framework. Educational Research 61:4 ► pp. 451 ff.
Ng, Kwai Hang
2009. “If I lie, I tell you, may heaven and earth destroy me.” Language and Legal Consciousness in Hong Kong Bilingual Common Law. Law & Society Review 43:2 ► pp. 369 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.
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.
2011. Shyness and Chinese and English Vocabulary Skills in Hong Kong Kindergartners. Early Education & Development 22:1 ► pp. 29 ff.
Tong, Yuying, Wenyang Su & Eric Fong
2018. Labor market integration of non-Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong from 1991 to 2011: Structure of global market or White privilege?. Chinese Journal of Sociology 4:1 ► pp. 79 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.
Warren, Martin
2014. “Preparation is everything”: Meetings in professional contexts in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes 36 ► pp. 12 ff.
[no author supplied]
2013. Reference Guide for Varieties of English. In A Dictionary of Varieties of English, ► pp. 363 ff.
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.