This article traces the evolution of the English-language speech community in Hong Kong since the early 1840s. Inspired by Schneider’s (2007) innovative “Dynamic Model”, the article examines textual and statistical data derived from a range of hitherto unexploited archival sources, including a historical corpus of English-language newspapers, confidential Colonial Office correspondence, and government records. Changes in the size and composition of the English-language speech community are tracked through a diachronic analysis of government censuses, school enrolments, lists of jurors, and letters to the press. The results of this analysis support Schneider’s contention that the 1960s marked an important turning point in Hong Kong’s linguistic history in that it presaged a substantial, education-driven increase in the numbers and proportion of English users in the territory. Despite the significant expansion of the English-using community in the past four decades, the dominant theme of public discourse about English has been that of “declining standards”. While the existence of a “complaint tradition” accords with the predictions of the Dynamic Model, it is perhaps not widely known that this tradition is a long-standing one. The present article traces this tradition back to the era of the Opium Wars.
2024. Particle Placement in Hong Kong English: Independence from Great Britain as a Trigger of Structural Change?. Journal of English Linguistics 52:2 ► pp. 137 ff.
Hoffmann, Thomas
2021. The Cognitive Foundation of Post-colonial Englishes,
2014. New reflections on the evolutionary dynamics of world Englishes. World Englishes 33:1 ► pp. 9 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
2015. Testing the Dynamic Model. Journal of English Linguistics 43:3 ► pp. 175 ff.
Evans, Stephen
2016. Introduction: Exploring the Diffusion and Diversification of English. In The English Language in Hong Kong, ► pp. 1 ff.
PEIRSON‐SMITH, ANNE, VIJAY J. BHATIA, STEPHEN BREMNER & RODNEY H. JONES
2010. Creative English and public relations in Hong Kong. World Englishes 29:4 ► pp. 523 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 2 august 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.