This paper examines Hong Kong main stakeholders’ (secondary students, university students, teachers and professionals) perceptions of language variation, English language teaching (ELT) and language use in their everyday communication via a large-scale questionnaire survey (N = 1893). Although the findings point to an overall Anglophone-centric attitude amid the participants, especially in terms of the choice of teaching model, they also disclose contrasts in the participants’ views and experience of language use according to their education level, age and occupational background. One notable discovery is the possible impact of one's academic capacity on his or her perceptions of English varieties and learning. By collating the responses of the various participant groups based on the sociolinguistic setting in Hong Kong, the article debates the implications of these findings for contemporary ELT and directions for future attitudinal inquiry.