Tag: Language attitudes

How a Hong Kong Accent is Formed

Posted on by Benedict J. L. ROWLETT

by Victoria Chan

Most of the English learners in Hong Kong admire a British accent. When Hong Kong people can speak in British accent naturally and fluently, they always receive compliments such as “ Wow! Your English is so good!” or “ I love your accent! It is so beautiful!”. Most of the people deem British English as the standard English. In other words, people who is not able to speak in British accent are regarded as having low proficiency in English. The official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English. It has a long history of learning English as a second language. Under this circumstances, why Hong Kong accent still exist despite its wide use of English?

When Hong Kong became a crown colony of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong people needed to learn English because the colonial government announced English as the official language of Hong Kong. Hardly could the Hong Kong people learn English at that time due to the difference between Cantonese and English. Moreover, education in Hong Kong was not popular due to the limited expenditure to schooling by the local government. In other words, Hong Kong’s proficiency in English was low as the government failed to provide proper assistance to the new language policy. Under this circumstance, the Hong Kong people needed to learn English by themselves. 

The main use of English was to communicate with English speakers in Hong Kong during the colonial period. Therefore, the most efficient way to learn English was to simply imitate the pronunciation of English through speaking Cantonese. The following figure is an old Cantonese book which aims to teach Hong Kong people English daily expressions through speaking Cantonese.

Picture 1: The book cover of an old Cantonese book which teaches English
Source: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=8421
How Hong Kong people learned English speaking in the past
Source: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=8421

The title of the book is “ 自學英語不求人“ which means “ Self-learning English without asking anybody”. It shows that Hong Kong people couldn’t receive efficient English education despite the issue of official language policy. From the above picture, it shows how Hong Kong people learnt English at that time. The writer helps the reader to pronounce the English expression through generating a Cantonese sentences which has similar pronunciation with it. For example, “ 打孻亞見 Daa Laai Ah gin” for “ Try again”. Although it is written in traditional Chinese, the imitation doesn’t make sense if we pronounce it in Mandarin. The reader has to pronounce the Chinese sentence in Cantonese in order to imitate the English pronunciation. Moreover, these Chinese sentences are neither grammatical nor related to the English expression. It only helps the readers to generate the pronunciation of the English expressions. The Hong Kong accent is formed because the learners don’t imitate the pronunciation of a native speaker. On the other hand, they find their own way to pronounce English with the help of Cantonese.

Not to mention that English education in Hong Kong focuses primarily on reading and writing, the accent is not important if the speaker can use a wide range of vocabulary to express his or her ideas. A study on phonological awareness and oral language proficiency in Hong Kong by the University of Hong Kong discovered that the tone of first language will contribute significantly to second language. The reason why English accent of Hong Kong people differs from British is because of the difference of subsyllabic levels (rime and phoneme) in English and Cantonese. If children fail to develop phonological awareness (developing across levels of different phonological units) in early age, their accent of English will be similar to the tone of Cantonese. 

After discovering how Hong Kong accent is formed, we can also explore the method to improve our English accent. The sooner the children learn phonics of English, the higher phonological awareness they can achieve. In other words, the best way to improve English accent is not about imitating the pronunciation of each word, but to understand and to acquire the whole system of the phonics of English. This suggests that there is a need for reform of English learning in Hong Kong. Instead of pushing children to learn difficult words in a very young age, we should teach the children phonics before spelling. Thus, we can help our children to immerse themselves in English completely as their mother tongue.

“How HK has tried to promote bilingualism and also protect its Chinese dialect and compare it to how, in France, the government actively tried (and to a certain extent) succeeded in erasing most local dialects to only promote French.”

Posted on by Benedict J. L. ROWLETT

by Valentine Gelcys

In Hong Kong what language do we speak? English, Chinese, “Chinglish”? One of the many particularities of this city is its languages because indeed, the law recognizes two official languages : English (due to its past as a British Colony), and Chinese (due to its large Chinese population.) Recognizing these two languages allows then to maintain peace between the different communities, that feel properly acknowledged. But this situation is not the same in every country. If we compare the case of Hong Kong with the one of France, the place and use of language is completely different. Indeed, French is the only official language recognized by the Constitution. As the Article 2 states “The language of the Republic is French.”. France appears to have a different conception of language than in Hong Kong because having only one language is the tool to unite and maintain peace in France.

Map of languages and dialects spoken in France :
–       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Langues_de_la_France.svg

Does that mean that France had many languages to begin with? Indeed, yes! In a survey conducted in Metropolitan France in 1806, only 58,5% of the population talked what would be considered as French. That means that the rest of the population was talking in local dialects and regional languages which underlined a certain lack of unity in the country, when in a context of adversity with other European Nations, was beginning to pose a problem. With the beginning of the Third Republic in 1875 came a law that made elementary school public, free and mandatory with the main mean of communication being French. This created a whole new generation that was united by the same language. France did very little in order to protect its local dialects. In April 2001, the Minister of Education, Jack Lang, admitted formally that for more than two centuries, the political powers of the French government had repressed regional languages. It arrived to a point where today French is the mother tongue of 87% of its population, including immigrants from other countries, a clear change from 200 years ago.So how does that compare to Hong Kong? Language here is also a controversial topic because it is a strong marker of identity and power. Even though both English and Cantonese are the official languages, the latter is spoken by a vast majority, as much as 88.9%. Since Hong Kong has been returned to China in 1997, there is a growing concern amongst Cantonese speaking Hongkongers that their language will be replaced by Mandarin (or here called Putonghua). In  2012, after the introduction of the “Moral and National Education”, deemed pro-China, there was a strong concern that some of the classes usually given in Cantonese would be given in Putonghua. This was eagerly fought by new political parties and activist groups such as Scholarism. This illustrates how the government has a strong and influent say in language policies but also how people are adamant to protect their languages and dialects.

Students from Scholarism during an assembly against the Students from Scholarism during an assembly against the National Education at the Hong Kong government headquarters in August 2012.
–       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholarism#/media/File:Scholarism_2012.jpg

Another element that seems interesting in order to compare the place of language between France and Hong Kong is the “purity” of the language. In Hong Kong, code-switching is very popular. By definition, code-switching is a type of linguistic behaviour that juxtaposes “passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems or sub-systems, within the same exchange”. In Hong Kong, it is between English and Chinese, or also called Chinglish. However in France, code switching is almost nonexistent, mostly due to the existence of institutions such as the Acdémie Française created in the 17th century, which is very concerned in keeping what they consider to be standard French.

To conclude, language in Hong Kong and France is a very powerful tool to keep a certain unity and  coherence between the people but it is not being used the same way throughout time. While recognizing two official languages in Hong Kong was a way to keep peace and give recognition to hongkongers, imposing a single language in France was used for the same purpose. Furthermore, when Hong Kong is also known for its use of “Chinglish”, France on the other hand is well known for its obsession with trying to preserve its language through formal institutions such as the Académie Française.

Sources : 

Kongish – a new language of Hong Kongers

Posted on by Benedict J. L. ROWLETT

By Cindy Tse

In Hong Kong, there are mainly two official languages, Cantonese and English. At primary and secondary school, we need to learn the third language, Putonghua. Therefore, Hong Kong students become trilingual. In this situation, as we learn three languages at the same time, there will be some interference between languages. Then, Kongish is produced.

Kongish is a mixture of Cantonese and English, which is also called Hong Kong English. As a Hong Konger, Kongish is the same as Cantonese to represent our identity. We use Kongish mostly in social media, like texting to others. We only use Kongish in an informal way as not many people in Hong Kong can read and write Kongish especially the elderly and not all of them can accept Kongish as a language to communicate. Therefore, Kongish is used among teenagers and adults only.

Why do people like using Kongish in social media? According to the founders of Kongish Daily, people use Kongish because they would like to use English to text, which is more convenient than typing Chinese words but they may not know all the words so they use their limited English vocabulary and Cantonese pinyin to express themselves.

Have you ever heard or read any Kongish in Hong Kong? Here are some examples of Kongish. Let’s make a guess.                           

add oil
blow water
show me your love rice
need sheep have sheep

For the first one, you may wonder it relates to food because oil is added. But “add oil” should be the easiest as it has been added into Oxford English Dictionary as a phrase to express encouragement. In Cantonese, “add oil” is Gayau 加油and it is directly translated as 加 means “add” while 油 mean “oil”. Therefore, you can say “add oil” to your friends when they need to have an exam.

For the second one, you may feel confused about this phrase. Why do we need to blow the water? Is it too hot? Actually, “blow water” is a Cantonese slang which means to chitchat or to chat without purpose. It is also directly translated as “blow” refers to 吹 and “water” is 水, then “blow water” is吹水in Cantonese. Therefore, you can “blow water” with your friends when you are bored.

For the third one, it is the most difficult one and I also spend some time to think about the meaning. Is it about cooking? Yes, it is related and it is a kind of rice that we can eat in Cha-Chaan-Tang, the local food stall in Hong Kong. Actually, “show me your love rice” is rice with pork and creamed corn and it is translated mostly by its Cantonese pronunciation, shuk mai yuk lup fan (rice) 栗米肉粒飯. Therefore, you may order “show me your love rice” in Cha-Chaan-Tang but the staff there may not understand.

For the last one, you may think that it is related to sheep and it is easy to get the meaning. However, it is wrong. The meaning of “need sheep have sheep” is that if we want something then we can get that thing. “Sheep” refers to “meh” 咩which is the sound of sheep in Cantonese. Therefore, you may wish others “need sheep have sheep” during Chinese New Year.

Is Kongish interesting? I think the answer is yes. Although you can read or understand all the English words, you still cannot understand the whole meaning. Apart from the phrases, let’s take a look at Kongish conversation.

In Kongish,

A: Hey! Nei today sheung ng sheung tong ar?

B: Ng la. D tong ho boring ar.. 

A: Dou hai ge. Gum nei do zor ben d hw mei?

B: Har? Yau meh hw ar? Ng ho scare me wo~~

In English,

A: Hey! Will you go to school today?

B: No, the lessons are so boring.

A: You’re right. By the way, have you done Ben’s homework?

B: What? What homework has Ben distributed? Please don’t scare me!

Actually, there is no standard Kongish for people to use. Even the same meaning can have different expressions so everyone can create their own Kongish due to their understanding of Cantonese pinyin. If you want to know more about Kongish, you may search “Kongish” on the Internet to look for other examples. If learning Cantonese is the first step to integrating into Hong Kong, learning Kongish will be the second step to communicate with Hong Kongers.

Further information

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1903452/hongkongers-mix-english-and-cantonese-new-language-kongish

https://www.facebook.com/KongishDaily/

The Status Difference between EMI Schools and CMI Schools

Posted on by Benedict J. L. ROWLETT

By Veronica Chan

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Schools that use English as the main medium for instruction (EMI schools) are more favoured by parents than schools that used Chinese as the main medium for instruction (CMI). Parents normally choose EMI schools over CMI schools. There is a status difference between CMI schools and EMI schools where EMI schools are winning against CMI schools in terms of reputation and prestige. There are several reasons behind the status superiority that EMI schools have over CMI schools in Hong Kong, including the rising demand for English and the general misconception that EMI schools create better results. 

Due to internationalization and globalized economy, many workplaces require English as the medium of communication. Multinational Corporations in Hong Kong and China are looking for English-speaking candidates and English is used frequently in the workplace even though the workers share a common language aside from English. Hong Kong is known as an international city, uniting different cultures and languages. It is a must for people, such as waiters and sales to speak the English tongue. Driven by the economic environment in Hong Kong and the culture of Hong Kong, the need for English in the workplace is high. People that speak English well are valued in the workplace. The rising demand for English in Hong Kong is clear to the parents and therefore, EMI schools are very much sought after by the parents. By sending their children to EMI schools, parents may ensure their children have good English exposure and improve their children’s English. Therefore, benefitting their children in their future workplace and facilitating their children’s chances to earn a better job and to have a brighter future.

Another main reason for the status difference between EMI schools and CMI schools is the general belief that EMI schools create better results and provide more effective schooling due to having English as the medium of instruction. As parents choose EMI schools over CMI schools, EMI schools generally receive more students with multiples talents, including Arts, Sports and Academic. Because of that, EMI schools can reap the best crops out of the student population and therefore, EMI schools can produce better results through having more academically talented students. It can be seen through the release of DSE results. Out of the 12 top scorers in DSE, only one top scorer comes from a CMI school. Aside from EMI schools having more talented students, EMI schools also have more resources and professional teachers than a lot of CMI schools. It is not hard to guess which medium of instruction schools have better results in public exams. Due to the excellent result shown in public exam, the parents have more faith in EMI schools and therefore the competition for EMI school places becomes tight and EMI schools can choose the more academically talented students. It is a cycle which leads to an eventual status difference between CMI and EMI.

Another minor reason for favouring EMI schools over CMI schools is the main medium of instruction in universities around the world. All parents have high hopes for their children and would like to help them pave their way to a brighter future. English as the medium of instruction is inevitable in tertiary education around the world. The same medium used in EMI schools and universities around the world helps students studying in EMI schools to adapt to university education easier. By studying in EMI schools, the gap between secondary school and the university is narrowed, giving students an head start during their tertiary education, for example students studying chemistry in CMI schools will have a hard time memorising the English names of the chemicals compared to EMI students. This advantage may attract students and parents alike. This also makes EMI schools be more sought out than CMI schools in Hong Kong.

Even though the government have tried to encourage mother tongue teaching and allowing schools to fine-tune their medium of instruction, this does not affect the status difference between EMI schools and CMI schools. It is a common belief that English is a more superior language than other languages due to the vast population that can use English for communication. It is a belief that is firmly implanted and shared in different nations. Due to the number of reasons mentioned above and the failure of the government’s policy and encouragement of mother-tongue schooling, EMI schools have maintained a more superior standing than CMI schools in Hong Kong throughout the recent years.

Further information:

https://www.debate.org/opinions/should-english-be-the-global-language-is-there-a-factor-that-makes-english-superior-to-other-languages