Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-08T21:18:53.997Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Long March to Biliteracy and Trilingualism: Language Policy in Hong Kong Education Since the Handover

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2013

Abstract

Since the handover, policymakers in Hong Kong have faced the daunting task of determining the educational roles of two major international languages (Putonghua and English), as well as a vibrant local language (Cantonese), which is the mother tongue of around 90% of the city's predominantly Chinese population. Their response to this unprecedented challenge has been to set the ambitious goal of developing students’ ability to read and write Chinese and English and to speak Cantonese, Putonghua, and English. At the same time, however, they are pursuing policies that in some respects run counter to this commendable if ill-defined aim. This article examines the background to and rationale for the promotion of biliteracy and trilingualism and reviews recent research into the government's major language-in-education initiatives since 1997, namely, the adoption of a compulsory mother-tongue policy at junior secondary level, the recent fine-tuning of this controversial policy, and the use of Putonghua as the medium of instruction in Chinese subjects at primary and secondary levels.

Type
SECTION C: LANGUAGE POLICY AND EDUCATION IN MULTILINGUAL REGIONS
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bolton, K. (2011). Language policy and planning in Hong Kong: Colonial and post-colonial perspectives. Applied Linguistics Review, 2, 5171.

This article provides an overview of language policy and planning during the colonial period as well as a detailed discussion of current policies and practices in the domains of government, law and education. Bolton points out that Hong Kong has yet to feel the full weight of metropolitan and national policies, but if these are eventually imposed, he argues that the principal source of contention will be the relationship between Cantonese and Putonghua rather than that between Chinese and English.

Choi, P. K. (2010). “Weep for Chinese university”: A case study of English hegemony and academic capitalism in higher education in Hong Kong. Journal of Education Policy, 25, 233252.

This article provides an insider account of a controversy over language policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where, uniquely among Hong Kong's universities, Chinese is an important MOI. The university's tradition of Chinese-medium teaching is being threatened by the current process of internationalization, which inevitably stimulates the use of English as the MOI. Choi examines this controversy in the context of the onslaught of academic capitalism and the hegemony of English. The article highlights the difficulties of promoting mother-tongue education at tertiary level in the current climate.

Lin, L. H. F., & Morrison, B. (2010). The impact of the medium of instruction in Hong Kong secondary schools on tertiary students’ vocabulary. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9, 255266.

This article presents the findings of a study that sought to gauge the effect of school MOI on the size of first-year undergraduates’ English academic vocabulary. Students from English-medium schools were found to possess significantly larger active and passive vocabularies than their Chinese-medium counterparts and were therefore able to write academic essays of a higher quality. The study thus highlights the disadvantages faced by students from Chinese-medium schools when adjusting to English-medium higher education.

Poon, A. Y. K. (2010). Language use, and language policy and planning in Hong Kong. Current Issues in Language Planning, 11, 166.

This article provides a comprehensive review of the literature on the language profile of Hong Kong, the causes and consequences of language spread in society, language policy and planning, and the changing language situation. The article offers a detailed account of language-in-education policies and practices in the late 20th century, particularly the formulation and implementation of the controversial mother-tongue policy during the 1990s.

Bolton, K. (2011). Language policy and planning in Hong Kong: Colonial and post-colonial perspectives. Applied Linguistics Review, 2, 5171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Census & Statistics Department. (2012). 2011 population census. Retrieved from http://www.census2011.gov.hk/en/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Cheng, N. L. (Ed.). (1979). Issues in language of instruction in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Cosmos.Google Scholar
Choi, P. K. (2003). The best students will learn English: Ultra-utilitarianism and linguistic imperialism in education in post-1997 Hong Kong. Journal of Education Policy, 18, 673694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choi, P. K. (2010). “Weep for Chinese university”: A case study of English hegemony and academic capitalism in higher education in Hong Kong. Journal of Education Policy, 25, 233252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davison, C., & Auyeung Lai, W. Y. W. (2007). Competing identities, common issues: Teaching (in) Putonghua. Language Policy, 6, 119134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Education Bureau. (2010). Enriching our language environment, realising our vision. Hong Kong: Education Bureau, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.Google Scholar
Education Commission. (1990). Report No. 4. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Education Commission. (1996). Report No. 6. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Education Commission. (2005). Report on review of medium of instruction for secondary schools and secondary school places allocation. Hong Kong: Printing Department.Google Scholar
Education Department. (1997). Medium of instruction guidance for secondary schools. Hong Kong: Printing Department.Google Scholar
Evans, S. (2002). The medium of instruction in Hong Kong: Policy and practice in the new English and Chinese streams. Research Papers in Education, 17, 97120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2008a). The introduction of English-language education in early colonial Hong Kong. History of Education, 37, 383408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2008b). The making of a colonial school: A study of language policies and practices in nineteenth-century Hong Kong. Language and Education, 22, 345362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2008c). Disputes and deliberations over language policy: The case of early colonial Hong Kong. Language Policy, 7, 4765.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2008d). Classroom language use in Hong Kong's reformed English-medium stream. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 29, 483498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2009). The medium of instruction in Hong Kong revisited: Policy and practice in the reformed Chinese and English streams. Research Papers in Education, 24, 287309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2010a). Language in transitional Hong Kong: Perspectives from the public and private sectors. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31, 347363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2010b). Business as usual: The use of English in the professional world in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 29, 153167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2011a). Historical and comparative perspectives on the medium of instruction in Hong Kong. Language Policy, 10, 1936.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2011b). Hong Kong English and the professional world. World Englishes, 30, 293316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2011c). Hong Kong English: The growing pains of a new variety. Asian Englishes, 14, 2245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S., & Green, C. (2007). Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6, 317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S., & Morrison, B. (2011a). Meeting the challenges of English-medium higher education: The first-year experience in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 30, 198208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S., & Morrison, B. (2011b). The student experience of English-medium higher education in Hong Kong. Language and Education, 25, 147162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, G. (2006). Language planning and education. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gao, X., Leung, P. P. W., & Trent, J. (2010). Chinese teachers’ views on the increasing use of Putonghua as a medium of instruction in Hong Kong schools. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35, 79103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gu, M. (2011). “I am not qualified to be a Hongkongese because of my accented Cantonese”: Mainland immigrant students in Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 32, 515529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HKSAR Government. (1997). Building Hong Kong for a new era. Hong Kong: Printing Department.Google Scholar
HKSAR Government. (1999). Quality people, quality home: Positioning Hong Kong for the 21st century. Hong Kong: Printing Department.Google Scholar
HKSAR Government. (2012). The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government of the People's Republic of China. Retrieved from http://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Ho, J. W. Y. (2008). Code choice in Hong Kong: From bilingualism to trilingualism. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 18.118.17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hong Kong Government. (1974). Secondary education in Hong Kong in the next decade. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Johnson, P., & Lee, P. (1987). Modes of instruction: Teaching strategies and student responses. In Lord, R. & Cheng, H. (Eds.), Language education in Hong Kong (pp. 99121). Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.Google Scholar
Kan, V., Lai, K. C., Kirkpatrick, A., & Law, A. (2011). Fine-tuning Hong Kong's medium of instruction policy. Hong Kong: Research Centre into Language Education in Multilingual Societies, The Hong Kong Institute of Education.Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A. (2011). English as a medium of instruction in Asian education (from primary to tertiary): Implications for local languages and local scholarship. Applied Linguistics Review, 2, 99119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A., & Chau, H. F. M. (2008). One country, two systems, three languages: A proposal for teaching Cantonese, Putonghua and English in Hong Kong's schools. Asian Englishes, 11, 3245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuah-Pearce, K. E., & Fong, Y. C. (2010). Identity and sense of belonging in post-colonial education in Hong Kong. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 30, 433448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lai, M. L. (2007). Exploring language stereotypes in post-colonial Hong Kong through the matched-guise test. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 17, 225244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lai, M. L. (2010). Social class and language attitudes in Hong Kong. International Multilingual Research Journal, 4, 83106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lai, M. L. (2011). Cultural identity and language attitudes—Into the second decade of postcolonial Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 32, 249264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lau, W. W. F., & Yuen, A. H. K. (2011). The impact of the medium of instruction: The case of teaching and learning of computer programming. Education and Information Technologies, 16, 183201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laufer, B., & Nation, P. (1999). A vocabulary size test of controlled productive vocabulary. Language Testing, 16, 3351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legislative Council. (1997). Official record of proceedings, Wednesday 7 May 1997. Hansard. Retrieved from http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr96–97/english/lc_sitg/general/yr9697.htmGoogle Scholar
Li, D. C. S. (2002). Hong Kong parents’ preference for English-medium education: Passive victims of imperialism or active agents of pragmatism? In Kirkpatrick, A. (Ed.), Englishes in Asia: Communication, identity, power and education (pp. 2962). Melbourne, Australia: Language Australia.Google Scholar
Li, D. C. S. (2006). Chinese as a lingua franca in greater China. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 26, 149176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, D. C. S. (2009). Towards “biliteracy and trilingualism” in Hong Kong (SAR): Problems, dilemmas and stakeholders’ views. AILA Review, 22, 7284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, D. C. S. (2011). Improving the standards and promoting the use of English in Hong Kong: Issues, problems and prospects. In Feng, A. (Ed.), English language education across greater China (pp. 95113). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y. (1996). Bilingualism or linguistic segregation? Symbolic domination, resistance, and code-switching in Hong Kong. Linguistics and Education, 8, 4984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y. (2005). Critical transdisciplinary perspectives on language-in-education policy and practice in postcolonial contexts: The case of Hong Kong. In Lin, A. M. Y. & Martin, P. W. (Eds.), Decolonisation, globalisation: Language-in-education policy and practice. Clevedon, UK and Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y. (2006). Beyond purism in language-in-education policy and practice: Exploring bilingual pedagogies in a Hong Kong science classroom. Language and Education, 20, 287305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y., & Man, E. Y. F. (2009). Bilingual education: Southeast Asian perspectives. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y., & Man, E. Y. F. (2011). The context and development of language policy and knowledge production in universities in Hong Kong. Davis, In K. (Ed.), Critical qualitative research in second language studies: Agency and advocacy on the Pacific Rim (pp. 99113). Greenwich, CN: Information Age Publishing.Google Scholar
Lin, L. H. F., & Morrison, B. (2010). The impact of the medium of instruction in Hong Kong secondary schools on tertiary students’ vocabulary. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9, 255266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Llewellyn, J. (1982). A perspective on education in Hong Kong: Report by a visiting panel. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Lo, Y. Y., & Macaro, E. (2011). The medium of instruction and classroom interaction: Evidence from Hong Kong secondary schools. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15, 2952.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lo, Y. Y., & Murphy, V. A. (2010). Vocabulary knowledge and growth in immersion and regular language-learning programmes in Hong Kong. Language and Education, 24, 215238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lord, R., & Cheng, H. (Eds.). (1987). Language education in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.Google Scholar
Low, W. W. M., & Lu, D. (2006). Persistent use of mixed code: An exploration of its functions in Hong Kong schools. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 9, 181204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luke, K. K. (Ed.). (1992). Into the 21st century: Issues of language in education in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Linguistic Society of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Marsh, H. W., Hau, K. T., & Kong, C. K. (2000). Late immersion and language of instruction in Hong Kong high schools: Achievement growth in language and non-language subjects. Harvard Educational Review, 70, 302346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nation, P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. New York, NY: Heinle & Heinle.Google Scholar
Ng, D. F. P. (2007). Medium and learning in Chinese and English in Hong Kong classrooms. Language Policy, 6, 163183.Google Scholar
Ng, D. F. P., Tsui, A. B. M., & Marton, F. (2001). Two faces of the reed relay: Exploring the effects of the medium of instruction. In Watkins, D. A. & Biggs, J. B. (Eds.), Teaching the Chinese learner: Psychological and pedagogical perspectives (pp. 135159). Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Pennington, M. C. (Ed.). (1998). Language in Hong Kong at century's end. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the discourses of colonialism. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Poon, A. Y. K. (2009a). A review of research in English language education in Hong Kong in the past 25 years: Reflections and the way forward. Educational Research Journal, 24, 740.Google Scholar
Poon, A. Y. K. (2009b). Reforming medium of instruction in Hong Kong: Its impact on learning. In Ng, C. H. & Renshaw, P. D. (Eds.), Reforming learning: Concepts, issues and practice in the Asia Pacific region (pp. 199232). New York, NY: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poon, A. Y. K. (2010). Language use, and language policy and planning in Hong Kong. Current Issues in Language Planning, 11, 166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shum, M. S. K., Tsung, L., & Gao, F. (2011). Teaching and learning (through) Putonghua: From the perspective of Hong Kong teachers. In Tsung, L. & Cruickshank, K. (Eds.), Teaching and learning Chinese in global contexts: Multimodality and literacy in the new media age (pp. 4561). London, UK and New York, NY: Continuum.Google Scholar
Snow, D. (2004). Cantonese as written language: The growth of a written Chinese vernacular. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR). (2003). Action plan to raise language standards in Hong Kong: Final report of language education review. Retrieved from http://www.language-education.com/eng/publications_actionplan.aspGoogle Scholar
Sweeting, A. (1997). Education policy and the 1997 factor: The art of the possible interacting with the dismal science. In Bray, M. & , W. O. Lee (Eds.), Education and political transition: Implications of Hong Kong's change of sovereignty (pp. 2539). Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Sweeting, A., & Vickers, E. (2007). Language and the history of colonial education: The case of Hong Kong. Modern Asian Studies, 41, 140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tam, A. C. F. (2011). Does the switch of medium of instruction facilitate the language learning of students? A case study of Hong Kong from teachers’ perspective. Language and Education, 25, 399417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tam, A. C. F. (2012). Teaching Chinese in Putonghua in post-colonial Hong Kong: Problems and challenges for teachers and administrators. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 25, 103122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tollefson, J. W., & Tsui, A. B. M. (Eds.). (2004). Medium of instruction policies: Which agenda? Whose agenda? Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Tsang, W. K. (2009). The effect of medium-of-instruction policy on educational advancement in HKSAR society. Public Policy Digest. Retrieved from http://www.ugc.edu.hk/rgc/ppd1/eng/05.htmGoogle Scholar
Tse, S. K. (2009). Chinese language education in Hong Kong: Twenty-five years of educational research in Hong Kong. Educational Research Journal, 24, 231255.Google Scholar
Tse, S. K., Lam, J. W. I., Loh, E. K. Y., & Lam, R. Y. H. (2007). The influence of the language that Hong Kong primary school students habitually speak at home on their Chinese reading ability in school. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 28, 400417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tse, S. K., Loh, K. Y. E., Lam, Y. H. R., & Lam, W. I. J. (2010). A comparison of English and Chinese reading proficiency of primary school Chinese students. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31, 181199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tse, S. K., Shum, M., Ki, W. W., & Chan, Y. M. (2007). The medium dilemma for Hong Kong secondary schools. Language Policy, 6, 135162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tse, S. K., Shum, M. S. K., Ki, W. W., & Wong, C. P. C. (2001). The transition from English to mother-tongue Chinese as medium of instruction. Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 1, 936.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsui, A. B. M. (2004). Medium of instruction in Hong Kong: One country, two systems, whose language?Tollefson, In J. W. & Tsui, A. B. M. (Eds.), Medium of instruction policies: Which agenda? Whose agenda? (pp. 97116). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. B. M. (2007). Language policy and the construction of identity: The case of Hong Kong. In Tsui, A. B. M. & Tollefson, J. W. (Eds.), Language policy, culture, and identity in Asian contexts (pp. 121141). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Yip, D. Y., Coyle, D., & Tsang, W. K. (2007). Evaluation of the effects of the medium of instruction on science learning of Hong Kong secondary students: Instructional activities in science lessons. Education Journal, 35, 77107.Google Scholar
Yip, D. Y., & Tsang, W. K. (2007). Evaluation of the effects of the medium of instruction on science learning of Hong Kong secondary students: Students’ self-concept in science. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 5, 393413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yip, D. Y., Tsang, W. K., & Cheung, S. P. (2003). Evaluation of the effects of medium of instruction on the science learning of Hong Kong secondary students: Performance on the science achievement test. Bilingual Research Journal, 27, 295331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, B., & Yang, R. R. (2004). Putonghua education and language policy in postcolonial Hong Kong. In Zhou, M. (Ed.), Language policy in the People's Republic of China: Theory and practice since 1949 (pp. 143161). Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolton, K. (2011). Language policy and planning in Hong Kong: Colonial and post-colonial perspectives. Applied Linguistics Review, 2, 5171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Census & Statistics Department. (2012). 2011 population census. Retrieved from http://www.census2011.gov.hk/en/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Cheng, N. L. (Ed.). (1979). Issues in language of instruction in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Cosmos.Google Scholar
Choi, P. K. (2003). The best students will learn English: Ultra-utilitarianism and linguistic imperialism in education in post-1997 Hong Kong. Journal of Education Policy, 18, 673694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choi, P. K. (2010). “Weep for Chinese university”: A case study of English hegemony and academic capitalism in higher education in Hong Kong. Journal of Education Policy, 25, 233252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davison, C., & Auyeung Lai, W. Y. W. (2007). Competing identities, common issues: Teaching (in) Putonghua. Language Policy, 6, 119134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Education Bureau. (2010). Enriching our language environment, realising our vision. Hong Kong: Education Bureau, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.Google Scholar
Education Commission. (1990). Report No. 4. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Education Commission. (1996). Report No. 6. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Education Commission. (2005). Report on review of medium of instruction for secondary schools and secondary school places allocation. Hong Kong: Printing Department.Google Scholar
Education Department. (1997). Medium of instruction guidance for secondary schools. Hong Kong: Printing Department.Google Scholar
Evans, S. (2002). The medium of instruction in Hong Kong: Policy and practice in the new English and Chinese streams. Research Papers in Education, 17, 97120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2008a). The introduction of English-language education in early colonial Hong Kong. History of Education, 37, 383408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2008b). The making of a colonial school: A study of language policies and practices in nineteenth-century Hong Kong. Language and Education, 22, 345362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2008c). Disputes and deliberations over language policy: The case of early colonial Hong Kong. Language Policy, 7, 4765.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2008d). Classroom language use in Hong Kong's reformed English-medium stream. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 29, 483498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2009). The medium of instruction in Hong Kong revisited: Policy and practice in the reformed Chinese and English streams. Research Papers in Education, 24, 287309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2010a). Language in transitional Hong Kong: Perspectives from the public and private sectors. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31, 347363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2010b). Business as usual: The use of English in the professional world in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 29, 153167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2011a). Historical and comparative perspectives on the medium of instruction in Hong Kong. Language Policy, 10, 1936.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2011b). Hong Kong English and the professional world. World Englishes, 30, 293316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (2011c). Hong Kong English: The growing pains of a new variety. Asian Englishes, 14, 2245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S., & Green, C. (2007). Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6, 317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S., & Morrison, B. (2011a). Meeting the challenges of English-medium higher education: The first-year experience in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 30, 198208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S., & Morrison, B. (2011b). The student experience of English-medium higher education in Hong Kong. Language and Education, 25, 147162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, G. (2006). Language planning and education. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gao, X., Leung, P. P. W., & Trent, J. (2010). Chinese teachers’ views on the increasing use of Putonghua as a medium of instruction in Hong Kong schools. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35, 79103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gu, M. (2011). “I am not qualified to be a Hongkongese because of my accented Cantonese”: Mainland immigrant students in Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 32, 515529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HKSAR Government. (1997). Building Hong Kong for a new era. Hong Kong: Printing Department.Google Scholar
HKSAR Government. (1999). Quality people, quality home: Positioning Hong Kong for the 21st century. Hong Kong: Printing Department.Google Scholar
HKSAR Government. (2012). The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government of the People's Republic of China. Retrieved from http://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Ho, J. W. Y. (2008). Code choice in Hong Kong: From bilingualism to trilingualism. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 18.118.17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hong Kong Government. (1974). Secondary education in Hong Kong in the next decade. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Johnson, P., & Lee, P. (1987). Modes of instruction: Teaching strategies and student responses. In Lord, R. & Cheng, H. (Eds.), Language education in Hong Kong (pp. 99121). Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.Google Scholar
Kan, V., Lai, K. C., Kirkpatrick, A., & Law, A. (2011). Fine-tuning Hong Kong's medium of instruction policy. Hong Kong: Research Centre into Language Education in Multilingual Societies, The Hong Kong Institute of Education.Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A. (2011). English as a medium of instruction in Asian education (from primary to tertiary): Implications for local languages and local scholarship. Applied Linguistics Review, 2, 99119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A., & Chau, H. F. M. (2008). One country, two systems, three languages: A proposal for teaching Cantonese, Putonghua and English in Hong Kong's schools. Asian Englishes, 11, 3245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuah-Pearce, K. E., & Fong, Y. C. (2010). Identity and sense of belonging in post-colonial education in Hong Kong. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 30, 433448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lai, M. L. (2007). Exploring language stereotypes in post-colonial Hong Kong through the matched-guise test. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 17, 225244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lai, M. L. (2010). Social class and language attitudes in Hong Kong. International Multilingual Research Journal, 4, 83106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lai, M. L. (2011). Cultural identity and language attitudes—Into the second decade of postcolonial Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 32, 249264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lau, W. W. F., & Yuen, A. H. K. (2011). The impact of the medium of instruction: The case of teaching and learning of computer programming. Education and Information Technologies, 16, 183201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laufer, B., & Nation, P. (1999). A vocabulary size test of controlled productive vocabulary. Language Testing, 16, 3351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legislative Council. (1997). Official record of proceedings, Wednesday 7 May 1997. Hansard. Retrieved from http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr96–97/english/lc_sitg/general/yr9697.htmGoogle Scholar
Li, D. C. S. (2002). Hong Kong parents’ preference for English-medium education: Passive victims of imperialism or active agents of pragmatism? In Kirkpatrick, A. (Ed.), Englishes in Asia: Communication, identity, power and education (pp. 2962). Melbourne, Australia: Language Australia.Google Scholar
Li, D. C. S. (2006). Chinese as a lingua franca in greater China. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 26, 149176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, D. C. S. (2009). Towards “biliteracy and trilingualism” in Hong Kong (SAR): Problems, dilemmas and stakeholders’ views. AILA Review, 22, 7284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, D. C. S. (2011). Improving the standards and promoting the use of English in Hong Kong: Issues, problems and prospects. In Feng, A. (Ed.), English language education across greater China (pp. 95113). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y. (1996). Bilingualism or linguistic segregation? Symbolic domination, resistance, and code-switching in Hong Kong. Linguistics and Education, 8, 4984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y. (2005). Critical transdisciplinary perspectives on language-in-education policy and practice in postcolonial contexts: The case of Hong Kong. In Lin, A. M. Y. & Martin, P. W. (Eds.), Decolonisation, globalisation: Language-in-education policy and practice. Clevedon, UK and Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y. (2006). Beyond purism in language-in-education policy and practice: Exploring bilingual pedagogies in a Hong Kong science classroom. Language and Education, 20, 287305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y., & Man, E. Y. F. (2009). Bilingual education: Southeast Asian perspectives. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y., & Man, E. Y. F. (2011). The context and development of language policy and knowledge production in universities in Hong Kong. Davis, In K. (Ed.), Critical qualitative research in second language studies: Agency and advocacy on the Pacific Rim (pp. 99113). Greenwich, CN: Information Age Publishing.Google Scholar
Lin, L. H. F., & Morrison, B. (2010). The impact of the medium of instruction in Hong Kong secondary schools on tertiary students’ vocabulary. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9, 255266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Llewellyn, J. (1982). A perspective on education in Hong Kong: Report by a visiting panel. Hong Kong: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Lo, Y. Y., & Macaro, E. (2011). The medium of instruction and classroom interaction: Evidence from Hong Kong secondary schools. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15, 2952.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lo, Y. Y., & Murphy, V. A. (2010). Vocabulary knowledge and growth in immersion and regular language-learning programmes in Hong Kong. Language and Education, 24, 215238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lord, R., & Cheng, H. (Eds.). (1987). Language education in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.Google Scholar
Low, W. W. M., & Lu, D. (2006). Persistent use of mixed code: An exploration of its functions in Hong Kong schools. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 9, 181204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luke, K. K. (Ed.). (1992). Into the 21st century: Issues of language in education in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Linguistic Society of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Marsh, H. W., Hau, K. T., & Kong, C. K. (2000). Late immersion and language of instruction in Hong Kong high schools: Achievement growth in language and non-language subjects. Harvard Educational Review, 70, 302346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nation, P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. New York, NY: Heinle & Heinle.Google Scholar
Ng, D. F. P. (2007). Medium and learning in Chinese and English in Hong Kong classrooms. Language Policy, 6, 163183.Google Scholar
Ng, D. F. P., Tsui, A. B. M., & Marton, F. (2001). Two faces of the reed relay: Exploring the effects of the medium of instruction. In Watkins, D. A. & Biggs, J. B. (Eds.), Teaching the Chinese learner: Psychological and pedagogical perspectives (pp. 135159). Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Pennington, M. C. (Ed.). (1998). Language in Hong Kong at century's end. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the discourses of colonialism. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Poon, A. Y. K. (2009a). A review of research in English language education in Hong Kong in the past 25 years: Reflections and the way forward. Educational Research Journal, 24, 740.Google Scholar
Poon, A. Y. K. (2009b). Reforming medium of instruction in Hong Kong: Its impact on learning. In Ng, C. H. & Renshaw, P. D. (Eds.), Reforming learning: Concepts, issues and practice in the Asia Pacific region (pp. 199232). New York, NY: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poon, A. Y. K. (2010). Language use, and language policy and planning in Hong Kong. Current Issues in Language Planning, 11, 166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shum, M. S. K., Tsung, L., & Gao, F. (2011). Teaching and learning (through) Putonghua: From the perspective of Hong Kong teachers. In Tsung, L. & Cruickshank, K. (Eds.), Teaching and learning Chinese in global contexts: Multimodality and literacy in the new media age (pp. 4561). London, UK and New York, NY: Continuum.Google Scholar
Snow, D. (2004). Cantonese as written language: The growth of a written Chinese vernacular. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR). (2003). Action plan to raise language standards in Hong Kong: Final report of language education review. Retrieved from http://www.language-education.com/eng/publications_actionplan.aspGoogle Scholar
Sweeting, A. (1997). Education policy and the 1997 factor: The art of the possible interacting with the dismal science. In Bray, M. & , W. O. Lee (Eds.), Education and political transition: Implications of Hong Kong's change of sovereignty (pp. 2539). Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Sweeting, A., & Vickers, E. (2007). Language and the history of colonial education: The case of Hong Kong. Modern Asian Studies, 41, 140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tam, A. C. F. (2011). Does the switch of medium of instruction facilitate the language learning of students? A case study of Hong Kong from teachers’ perspective. Language and Education, 25, 399417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tam, A. C. F. (2012). Teaching Chinese in Putonghua in post-colonial Hong Kong: Problems and challenges for teachers and administrators. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 25, 103122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tollefson, J. W., & Tsui, A. B. M. (Eds.). (2004). Medium of instruction policies: Which agenda? Whose agenda? Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Tsang, W. K. (2009). The effect of medium-of-instruction policy on educational advancement in HKSAR society. Public Policy Digest. Retrieved from http://www.ugc.edu.hk/rgc/ppd1/eng/05.htmGoogle Scholar
Tse, S. K. (2009). Chinese language education in Hong Kong: Twenty-five years of educational research in Hong Kong. Educational Research Journal, 24, 231255.Google Scholar
Tse, S. K., Lam, J. W. I., Loh, E. K. Y., & Lam, R. Y. H. (2007). The influence of the language that Hong Kong primary school students habitually speak at home on their Chinese reading ability in school. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 28, 400417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tse, S. K., Loh, K. Y. E., Lam, Y. H. R., & Lam, W. I. J. (2010). A comparison of English and Chinese reading proficiency of primary school Chinese students. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31, 181199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tse, S. K., Shum, M., Ki, W. W., & Chan, Y. M. (2007). The medium dilemma for Hong Kong secondary schools. Language Policy, 6, 135162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tse, S. K., Shum, M. S. K., Ki, W. W., & Wong, C. P. C. (2001). The transition from English to mother-tongue Chinese as medium of instruction. Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 1, 936.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsui, A. B. M. (2004). Medium of instruction in Hong Kong: One country, two systems, whose language?Tollefson, In J. W. & Tsui, A. B. M. (Eds.), Medium of instruction policies: Which agenda? Whose agenda? (pp. 97116). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. B. M. (2007). Language policy and the construction of identity: The case of Hong Kong. In Tsui, A. B. M. & Tollefson, J. W. (Eds.), Language policy, culture, and identity in Asian contexts (pp. 121141). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Yip, D. Y., Coyle, D., & Tsang, W. K. (2007). Evaluation of the effects of the medium of instruction on science learning of Hong Kong secondary students: Instructional activities in science lessons. Education Journal, 35, 77107.Google Scholar
Yip, D. Y., & Tsang, W. K. (2007). Evaluation of the effects of the medium of instruction on science learning of Hong Kong secondary students: Students’ self-concept in science. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 5, 393413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yip, D. Y., Tsang, W. K., & Cheung, S. P. (2003). Evaluation of the effects of medium of instruction on the science learning of Hong Kong secondary students: Performance on the science achievement test. Bilingual Research Journal, 27, 295331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, B., & Yang, R. R. (2004). Putonghua education and language policy in postcolonial Hong Kong. In Zhou, M. (Ed.), Language policy in the People's Republic of China: Theory and practice since 1949 (pp. 143161). Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic.CrossRefGoogle Scholar