English and Chinese in Hong Kong: pre-1997 language attitudes

This study assesses the attitudes towards English and Chinese existing among secondary students in Hong Kong at the present time, with a view towards the imminent change in government which will take place in 1997. Using the same survey instrument as employed in an earlier study (Pierson et al., 1980), the authors surveyed 285 students in lower and upper secondary classes at selected public schools throughout the territory. The results indicate a strong motivation to learn English and tolerance towards the use of English in Hong Kong. As contrasted with the earlier study, secondary students in the present investigation did not associate the use of English with implicit threats to their Chinese identity, nor did they feel that it should be abandoned as a medium of instruction. These differences in response pattern may be due to methodological differences in the two surveys, or they may represent a change in language attitudes related to the changes which have taken place in Hong Kong over the last decade in anticipation of the takeover of the British territory by the Chinese government. © Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1994.