Languages in conflict and conflicting identities: The Hong Kong case

This chapter delves into the language landscape of Hong Kong, specifically in the education sector, where policy changes have been particularly prominent. The discussion will be focused on the roles played by English, Cantonese, and Putonghua in Hong Kong, their relationships and conflicts in the education field, and how Cantonese, as a local variant of Chinese, affects education curriculum and social stability before and after Hong Kong’s sovereignty was returned to China. The language problem in Hong Kong is further complicated by the change in population mix in the past decade. The South Asian minorities in Hong Kong have begun to show a population growth rate several times higher than that of the local Chinese. Their difficulties in learning Chinese as a main medium of communication have had a great impact on Hong Kong’s Chinese education which has always been designed solely for L1 learners. How to deal with the language learning and use demands of ethnic minorities is another problem that Hong Kong society faces on the issue of language competition and conflicts.