Language Education Policy

Education plays a fundamental role in keeping a language alive as it not only passes on basic or even advanced knowledge of a language, but also creates a linguistic environment of a language to be practiced alongside a standardization of a language.

According to the functionalist theory in sociology of education, we believe that institutions of society, including education, form and pass on consensus, norms and common bonds among members in society to younger generations for survival in society[1] (Ballantine, J. H., & Hammack, F. M., 2011). It also suggests that schools are tool for reinforcing social norms and common consensus. Therefore, we can see if education institutions in Hong Kong support teaching of Hakka, norms and common practice of speaking Hakka within education can be created and thus students will get more exposure to the language and, as a result, new younger generation with little or competent knowledge of Hakka can be successfully cultivated. Therefore, it is obvious that language education is an important tool for creating linguistic diversity and preserving a language.

However, in view of Hong Kong’s education system and its policy-making, education has lost its function in maintaining the linguistic diversity present in our society. Since the handover of sovereignty to China in 1997, Hong Kong has adapted the “biliterate and trilingual” policy, which recognizes the status of Chinese and English as Hong Kong’s official languages while acknowledging Cantonese as the de facto speaking variety of Chinese in Hong Kong, with an aim to raising biliterate learners in both Chinese and English while being trilingual in Chinese English and Cantonese. Under this policy, a Medium of Instruction (MOI) policy is introduced the Hong Kong secondary education, which classifies secondary schools with either a use of English as medium of instruction or its Chinese counterparts. This Medium of Instruction (MOI) policy was later replaced by the fine-tuned MOI arrangements implemented in 2014. In the latter arrangement, secondary schools, especially those where use Chinese as medium of instruction, are allowed to have classes using English as medium of instruction based on the assessment of English proficiency of students of a class. With reference of the above-mentioned Hong Kong’s language education policies implemented so far, acknowledgement of Hakka as a variety of Chinese and support of Hakka for students are barely seen. This lack of support for Hakka in education is also witnessed by Ms. Cheung as she asserted that it is very difficult to find schools teaching Hakka in Hong Kong[2] (Cheung, 2015). It deprives progeny of native Hakka speakers the opportunity to acquire competence of the language since Hong Kong’s education system fails to provide “normal transmission”

through standardization, which provides a generally

accepted correct version of the language, in formal education of Hakka[3] (Ansaldo, 2009). In short, the dysfunction of Hong Kong’s education to provide formal education for cultivating young Hakka speakers leads to the perishing Hakka-speaking community.

In spite of the incapability of native Hakka speakers’ offspring to acquire knowledge of the language, it is also interesting to note that native Hakka speakers are not concerned with the fact their children are scarcely acquainted with the language. According to our interviewees’, Mrs. Ng and Ms. Cheung, claims, they do not care if their children cannot speak Hakka since they do not reckon any influence or advantage the language is able to deliver[4] (Cheung, &Ng, 2015). Their indifference towards children’s Hakka language is largely due to the lack of a concrete ownership of Hakka language identity and possible economic advantages of the language discussed in section Language and Identity and Socio-economic Motivation on our website. The indifference also leads to a lack of informal education of Hakka from parents in a family setting. As affirmed by Mr. Ng, who is the son of native Hakka speakers, he explained his insufficient knowledge of the language with the limited exposure to the language as his mother barely speaks Hakka at home[5] (Ng, 2015). Situation in Mr. Ng in family is a common case of most family with native Hakka-speaking parents, and this shows native Hakka speakers’ lack of interest in passing on knowledge of the language to their progeny as a cultural heritage. Their apathy can also be explained in terms of functionalist theory. It is because the older generation of Hakka speakers, like Ms. Cheung and Mrs. Ng, who had received education in Hong Kong, have been accustomed to idea that Hakka does not effect a change on in living in Hong Kong by the constant exposure to the consensus and norm in schools and society that only English and Cantonese are of higher values. With such indifference, the vitality of Hakka became increasingly difficult to keep since passing on of linguistic content knowledge of Hakka from speakers of older generation to those who are younger has stopped through informal education.

With respect to Hong Kong’s language education policy and actual situation of native Hakka speakers not teaching their children the language, younger generation of speakers are deprived from formal and informal education of Hakka. This greatly reduces their exposure to the language as well as channels to acquire linguistic knowledge of Hakka. Without a continual development of younger generations of Hakka speakers, the life of the language is more endangered as knowledge of Hakka is not preserved across generations.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Ballantine, J. H., & Hammack, F. M. The Sociology of Education: A Systematic Analysis (7th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson, Chapter 1-2,2011, 6-9.

[2] Cheung Yung Dai, Yau Tsun Fung, 9th April 2015, Interview 1.

[3] Ansaldo, Umberto. Contact Languages. Ecology and Evolution in Asia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2009, 15.

[4] Cheung Yung Dai, Yau Tsun Fung, 9th April 2015, Interview 1, Ng Wong Shuk Kam, Tsang Hau Tung, 9th April 2015, Interview 2.

[5] Ng Chun Hei, Tsang Hau Tung, 9th April 2015, Interview 3.