Hong Kong English: The Growing Pains of A New Variety

A recurring theme in the literature on English in Hong Kong is the belief that since English apparently plays a negligible role in the everyday lives of its mainly Cantonese-speaking population, there is no societal basis for the emergence of a nativised variety. One of the limitations of this entirely plausible view is that it is not substantiated by empirical evidence. This article seeks to bridge the gap in our knowledge in this area by reporting the findings of a large-scale, survey-based study of teenagers’ and young adults’ use of and exposure to English in their day-to-day lives. The findings indicate that spoken English is generally not used in the family and friendship domains and has a limited presence in most neighbourhoods across the territory. However, the evidence suggests that reading and writing in English occupy a considerable portion of many young Hongkongers’ leisure time. The findings also indicate that they are exposed to a great deal of spoken English as a result of their interest in watching films and television and listening to music. The study’s key conclusion is that English plays a much greater role in young Hongkongers’ everyday lives than has hitherto been believed.