Lexical traps in Hong Kong English

English Today ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 44-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie M. Groves ◽  
Hei Tao Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Common Core ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Local Setting ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common ◽  
Semantic Shift ◽  
Hong Kong English

Despite a large and growing literature on Hong Kong English (HKE), few studies have been conducted on its emerging language features, particularly its grammar or vocabulary. According to Gisborne (2009), studies on HKE to date have focused on language attitudes, code-switching, learner errors, and the local accent. A quick review of the research on vocabulary reveals that even those studies with a specific lexical focus have tended to be fairly limited in scope, focusing on borrowing, politicized expressions and localized vocabulary. Additionally, by their nature, these studies have tended to only cover vocabulary items that are unique and obviously have a different meaning in the local setting. In particular, there is a noticeable dearth of in-depth studies on semantic shift, in particular extensions or adaptations of meaning for simple words or phrases which are taken for granted as being at the common core of English varieties throughout the world. This kind of usage is more likely to cause comprehension difficulties than the more-often studied borrowings or coinages, simply because it might not be apparent to either a native speaker or a Hong Kong speaker that there is a difference in meaning when it comes to the Hong Kong terms used, and therefore there is a greater potential for misunderstanding.

World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca, and the case of Hong Kong English

English Today ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Sewell
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
The World ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Hong Kong English

ABSTRACTPerspectives from both World Englishes (WE) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) can assist in the description of Hong Kong English phonology. Mario Saraceni's article (English Today 94) provides some useful insights into the current debates about English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). His discussion of the background to this debate identifies three viewpoints: a traditional ENL view with its adherence to native-speaker models; the WE (World Englishes) paradigm with its ‘pluralised and pluricentric view of English in the world’; and the emerging ELF position, with its rejection of native-speaker norms in favour of ‘endonormative realisations of lingua franca varieties’ (Alessa Cogo, English Today 95). However, Cogo believes that the second and third positions are not separate paradigms, and that ELF sits ‘comfortably within a WE framework’, as claimed by Jenkins (2007:17). In this article, I would like to show how the two positions can work together to inform pedagogy by exploring the possible options for English pronunciation models in Hong Kong.

Researching and teaching China and Hong Kong English

English Today ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 11-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. S. Li
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
Learner Performance ◽  
International Language ◽  
Pedagogical Models ◽  
Hong Kong English

ABSTRACTTHE ENGLISH curriculum in China – including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) – has traditionally been dominated by native-speaker (NS) based pedagogical models. This is a source of many problems, ranging from learning outcome to teaching performance, and from cultural inappropriacy to speaker identity. Research in World Englishes (WE), in English as a lingua franca (ELF) and an international language (EIL), and to a lesser extent in second-language acquisition (SLA) has shown that a curriculum informed by a deficit model (by measuring learner performance using the yardstick of native-speaker-based standards) is by its very nature disempowering, and should be replaced with a model of difference, whereby learners' L1 identities and ownership of English are both respected.

scholarly journals Etymological Stratigraphy of the Lexemes lacuna / лакуна in English and Ukrainian

2020 ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
T. O. Anokhina
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Structure ◽  
New Science ◽  
New Synonyms ◽  
Water Lake ◽  
The World ◽  
Family Connections ◽  
The Common ◽  
Semantic Shift ◽  
And Linguistics ◽  
Missing Element

The article deals with etymological versions of lacuna in English and its Ukrainian лакуна counterpart. It has become terminologically important in the process of functioning and has become the basic term for the new science of lacunology. It is revealed that the lexeme of lacuna / лакуна was borrowed into English and Ukrainian from Latin, but at the same time it should be considered as a result of the semantic development of IE. *laku, in particular, of its primary definitions as “reservoir”, “dried lake”, “hole”, “void” and others Etymological nests of derivatives related to the words lacuna / лакуна have been constructed to demonstrate their genetic relationship for the common IE. root *laku / *laqü-, with the subsequent transition to the Proto-German *lögr and the Proto-Slavic – *loky. It is established that by semantic shift of the semantic chain “water”, “lake”, “pit”, “hole” in the original semantic structure of these words an archisema ‘absence’ was formed through a dichotomy повний [з водою] :: порожний [без води]. The component analysis of differential and integral family connections of the archiseme of ‘absence’ in modern naive pictures of the world is made. Based on them their further terminologisation in scientific pictures of the world have been recorded.It is proved that in the scientific pictures of the world these semes have lost their original topographic value (reservoirs and their devastated state) and have been transformed into seven ‘pass’, ‘missing element’, ‘missing form’, ‘gap’. The terms “lake”, “pit”, “swamp” and “sea” are no longer associated with the word lacuna / лакуна. Developing its original meanings and acquiring new differential families associated with the archiseme of ‘absence’ and new synonyms, the notion of lacuna / лакуна has become a term in philosophy, mathematics, medicine and linguistics.

scholarly journals Das internationale Autorenliedfestival „Lehesaju Muusika“ in Tartu als spezifische Form der Kulturvermittlung und Analyseobjekt für Mehrsprachigkeitsforschung

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-234
Author(s):  
Anastasia Shakhova
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
Specific Form ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Spatial Organisation ◽  
Multilingual Communication ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Unique Source

The Lehesaju Muusika International Music and Poetry Festival in Tartu as a Specific Form of Cultural Mediation and Object of Analysis for Research on Multilingualism. The paper focuses on the multilingual discourse of the Lehesaju Muusika international music and poetry festival, which takes place annually in Tartu, Estonia. Being an international cultural event organised by ethnic minorities, Lehesaju Muusika represents a unique source of empirical data for research on multilingualism. The festival attracts songwriters and performers of the so-called ‘author song’ or ‘bard song’ not only from Estonia, but also from all over the world. The key feature of this genre is the dominance of the text over the music. The spatial organisation of a concert hall represents a specific power constellation within a microsocial structure. Performing artists have the power to decide in which language they perform and address the multilingual audience, while the audience itself has an indirect effect on this decision. The artist’s dialogue with the audience represents a peculiar discursive entity within the discourse of the festival. Code-switching appears to be one of the inherent characteristics of this discursive entity. The present paper summarises some key features of international music and poetry festivals as multilingual cultural events, focusing on the discourse of the Lehesaju Muusika festival. It offers a brief analysis of the audience’s language profile based on the results of a microsociological case study carried out during the latest festival, in 2019. To illustrate the complexity of the multilingual communication during the festival, three situations of code-switching during the performance of an Estonian native speaker in front of the multilingual audience are described and analysed.

Examining authenticity from an ELF perspective: the development of listening test papers in Hong Kong (1986–2018)

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-165
Author(s):  
Jim Yee Him Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Strategies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Hong Kong English

Abstract The present study examined the degree of situational and interactional authenticity in Hong Kong’s listening examination papers throughout the history of colonisation and globalisation (1986–2018) with reference to world Englishes and particularly English as a lingua franca (ELF) research. By means of a detailed content analysis, the evaluation of situational authenticity was based on the context of language use (e.g., speech event type, nature of interaction, identity and accent of interlocutor) in the audio samples, while the evaluation of interactional authenticity centred on the speaker’s use of communicative strategies. Our findings suggest that the speech samples generally reflected the changing situations of language use over time by increasingly adopting dialogue (rather than monologue) and locally/globally relevant language use contexts, but only included native-speaker and (from 2012) Hong Kong English accents as speech models. Despite the lack of non-standardness and speakers of different cultures in the speech samples, there were numerous instances of explicitness strategies relevant to ELF interactions throughout the sample, probably owing to the intent of the listening examination to highlight key information for the candidates. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these trends in listening paper design for the future development of English language teaching from an ELF perspective.

The best universities of the world and ours: A comparison of the economics major curricula

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-99
Author(s):  
Fabricio Zanzzi ◽  
Lorena Bernabé ◽  
Jair Fernández ◽  
Claudia Marquez-Pinoargote
Keyword(s):  
Developing Country ◽  
Common Core ◽  
General Application ◽  
Core Courses ◽  
The World ◽  
Lower Status ◽  
The Common ◽  
Comparison Criteria ◽  
Economics Courses ◽  
Undergraduate Programs

This research compared the economics curriculum of the economics undergraduate programs of the best universities in the world, and those of universities within a developing country (Ecuador), in order to show the basic formal differences and the common characteristics (intra-rankings and inter-rankings). The proposed comparison criteria were the academic load, the professional approach, and the common core courses. We found that, in the best universities in the world, the students must study between 30 and 40 courses. It is almost half than in Ecuador. In the group with the lower status the distribution of courses was more dispersed. Another difference was that low-level local universities teach courses of general application, and those of worldwide category are focused in teaching only specific economics courses.

Language attitudes modulate phonetic interactions between languages in bilingual speakers in diglossic settings

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wai Ling Law ◽  
Olga Dmitrieva ◽  
Alexander L. Francis
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Phonetic Similarity ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Language Attitude ◽  
Hong Kong English

AbstractBilinguals’ attitudes toward their languages can be a major source of linguistic variability. However, the effect of attitudes on crosslinguistic phonetic interactions in bilinguals remains largely unexplored. This study investigated the possibility of such effects in Cantonese-English bilinguals in Hong Kong (n = 26). Participants produced near-homophones in each language on separate days. Formant values of Cantonese [ɐ] and English [ʌ] and degrees of diphthongization of Cantonese [o] and [ai], and English [oʊ] and [ai], were analyzed as a function of language proficiency, use, and language attitude scores drawn from a background questionnaire. Participants’ attitudes toward Cantonese were predictive of the acoustic difference between similar Cantonese and Hong Kong English (HKE) vowels: More Cantonese-oriented speakers produced greater acoustic distance between crosslinguistically similar vowels. No effects of English attitudes, proficiency, or use were found. These results demonstrate that bilinguals’ attitude toward their native language can affect the degree of phonetic similarity between the two languages they speak.

‘Linguistic schizophrenia’ in Hong Kong

English Today ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 33-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie M. Groves
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Dynamic Models ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
New Variety ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
Ongoing Development ◽  
Linguistic Behaviour ◽  
Hong Kong English

In the case of the status of English in Hong Kong, most ‘new Englishes’ classification schemes have been either controversial or inconclusive. Dynamic models seem to be more promising, and these predict two things. First, a trend of ‘linguistic schizophrenia’, where people are exonormative in ideal – holding to the ideals of native speaker English – but endonormative in practice – in actual fact, speaking their own local variety. Second, the future ongoing development and eventual acceptance of the new variety. This article aims to shed more light on some of the complexities surrounding the issue of the status of English in Hong Kong. It undertakes an analysis of the attitudes of local English speakers towards the existence and nature of their own variety, perceptions of their own linguistic behaviour, and attitudes towards norms. The significance of the findings is evaluated in the light of dynamic models postulated by Kachru (1983) and Schneider (2003, 2007). The Hong Kong data present a classic case of Kachru's ‘linguistic schizophrenia’, and confirm the placement of Hong Kong English at the beginning of Schneider's Phase 3 of nativization. The future possibilities for the variety are also discussed.

Hong Kong English: A stillborn variety?

English Today ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence T. T. Pang
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Dominant Ideology ◽  
Local Variety ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The World ◽  
Linguistic Purism ◽  
Hong Kong English

For a distinctive variety of English to subsist and be acknowledged in Hong Kong, localization is not enough. Indigenization through general acceptance is also necessary, but will not easily be forthcoming, regardless of the claims and assertions of linguists in Hong Kong or elsewhere regarding the existence of a distinctive ‘Hong Kong English’. In addition, Hong Kong teachers of English will not accept or adopt distinctive local usages in their classrooms, regardless of the everyday use of such usages. The sociolinguistic situation is increasingly triglossic, in terms of the three languages Cantonese, Putonghua, and English, each of which has distinct functions in terms of Hong Kong, mainland China, and the world at large. A dominant ideology of linguistic purism impels people to seek outside standards with regard to both English and Putonghua, and to deny that there is a viable local variety of English, despite the length of time that the language has been used in Hong Kong.

Implementing a Global Englishes component in a university English course in Hong Kong

English Today ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 42-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chit Cheung Matthew Sung
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
The World ◽  
Common Resource ◽  
The Common ◽  
Pragmatic Strategies

With the global spread of English and the emergence of different varieties of English around the world, World Englishes (WE) researchers have argued for the recognition of ‘Englishes’ in the plural and called for the need to acknowledge the diversity of English (Kachru, 1985, 1997). Apart from WE researchers who are interested in investigating nation-bound varieties of English in different parts of the world, a growing number of researchers have begun to examine the phenomenon of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) communication, given the growth of intercultural exchanges worldwide (Jenkins, 2000, 2007; Seidlhofer, 2011). Whilst WE researchers are primarily concerned with how varieties of English differ from each other, ELF researchers are interested in exploring how speakers of different Englishes communicate with each other in contexts where English is the common language. For example, these ELF researchers have studied the communicative and pragmatic strategies which people from different lingua-cultural backgrounds use to communicate with one another through English as a common resource in order to achieve mutual intelligibility (Seidlhofer, 2011). Despite their different focuses, both WE and ELF researchers deal with the same global phenomenon of English use and the pluricentricity of English, and share similar ideas about the ownership of English, and language contact and change (Seidlhofer, 2011). A relatively new field, Global Englishes (GE) (Galloway & Rose, 2013, 2014; Jenkins, 2014), has thus emerged to bring together researchers from both WE and ELF. With an inclusive orientation, GE places less emphasis on native speaker English, emphasizes the diversity of English, and questions the relevance of native speaker norms for English Language Teaching (ELT) (see Galloway & Rose, 2015).

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