b) The perception on the socio-economic status of the people speaking that language

 

From the results of our interviews, we propose the second reason of such varied attidues towards minortity languages held by Hong Kong citizens is our common perception of the socio-economic status of the speakers of those languages. Crystal (2003) points out, “a language has traditionally become an international language for one chief reason: the power of its people – especially their political and military power. It seems that people hold a more postive attitude towards and are more willing to learn a language which has speakers of higher socio-economic status in the society.

 

Let's take a look of the figures from the Census and Statistics Department in 2011 regarding the Indonesians in Hong Kong:

 

• Mostly are elementary occupations, like watchmen, domestic helpers and cleaners. And mostly are employees (99.9%) (Census and Statistics Department, 2011)

• Lower income among ethnic minorities, median monthly income: $3580 (Census and Statistics Department, 2011)

• Lower education level. The highest levels attended mostly are lower secondary and upper secondary. Few (7%) are able to attend post-secondary education (Census and Statistics Department, 2011)

 

All these figures implied that Indonesians in Hong Kong generally have lower socio-economic status.

 

There is a social stigma towards the Indonesian people because of their lower socio-economic status in Hong Kong. The lower socio-economic status of Indonesian people in Hong Kong creates a sense that their language is useless among the non-speakers in Hong Kong. This results in the situation complained in Amrita’s interview—no one wanted to learn Indonesian or Hindi.

 

Let's take another look of the figures about the Germans in Hong Kong:​

 

• Higher income among ethnic minorities, median monthly income: $46,000 (Census and Statistics Department, 2011)

• Higher education level. The highest levels attended mostly are post-secondary education (73.9%) (Census and Statistics Department, 2011)

 

These implied Germans generally enjoy higher socio-economic status in Hong Kong.

 

People are more willing to learn German as by observation we can find a lot of German language courses in Hong Kong. Our interviewee, Tim, also taught German summer courses at Chinese University of Hong Kong for a few years. It reflects that if the speaker of a language has a higher socio-economic status, non-speakers are more willing to learn this language since they seen the language as a ladder to a higher socio-economic status (Harrison, 2007).

 

c) The international status of the nation using that language

 

People’s attitudes towards a language is influenced by their perceptions of the native speakers/the image of the race or nation, in which economic and political powers are the major contributing factors (Nettle 2000, Phillipson 2003, Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern 2002).

 

Germany

o Facts

§ Fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP

§ Fifth-largest by PPP

§ Second-largest exporter

§ Third-largest importer

o Implications

§ Not the most powerful nation

§ Not the popular culture in Hong Kong

§ → Hence the neutral attitudes

 

In terms of economical or political power, Germany is not the most impressive nation.

 

On the other hand, German culture is not the most popular one in Hong Kong. Still, some people do study German and its culture. Gruenewald (one of our interviewees, a professor from SMLC) suggests that generally Asian people are interested in European cultures. Studying German could be a trend subordinated to such notion.

 

Korea

o Facts

§ Not powerful economically/politically

o Implications

§ Popularity largely due to popular culture· e.g. Korean pop music/TV programs/TV series

 

Regarding political and economic powers, Korea is not very influential. However, it is a very popular language to learn in Hong Kong. It is undoubtedly due to the trending Korean pop culture spreaded through TV programs, music and so on. In this case, the powers of the nation is not the dominant determinant.Yet, in comparison to English or Putonghua, Korean is of little utility value in general for Hong Kong people. Rather, they learn Korean as an interest or an attempt to achieve cultural exchange. Though one may be willing to learn, say, both Putonghua and Korean, it could be because of very different reasons. It can be observed that how the factor played out in the former but not the latter.

 

India

o Facts

§ Rising in economical power as a developing country

o Implications

§ Long been stigmatized socially

§ In Hong Kong

o 「阿叉」

o Confusing them with Indonesia/Pakistan people

§ Economical power not the sole criterion

 

It is undeniable that India is rising as a powerful nation in terms of economic growth. However, it’s not sufficient to overcome the lingering social stigmatization.

 

Sri Lankan

o Facts

§ Not powerful economically/politically

§ Not known in Hong Kong

o Implications

§ Interesting to Hong Kongers, but not motivated to learn

§ Economical power not the sole criterion

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

To conclude, from the results of our interviews, we suggest that minority languages speakers in Hong Kong mostly have plentiful chances to adopt their mother tongues in daily life. This could be susceptible to three reasons:

 

1) Hong Kong as a metropolisis which favours cultural diversity

2) There is a considerable proportion of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, making it easy for   minortiy languages speakers to find people speaking the same language

3) The interviewees' use their languages in a high degree in their socialisation in Hong Kong

 

Besides, the interviewees hold generally a positive attitude towards their languages. They take on the sentimentalist approach in retaining their languages in Hong kong. At the same time, English is proved an important language in Hong Kong and the lingua franca in the world with all our interviewees speak English most of the time here.

 

Regarding how the locals view a minority language in their society, three factors are proposed:

 

1) The attitude towards the culture represented by the language

2) The perception on the socio-economic status of the people speaking that language

3) The international status of the nation using that language