Discusses the difficulties inherent in creating an authentic Chinese text of the legislation of Hong Kong. The article argues that the real difficulty lies in the need for a change in perspective, and once this change occurs, what remains is the technicality of linguistic manipulation. "Law" Chinese will best develop out of the English…

Presents details of the language shifts among the various sections of the Chinese-speaking population in Hong Kong and analyzes patterns of allegiance. Notes that complex social, economic, and political pressures will affect future language in Hong Kong and that, within the domains of family, work, and others, the use of Modern Standard Chinese is…

After Britain returned control of Hong Kong to China in July 1997, a new language policy required all schools to switch their teaching medium from English to Chinese in September 1998. Those schools that wanted to continue to teach in English had to obtain special permission. Only 100 of 400 schools successfully obtained such permission. This…

Two experiments were undertaken in Hong Kong to examine sociocultural factors in the speech acts of making apologies in Cantonese. The first experiment involved ten men who were given role cards describing various situations with minor to serious problems for which they must apologize. The influence of certain situational variables on the…

Seeks to link the rapid pace of societal change in Hong Kong over the past 50 years with changing patterns of language use there. Shows how the country has changed demographically, economically, politically, socially, and technologically. (16 references) (Author/CK)

Presents a detailed account of many of the issues relating to Chinese "secret societies" and the use of triad language. The article emphasizes the pressing need to update and extend intelligent research in this area, particularly with regard to current practices of triad societies and their relationship to organized crime, in Hong Kong…

This collection of papers examines what it means to teach culture as an integrated part of language from both the language learner's and the language teacher's perspectives. The 11 papers include the following: "Teaching Cultures as an Integrated Part of Language: Implications for the Aims, Approaches and Pedagogies of Language Teaching"…

This collection of papers explores language socialization from very early childhood through adulthood. After "Introduction: Toward a Dynamic Model of Language Socialization" (Robert Bayley and Sandra R. Schecter), there are 16 papers in 4 parts. Part 1, "Language Socialization at Home," includes: (1) "Transforming…

Chapters in this volume include the following: "Co-Constructing School Safetime: Safetalk Practices in Peruvian and South African Classrooms" (Nancy H. Hornberger, J. Keith Chick); "Codeswitching and Collusion: Classroom Interaction in Botswana Primary Schools" (Jo Arthur); "Language and Educational Inequality in Primary…

These conference proceedings address the following six topics: (1) "Change and the Future" (e.g., English language education in Japan, sociolinguistics in Hong Kong, and Esperanto); (2) "Children and Language Education" (e.g. a short-term language immersion case study, virtual classrooms for bilingual students, and the role of…

This book, which focuses on the relationship between adult education institutions and social movements, contains 31 papers originally presented at a 1998 conference on the history of adult education. Following an Introduction (Cooke), the papers are: Mobilisation, Popular Participation and Sustainable Development: Themes in the Recent History of…