This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. The Position of Putonghua in Contemporary Hong Kong Adam Scott Clark Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences The University of Edinburgh 2018 Contents Declaration 1 Lay Summary 2 Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 Introduction 5 1 Language Use in this Thesis 6 1.1 Named Varieties . 6 1.2 Chinese Characters . 6 1.3 Transliteration . 6 1.4 Difference between Modern Standard Chinese and Written Cantonese . 7 2 Literature Review 7 2.1 Language Policy & Planning . 8 2.1.1 LPP in Hong Kong . 9 2.2 The English Language in Colonial Hong Kong . 10 2.3 Linguistic Surveying in Hong Kong . 14 2.4 The Medium of Instruction Dilemma . 21 2.5 Language and the Transfer of Sovereignty . 28 2.6 Issues of Identity . 29 2.7 Demographics of Hong Kong . 33 2.7.1 Place of Birth . 33 2.7.2 Ethnic Identity . 34 2.7.3 Languages Spoken by the Hong Kong Population . 34 2.7.4 Waves of Migration to Hong Kong . 36 2.7.5 Migration’s Effect on Hong Kong’s Language Policy . 37 2.8 The Language of Tertiary Education . 38 2.9 Language Standardization in China and Hong Kong . 40 2.9.1 Language Standardization . 41 2.9.2 The Standardization of a Chinese Language . 41 2.9.3 The Republic of China (1912-49) . 42 2.9.4 The People’s Republic of China 1949-Present . 42 2.9.5 Language Standardization in Hong Kong . 43 2.10 Diglossia & Triglossia in Hong Kong . 45 3 Methodological Considerations 55 3.1 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) . 55 3.1.1 Overview . 55 3.1.2 Criticial Discourse Analysis in this Thesis . 56 3.1.3 Cultural Approach to Critical Discourse Analysis . 57 3.2 Corpus Analysis . 58 3.2.1 Applied Corpus Studies . 58 3.2.2 The Use of Corpus Linguistics in this Thesis . 58 3.3 Participant Informed Data Collection . 60 The Problematic Definition of ’Chinese’ in Hong Kong Basic Law 69 1 Introduction 69 1.1 Hong Kong Basic Law, Article 9 . 69 1.2 Language Planning & Policy . 70 2 Theoretical Background & Methodological Approach 70 2.1 Overview . 70 2.2 Methodological Approach . 71 2.2.1 A CDA Approach to Hong Kong Basic Law, Article 9 . 71 2.2.2 Limitations of a CDA Approach . 72 3 Language or dialect? 73 3.1 Overview . 73 3.2 Naming Hong Kong’s Official Languages in Policy . 73 3.3 Ambiguity in Language Policy . 74 3.4 Language or Dialect? . 75 4 Structural Differences between Putonghua & Cantonese 77 4.1 Phonological Differences . 78 4.1.1 The Tonal Systems . 78 4.1.2 Syllable Structure . 78 4.2 Syntactic Differences . 79 4.2.1 Placement of Adverbs . 80 4.2.2 Comparative Sentences . 80 4.2.3 Direct & Indirect Objects . 81 4.3 Lexical Differences . 82 5 The Problematic Definition of ’Chinese’ 83 5.1 What should ’Chinese’ refer to? . 84 5.2 The ’Biliterate and Trilingual’ Policy . 86 6 Reconsidering Article 9 87 6.1 Revising Article 9 . 89 6.2 Potential Resistance & Consequences of Revising Article 9 . 89 6.2.1 The ’Nation Building’ Effect of Basic Law, Article 9 . 89 6.2.2 Principles of Basic Law, Article 9 . 91 7 Conclusion 93 7.1 Summary . 93 7.2 Concluding Thoughts . 93 7.3 Future Research Directions . 94 Implications for the Status of Putonghua in Hong Kong Job Advertisements 100 1 Introduction 100 1.1 The Position of Putonghua in Hong Kong . 100 1.2 Rationale . 101 1.2.1 Job Advertisements . 101 1.2.2 JobsDB . 102 2 Literature Review 102 2.1 Job Advertisements as Linguistic Data . 102 2.2 The Role of Job Advertisements in the Present Study . 103 3 Aim of Investigation 104 4 Method of Investigation 104 5 Results 106 5.1 Frequency . 106 5.2 Collocation . 108 5.2.1 T-Score . 108 5.2.2 Collocation Results . 109 6 Interpretation of Results 112 6.1 Ability ........................................ 112 6.2 Advantage ...................................... 113 6.3 Command ...................................... 114 6.4 Fluent ........................................ 115 6.5 Native ........................................ 116 7 Conclusion 117 7.1 Summary . 117 7.2 Concluding Thoughts . 117 7.3 Future Research Directions . 118 The use of the Putonghua Subject as a Vehicle for a Pan-Chinese Identity 121 1 Introduction 121 2 Literature Review 123 2.1 The ’Idea’ of Ethnicity . 123 2.2 The Link Between Language & Ethnicity . 125 2.3 Language Education & Linguistic Imperialism . 126 3 The Han Ethnicity 129 3.1 Population Numbers . 129 3.2 Origin of the ’Han Ethnicity’ . 130 4 The Putonghua Subject in the Hong Kong Curriculum 132 4.1 A Perspective on Education in Hong Kong - November 1982 . 132 4.2 Education Commission Report (ECR) No.1 - 1984 . 135 4.3 Education Commission Report (ECR) No.2 - 1986 . 136 4.4 Education Commission Report (ECR) No.4 - 1990 . 137 4.5 Education Commission Report (ECR) No.5 - 1992 . 138 4.6 Education Commission Report (ECR) No.6 - 1996 . 139 5 Putonghua in Hong Kong’s Present Primary and Junior-Secondary Cur- riculum 141 5.1 The Present Putonghua Subject . 141 5.2 Putonghua in Hong Kong’s Present Primary & Junior-Secondary Curriculum 142 6 Conclusion 145 6.1 Summary . 145 6.2 Concluding Thoughts . 145 6.3 Future Research Directions . 146 Discourse is cultural: New approaches to discourse analysis in the ’Non-West’ 151 1 Introduction 151 2 ’De-westernizing discourse analysis’ 151 3 Culture specific discourse studies 153 Conclusion & Future Research Directions 156 1 Summarized Article Conclusions 156 1.0.1 ’Chinese’ in Hong Kong’s Basic Law . 156 1.0.2 Putonghua in Hong Kong’s Job Market . 157 1.0.3 Putonghua within the Hong Kong Curriculum . 157 1.0.4 Methodological Considerations . 158 2 A Synthesized Conclusion 158 2.0.1 The Governmental Domain . 158 2.0.2 The Employment Domain . 158 2.0.3 The Educational Domain . 159 2.1 The Position of Putonghua in Contemporary Hong Kong . 159 2.2 Contribution to Knowledge . 160 3 Future Research Directions 160 Appendix 1 - List of Chinese Terms 162 Appendix 2 - Full Bibliography 163 Declaration 1. I declare that this thesis has been composed solely by myself and that it has not been submitted, in whole or in part, in any previous application for a degree. Except where states otherwise by reference or acknowledgment, the work presented is entirely my own. 2. I confirm that this thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, has i) been composed entirely by myself ii) been solely the result of my own work iii) not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification 3. I declare that this thesis was composed by myself, that the work contained herein is my own except where explicitly stated otherwise in the text, and that this work has not been submitted for any other degree or processional qualification except.