A debate is brewing in Hong Kong over the use of Cantonese in public schools, with education secretary Kevin Yeung clarifying that the government wasn’t seeking to force schools to replace the language with Mandarin.
A special administrative region of China, Hong Kong has a high degree of autonomy and Cantonese is regarded as the city’s Chinese lingua franca. However, there are fears that Beijing may be interfering with the city’s education policies by promoting the use of Mandarin as a medium of instruction in Chinese language curriculums.
In a radio interview, Yeung seemed to suggest that Chinese courses in public schools should be taught in Mandarin. “The future development of Chinese language learning across the globe will rely mainly on Mandarin,” said Yeung, sparking criticism among residents worried about Beijing’s meddling in the city’s education system.
Yeung later clarified on Facebook that he was actually encouraging research into the teaching Mandarin as a third language. “I didn’t cast any doubt on learning the Chinese language in Cantonese throughout the interview,” Yeung wrote. “I was only saying that, in the long run, the question on how to develop Chinese language teaching can be further studied by experts in order to strengthen Hong Kong’s unique advantage of bi-literacy and tri-lingualism.”
Hong Kong’s Basic Law defines English and Chinese as the territory’s official languages. While the specifics of which Chinese language should be used are left unclear, most public schools in Hong Kong use Cantonese as the medium of instruction in their Chinese language curriculum. What’s more, many Hong Kong residents consider the Cantonese language as an integral part of their cultural identity.
Education legislator Ip Kun-yuen defended the primary place of Cantonese in Hong Kong schools. Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Ip said that the majority of the local education sector believed that Cantonese should remain the medium of instruction considering the unique language environment of Hong Kong.
“Studies we have conducted so far shows that teaching the Chinese language in Mandarin doesn’t deliver the benefits expected by its promoters,” Ip said. “Instead, it affects young students’ interest because it is a strange and difficult language for them.”