Hong Kong SAR’s “biliteracy and trilingualism” language-in-education policy : major challenges and proposed coping strategies

Abstract

After over two decades of implementation, the ‘biliteracy and trilingualism’ language policy in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region(SAR) has encountered many difficulties and challenges, partly due to imbalance in the development of the languages in question. After a detailed analysis of the SAR’s language situation, we put forward our vision and recommended support measures that we believe are within our reach. We hope this will deepen our understanding of where the problems lie, and that our recommendations may serve as useful reference for implementing the language policy more effectively. Our purpose is to show how, by redeploying human and other resources, the education authorities would stand a better chance of achieving the goal of fostering the biliterate and trilingual abilities of the SAR’s work force, thereby allowing Hong Kong to reach a milestone in its language policy development. 二十年来香港特别行政区在推行"两文三语"政策时,面对了各种语言和社会挑战,多语言格局的发展并不均衡。本文将就这些问题结合香港的现实状况,在教育政策和支持措施方面提出可触可及的愿景和务实可行的建议,期望将来各方作为加深认识和有效实践整体语文政策的参考,致使教育当局最终能恰当地部署人力和资源来实现"两文三语"的长远目标,让香港的语文发展迈向另一个崭新的里程碑。