TEFL Acheng

hong kong english is a phenomenon that afflicts many Cantonese speakers of the english language. It is a term used to describe two different yet related concepts. The first concept refers to the variation of the english language used in hong kong due to British influence. Since hong kong was under British rule up until 1997 as a result of the 99-year lease, hong kong uses predominantly British spellings and pronunciations. The second concept refers to the pronunciation of the english language by Cantonese speakers known affectionately by locals as their version of Chinglish or chinese english. hong kong english, or Cantonese english, is a term used to describe the accent and characteristics of english spoken by the native people of hong kong. It applies primarily to those people whose first language is Cantonese. Therefore, although it is called hong kong english, it is not only spoken in hong kong but also by people who come from Cantonese speaking regions, like Canton, china, or those whose first language is Cantonese. hong kong, whose population is 95% ethnic chinese, is a predominantly Cantonese-speaking society; however, english is one of the official languages. It is used widely and daily in Government, business, tourism, traffic and schools. In fact, english is as equally acceptable and valid as chinese on legal and business standings. That said, the native people of hong kong still regard english as a foreign language that is used primarily for formal communications, particularly in writing. When spoken, the pronunciation is typical of foreign language learners. The english is heavily influenced and accented by the Cantonese language where nasal sounds are weaker than english and many sounds are substituted since they do not exist in the Cantonese language.[1] Some common examples of hong kong english include: • Voiceless TH to be pronounced as [f], so through may be pronounced as [fru],[2] and three may be [fri].[3] • Voiced TH tends to be [t],[5] so though is [tou] and there is [t?].[6] This is reported to be very widespread, so this is nearly always [tis], and brother is [brata].[7] • Mispronunciation of 'v' because the 'v' sound has no equivalent in Cantonese. Therefore 'v' becomes 'w' or 'f'. (e.g. 'f' in 'favour', second 'v' in 'Volvo' and either 'f' or 'w' in 'develop' depending on the speaker.) • Multi-syllable words are often differently stressed. For example, the word "latte" is pronounced with the second syllable stressed instead of the first. • Omission of entire syllables in longer words. ('Difference' become DIFF-ENS, 'temperature' becomes TEM-PI-CHUR.) • Difficulty pronouncing double consonant endings, except when the second element is fricative. e.g. "think" as "thing", "swamp" as "swam", "send" and "sent" as "sen". • Confusion between homographs (e.g. the noun "resume" and the verb "resume") • Confusion with verb tenses and agreement of singular or plural nouns, as there is direct equivalents in Cantonese According to the article "Grammar Error Strike Hard: Language Proficiency Testing of hong kong teachers and the Four "Noes"" written by Phil Glenwright in Journal of Language Identity and Education, the falling english proficiency of local english teachers has come under criticism. In response, the Education Bureau has required english teachers without english language undergraduate degrees to submit to an language proficiency assessment for teachers, called "LPAT”. Those failing LPAT are no longer permitted to teach english. _____________________________________________ 1. http://en.wikipedia.org 2. Setter, J., Wong., C. S. P., & Chan, B. H. S. (2010). hong kong english. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 3. Deterding, D., Wong J., & Kirkpatrick, A. (2008). The pronunciation of hong kong english. english World-Wide, 29, 148-149. 4. Hong, T. N. (2002). Towards a phonology of hong kong english. In K. Bolton (Ed.), hong kong english: Autonomy and creativity (pp. 119-140). hong kong: hong kong University Press. 5. Setter, J., Wong., C. S. P., & Chan, B. H. S. (2010). hong kong english. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 6. Deterding, D., Wong J., & Kirkpatrick, A. (2008). The pronunciation of hong kong english. english World-Wide, 29, 148-149. 7. Hong, T. N. (2002). Towards a phonology of hong kong english. In K. Bolton (Ed.), hong kong english: Autonomy and creativity (pp. 119-140). hong kong: hong kong University Press.