The “bi-literacy and
tri-lingualism” policy has been implemented by the HK government to promote citizen’s
proficiency in Cantonese (mother tongue), Mandarin and English. As language is
closely linked to the culture it come from and English tends to dominant in
Hong Kong education system, concerns about eroding Chinese culture by this
policy have been raised.
Politeness is an inseparable
component of daily communication which can reflect the cultural background and
habit of different societies. Meanwhile, China is renowned as “the kingdom of
politeness” so the article is chosen to investigate the effect of language on
this important cultural aspect for Chinese (Lu, 2009).
Taking farewell as an example,
English provides vocabulary such as “See you” and “Good luck”; while Chinese
provides expression which contains deeper and concrete wish for that leaving person,
e.g. “man zou” (Walk slowly) and “yi lu shun feng” (Have a nice trip). These may look weird in English speaker because these cultural concepts
are implanted in the mother language. Language is a tool for us to construct
idea which is heavily influenced by culture. Consequently, it is difficult to
explain thoroughly in another language which bears a complete different set of
cultural value.
The above example indicates
culture is language-specific. To understand and experience a culture well, we
need to be competent in that mother language. Learning Chinese culture does not
only let us understand the importance and ways of practicing filial deity, making
loyal friends and even ruling “the world under heaven”(Tien Sha), it also
promotes sense of belonging, harmony between mainlander and Hong Kong people,
and identification of nationality (especially for Hong Kong being a
post-colonial place). The historical Chinese culture and wisdom may not be able
to pass down through generation if a foreign language dominant in Hong Kong.
Tri-lingualism is not a pure devil in
cultural aspect. As we discussed early on, learning foreign language helps
understand the foreign culture. Learning language is a process of cultural
exchange, boosted by globalization. We may then be able to learn the
long-coming of another culture and hence improve our own. The US government has
legislated foreign language study in order to prevent cultural isolation and
increase competitiveness in world trade (Sorenson, 2011).
Nevertheless, balance is lost and English
weighs heavier than Cantonese or Mandarin, this may lead to erosion of mother
tongue which is part of the Hong Kong local culture. Inadequate exposure to
Chinese, and hence the culture, may reduce students’ interest in our own
country or even develop a worshiping in the Western culture.
To conclude, language is crucial in
cultural learning. Without adequate exposure and learning, we may not be able
to preserve our own culture from generations to generations.
Reference:
Lu, Y. (2009). Cultural Differences
of Politeness in English and Chinese. Asian Social Science. Volume 5. Issue 6.
The Staradvertiser. (2011). Multilingualism
promotes cultural understanding. Retrieved from http://www.staradvertiser.com/editorials/20110210_Multilingualism_promotes_cultural_understanding.html?id=115701479.
I agree that there is an imbalance of Cantonese-English-Mandarin speaking in Hong Kong, especially among the younger generation. It makes it difficult to pass traditional Chinese words to the younger generation. For example, it is difficult to interpret Chinese idioms in English. Another one is that the number system in Chinese is different from that in other languages. We can only state 10000 as ten thousand in English instead of a specific term in Chinese like “Wan”. Children learning English may not aware the difference. Moreover, many cooking methods in Chinese cuisine, like “jing”, “mun”, “deng” cannot be expressed. Since language and culture are closely-linked, the loss of Chinese language skills in younger generation will also lead to a loss in Chinese culture. It would have far-reaching effect on the sustainability of Chinese language and culture in Hong Kong.
回覆刪除It is quite sarcastic that although most of them are using Chinese, the young people in Hong Kong know little about Chinese culture. The relatively larger empathasis on English may be one of the reasons. However, even for English, Hong Kong people know little about it in cultural aspect. I think the root problem is that Hong Kong people usually treat languages as a tool instead of a heritage of culture. Therefore, they learn them in the function aspect rather than in their indept cultural values. This may relate to the usually ignored cultural development in Hong Kong. People would usually just select what is more obviously beneficial, in fact, we can hardly have the right to give them the "right instruction".
回覆刪除I totally agree with you. Hong Kong people tend to overlook or even underrate the value of their mother tongue Cantonese and Chinese. This may mainly due to the historical background of being a British colony. Chinese is only allowed as an official language in 1970s, but still it remains less privileged than English in terms of business and governance. Under utilitarianism, parents would like their children to be well-prepared and competitive in globalized market rather than learning and understanding Chinese culture their roots. Without parental support, it is hard to promote Chinese culture in younger generation.
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