Hong Kong local media’s coverage of the “Biliteracy and Trilingualism” policy based on text analysis

Yifan  Zhang

doi:10.54691/q9s9ge37

Authors

Yifan Zhang

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54691/q9s9ge37

Keywords:

Biliteracy and Trilingualism, text analysis, educational context, language identity.

Abstract

This study focuses on the discourse tensions arising from the “Biliteracy and Trilingualism” policy implemented after Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997. The study draws on a self-constructed corpus from 1997 to 2025, comprising 42 valid news texts from LexisNexis. Through text analysis, combined with word frequency and co-occurrence analysis using the KH Coder tool, this study explores the differences in how different discourse actors construct this policy. The study uses high-frequency words such as ‘promote’ and core indicator words such as ‘English, Cantonese, and Mandarin’ as entry points to analyze the local multi-platforms’ understanding of language policy. By visualizing the semantic associations of keywords through co-occurrence network diagrams, the study reveals the functional positioning of the three languages and the power game behind them. This study aims to clarify how different local discourse entities in Hong Kong (official, media, and multiple platforms) construct the “Biliteracy and Trilingualism” policy in order to provide empirical evidence for language governance in multilingual regions and offer a new analytical paradigm for related research.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1]Adamson, B., & Lai, W. A. (1997). Language and the curriculum in Hong Kong: Dilemmas of triglossia. Comparative Education, 33(2), 233-246.

[2]Baker, C. (1997). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

[3]Baranova, J. (2018). Gilles Deleuze and Education. European Journal of Social Sciences Education and Research Articles, 5.

[4]Bolton, K. (2002). Hong Kong English: autonomy and creativity. Hong Kong University Press.

[5]Bolton, K. (2003). Chinese Englishes: A sociolinguistic history. Cambridge University Press.

[6]Bolton, K., Bacon-Shone, J., & Luke, K. K. (2020). Hong Kong English. In K. Bolton, W. Botha, & A. Kirkpatrick (Eds.), The handbook of Asian Englishes (pp. 449-478). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118791882.ch19

[7]Chan, Y. Y. (2002). The English-Language Media in Hong Kong. In K. Bolton (Ed.), Hong Kong English: Autonomy and Creativity (pp.101-116), Hong Kong University Press.

[8]Evans, S. (2013). The long march to biliteracy and trilingualism: Language policy in Hong Kong education since the handover. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 33, 302-324.

[9]Fairclough, N. (1999). Linguistic and intertextual analysis within discourse analysis. In A. Jaworski & N. Coupland (Eds.), The discourse reader (pp. 146–157). London: Routledge.

[10]Harwood, C., & Lai, C. (2017). Linguistic capital: Language medium of instruction policy in Hong Kong. Language Problems and Language Planning, 41(2), 159-167.

[11]Honan, E. (2015). Thinking rhizomatically: Using Deleuze in education policy contexts. In Education policy and contemporary theory (pp. 208-218). Routledge.

[12]Khine, M. S. (Ed.). (2023). Rhizome metaphor: Legacy of Deleuze and Guattari in education and learning. Springer Nature.

[13]Lee, K. S., & Leung, W. M. (2012). The status of Cantonese in the education policy of Hong Kong. Multilingual Education, 2(1), 2.

[14]Leung, A. H. C. (2015). Deteriorating standard? A brief look into the English standard in Hong Kong. Asian Englishes, 17(3), 209-221.

[15]Li, D. C. (2017). Towards ‘biliteracy and trilingualism’ in Hong Kong (SAR): Problems, dilemmas, and stakeholders’ views. In Multilingual Hong Kong: Languages, Literacies and Identities (pp. 179-202). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

[16]Li, D. C. (2022). Trilingual and biliterate language education policy in Hong Kong: past, present and future. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 7(1), 41.

[17]Li, G. S., & Liang, H. M. (2010). Xianggang gongzuo changsuo zhong sanyu shiyong de chubu diaocha (A preliminary survey on the use of three languages spoken in Hong Kong’s workplace), Zhongguo Yuwen Yanjiu (Studies in Chinese Linguistics),1, 97-110.

[18]Li, G. S., & Liang, H. M. (2020). Xianggang “liangwensanyu” geju: tiaozhan yu duice jianyi (Hong Kong’s “Biliteracy and Trilingualism” pattern: challenges and countermeasures. Yuyan zhanlue yanjiu (Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning), 5(1), 46-58.

[19]Li, Y. (2021). A critical policy analysis of the implementation of the bi-literacy and trilingualism language policy in Hong Kong: From a postcolonial perspective. SFU Educational Review, 14(1), 33-49.

[20]Liang, H. M. (2014). Xianggang gongzuo changsuo zhong sanyu shiyong qingkuang de zai diaocha (The five-year review on the use of spoken languages in Hong Kong), Zhongguo Shehui Yuyanxue (The Journal of Chinese Sociolinguistics), 2, 45-59.

[21]Liang, H. M. (2025). Liangwensanyu zhengcexia xianggang putonghua yu yingyu de shiyong bianhua yanjiu (2019-2024) (A study on the changes in the use of Putonghua and English in Hong Kong under the “Biliteracy and Trilingualism” policy), Huawen Xuekan (Journal of Chinese Language and Literature), (5), 16-35.

[22]Lingling, D., & Xianlang, Z. (2025). Summary of Studies on Language Policy in Hong Kong and Macao. Frontiers in Humanities and Social Research, 2(2), 162-168.

[23]Rockwell, G. (2003). What is text analysis, really?. Literary and linguistic computing, 18(2), 209-219.

[24]Sewell, A. (2024). The discourse of ‘falling standards’ of English in Hong Kong. World Englishes, 43(3), 503-522.

[25]Shepard, C., & Rose, H. (2023). EMI pedagogical challenges in a changing Hong Kong higher education context. In English-Medium Instruction Pedagogies in Multilingual Universities in Asia (pp. 123-137). Routledge.

[26]Thompson, J. B. (1991). Editor’s Introduction. In P. Bourdieu & J. B. Thompson (Eds.), Language and symbolic power (pp. 1-31). Cambridge: Polity Press.

[27]Yee Ho, J. W. (2008). Code choice in Hong Kong: From bilingualism to trilingualism. Australian review of applied linguistics, 31(2), 18-1.

[28]Zou, J. Y. (1997). San Yan and Two Languages Speaking Hong Kong. Language and Character Application, (2), 17–24.