Implementing mother‐tongue education amidst societal transition from diglossia to triglossia in Hong Kong

Abstract Hong Kong is a homogeneous community both in terms of race (98% Chinese) and language (over 80% speak Cantonese as their mother tongue). However, the historical and sociolinguistic dynamics there are such that English is the dominant medium of instruction at secondary level and above, while Modern Mandarin, a non‐indigenous Chinese (standard) dialect, provides the norms for both the use of Chinese as an instructional medium and the measurement of literacy in Chinese. In 1986, owing to the combined effect of pedagogical problems resulting from the over‐selection of English‐medium secondary schools, persistent lobbying from groups committed to promoting the status of the Chinese language in Hong Kong and political changes, the government announced its adoption of a policy of positive discrimination in favour of secondary schools that use Chinese as an instructional medium. This new policy is generally perceived as a major break‐through for the local mother‐tongue education movement and that it mark...