The Double Dilemma in Social Integration

The Complexity of Chinese Language

The interviewees had very strong opinions in regard to the challenges encountered in the learning of Chinese. In addition to the sophisticated writing system of Chinese, Zarifa also struggled with the phonological structure of Cantonese, which differs vastly from that of Mandarin. She pointed out that it was particularly frustrating to memorize the multiple meanings and pronunciations of a single character under different circumstances. Dilini shared similar views with her, while also acknowledged the radically different grammatical structure of Urdu and Chinese.

Zarifa and Dilini's exhausting experiences in learning Chinese can be directly attributed to the insufficient human and other resources devoted to the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language to minority students. First and Foremost, [1]The Education Bureau (EDB) refused to set up a separate, alternative Chinese Curriculum for minority students to address their educational needs (which is to learn practical Chinese rather than the literature) (EDB, 2008). The bureau stressed that the most direct way to uphold race equality is to encourage them to study the Chinese curriculum schools and to sit for the same public exam. The rationale, though noble, leads to a range of undesirable outcomes. Without a centralized curriculum for minority students, schools have to devise their own teaching materials. [2]Under the substantial workload, teachers are unlikely to provide individual consultations to students who have certain hardships in learning Chinese (Carmichael, 2009).[3]Added to that, the EDB and education institutions have provided inadequate training opportunities to educators on teaching Chinese to minority students. There has been no support to schools except some short courses offered by local universities (HKU, PolyU & HKIED) to teachers teaching in designated schools, and the effectiveness of these courses are often questioned (Carmichael, 2009). All these resulted in a vicious cycle (as

shown below), and minority students will have no choice but to confront the language problems by themselves unless the government pays attention to the underlying loopholes of the current practice.

‘Limited’ Exposure to Chinese Language & Limited Interaction with local Chinese

All the interviewees maintained that language barrier had always been, and would continue to be, the biggest obstacle they have to overcome in order to be accepted by local people as part of Hong Kong. Living in a Chinese society, however, both interviewees proclaimed that they had limited platform to study and speak Chinese (both Cantonese & Mandarin). Having studied the GCSE Chinese Curriculum during high school, Zarifa still finds it difficult to articulate herself in Chinese. She furthered this point by revealing to us that her alma mater is a designated school for Indians and Pakistani. Due to the fact that most of her classmates are not local Chinese, and more importantly, they are not familiar with Chinese, she had limited opportunity to practice spoken Cantonese outside classroom. As for Moaz, he had not received any formal Chinese education before studying in HKU. He has been active in approaching local Chinese, hoping that he can engage in some deep conversations with them and to learn some practical Chinese. Nevertheless, he also admitted that he has learnt only the rudimentary daily expressions in greetings, which were far from enough to support his living in Hong Kong.

The interviewees also admitted that it took extra efforts for them in order to integrate into the society because of the failure to convey themselves in Cantonese. Despite knowing some Cantonese, both of them tend to avoid using it in everyday life. Zarifa had decided to keep her usage of Cantonese at minimum level in order to avoid misunderstanding and embarrassment after teased by her local peers of her strange accent when speaking Cantonese so as to avoid any misunderstanding. Dilini stated that it would be more difficult to get along with local people if he does not speak Cantonese to them. He recalled from his experience that, although his local classmates are generally more tolerant to his inability to articulate in Cantonese, it is another story for most Hong Kong people. When he replaced some unfamiliar Cantonese phrases in English in any conversation with local people, he is likely to be ignored by them. He argued that with limited interaction with local people other than his peers, it would be hard for him to be considered as being integrating into the society.

Their difficulties are faithfully reflected in a [4]recent research jointly conducted by PolyU and Unison Hong Kong (Ku, Chan, Sandhu, 2005). It was found that 167 out of the 200 respondents (~84%) find it difficult to make friends with Hong Kong Chinese people. The main reason, as reported by the 167 respondents is, “not knowing Cantonese” (70%). It may also worth noticing that about 40% of them considered “Hong Kong people are unfriendly.” as the major reason for the question concerned. It may due to the fact in general, the English proficiency of most Hong Kong people are only up to the intermediate level. Thus, they are reluctant to communicate with the ethnic minorities using English.

Summarizing both parts, it is not difficult to draw the conclusion that the ethnic minorities have to overcome the language barrier before they can be considered to be successfully integrated into the local society. The language barrier can be minimized by actively immersing oneself in the community and developing a positive attitude towards Cantonese. Their inability to comprehend Cantonese, nevertheless, very often is not due to their reluctance to learning the language, but rather the limited resources devoted to support their learning from the government. As a result, the poor Chinese literacy among the linguistic minorities, together with limited interactions with local people, presents them a double dilemma in social integration.

[1] The Education Bureau (EDB), “Consultation Paper on Developing a Supplementary Guide to the Chinese Language Curriculum for Non-Chinese Speaking Students,” the Curriculum Development Council, January, 2008. Accessed on 29th March, 2014, http://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/about-edb/press/consultation/devt_of_sg_to_chi_ncs_e.pdf

[2] Sarah Carmichael, “Language rights in education: a study of Hong Kong’s linguistic minorities,” Centre for Comparative and Public Law, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong, November 2009. Accessed on 29th March, 2014, https://www.law.hku.hk/ccpl/pub/Documents/Occasional_Paper_19.pdf

[3] Ibid.

[4] Hok Bun Ku, Kam Wah Chan & Karamjit Kaur Sandhu, “A Research Report on the Education of South Asian Ethnic Minority Groups in Hong Kong,” Department of Applied Social Sciences, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. May 2005. Accessed on 29th March, 2014, http://www.apss.polyu.edu.hk/sscsps/product_images/12789052941718738294.pdf

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