This Course Guide has been taken from the most recent presentation of the course. It would be useful for reference purposes but please note that there may be updates for the following presentation.
LANG A331
Language and Society in Hong Kong
LANG A331 Language and Society in Hong Kong is a higher level, 10-credit course developed for Hong Kong Metropolitan University, aimed at giving students of language and translation a wider perspective on how language is used in Hong Kong. Sociolinguistic factors frequently determine the use of language, and it is important to be aware of the complexities underlying certain kinds of language choice. The course identifies and looks at some of the major areas of language use and helps you acquire the analytical tools and background knowledge necessary to understand the development of language issues in Hong Kong society.
Purpose of this Course Guide
If you have completed other Hong Kong Metropolitan University courses, you are well aware of the study skills required for distance learning and are familiar with the organization of HKMU courses. You have probably developed your own approach to and methods of study. Even so, you should read this Course Guide thoroughly before proceeding to look at the study units or your textbooks. Some of the contents will be familiar to you but much of the information is specific to LANG A331 Language and Society in Hong Kong. Please take the time to read it.
The Course Guide tells you briefly about the course content and suggests ways for you to work your way through the material. It also provides some guidelines as to the amount of time you are likely to spend on each unit in order to complete the course successfully.
The Course Guide provides information on assignments, tutorials, and the examination. Please see the Presentation Schedule for information about the due dates for the submission of assignments.
You will probably wish to refer to this Course Guide throughout the course to help clarify important points about studying with HKMU so keep it in a convenient place.
Course aims
LANG A331 Language and Society in Hong Kong sets out to meet the following broad aims:
Course learning outcomes
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
About the course
This course involves you thinking, reading and writing about language issues in Hong Kong society. It does this through a survey of research findings on such questions, together with the study of related readings, and a series of activities that are related to key questions in this field. Important themes in the course are:
Course overview
The following table gives a general overview of the course structure.
| Unit | Title | Weeks of work | Assessment activity (after unit) |
| 1 | The Hong Kong speech community | 4 | |
| 2 | Introduction to Asian sociolinguistics | 4 | |
| 3 | The sociolinguistics of Chinese in Hong Kong | 4 | |
| 4 | The sociolinguistics of English in Hong Kong | 4 | Assignment 1 |
| 5 | Code-switching and code-mixing | 5 | |
| 6 | Language variation | 3 | |
| 7 | Language and gender | 3 | |
| 8 | Language policies and language planning | 4 | Assignment 2 |
| 9 | Revision and research | 6 | |
| Revision | 3 | Assignment 3–Project | |
| Total | 40 |
Besides this Course Guide and the study units, the course has the following components.
Printed materials
Set textbook
Romaine, S (2000) Language in Society: Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 2nd edn, Oxford.
Set reader
Bolton, K and Yang, H (eds) (2008) Language and Society in Hong Kong.
You must buy these books yourself.
Supplementary readings
You may be instructed in the study units to read articles or other supplementary materials. These will be available online or provided as hard copies.
E-Library E-Reserve readings
You may be instructed to read articles in the E-Library E-Reserve. To read these items, go to the University's E-Library and click on 'E-Reserve'. Log in, click 'Accept/Agree' on the Copyright Restrictions page, fill in the 'Course Code' box, and click 'Search'.
Non-print media
Some units have video or audio recordings associated with them. These are available on the OLE under the heading 'multimedia'.
You will be assessed on your ability to understand concepts introduced in this course from the study of language and society ('sociolinguistics'), the terminology used in this field of linguistic studies, and your analysis of language-related issues and processes using these elements of sociolinguistic methodology. The activities in the study units will aim at fostering such abilities.
Assignments
There will be three assignments that will be assessed during the course. These will focus on key topics in the sociolinguistics of Hong Kong, including:
Marking
The first two assignments will carry 12.5% each of the total marks. Assignment three will count for 25% of the final grade. Thus coursework will count totally for 50% of the marks.
Examination
There will be a three-hour written examination, which will account for 50% of the final grade.
| Type | Marks |
| Required assignments ‧ Assignments 1 and 2 ‧ Assignment 3 | 12.5% × 2 = 25% 25% × 1 = 25% |
| Final examination | 50% |
| Total | 100% |
Tutors
Tutors will hold a total of ten tutorials of two-hour duration (20 hours). Tutors review the key concepts introduced in each unit and conduct group and individual discussions. Tutors are expected to be available to answer your individual queries and offer assistance in completing assignments when necessary. Aside from marking assignments in accordance with the marking criteria, tutors are also expected to provide you with comprehensive and timely feedback. You may contact your tutor by telephone, by email with the tutor's permission, during tutorials, or through the email and discussion board facilities of the Online Learning Environment (OLE).
Tutorials
Ten two-hour tutorial sessions will be provided. Tutorial topics will be a selection of issues taken from unit contents. Attendance at tutorials is optional, although strongly encouraged.
Online support
You will also be supported through HKMU's OLE, through which LANG A331 administrative information and supplementary learning materials will be distributed to you, and through which discussions of academic issues related to LANG A331 can be conducted.
This course was revised in 2007 but the language situation in Hong Kong is ever changing, even as the course is being rewritten. It is therefore essential that you keep an eye on the local Hong Kong press and cut out any articles or comments in English or Chinese on language matters, e.g. attitudes to language use or changes that are proposed in education or in the official use of language, and keep them in your cuttings file. This will help you to develop your awareness of the sociolinguistic environment in Hong Kong, and you can reuse this information in your assignments, where it will be well appreciated and may enhance your mark.
You are studying language in Hong Kong at a very interesting time of its development. We hope that LANG A331 will enrich your perceptions of the linguistic environment in which you live. Good luck and enjoy the course!
