Language learning attitudes of tertiary students in a trilingual city

This study aims to investigate tertiary students’ attitudes in learning the three languages they are studying in Hong Kong, a trilingual city. Hong Kong has a complex political and socio-cultural context that shapes the trilingual environment. Since the sovereignty of Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, all students have to learn three languages in school, namely Chinese, English and Putonghua. Many studies have indicated that motivation is critical in language learning success, so it is important to find out the students’ perceived values of these languages and their attitudes to language learning. Results of questionnaire surveys and interviews will be presented. Subjects of this study were students enrolled in full-time Bachelor programmes at the Education University of Hong Kong. Under the University’s language policy, all students enrolled in full-time Bachelor degree programmes were required to take compulsory language enhancement courses in Chinese, English and Putonghua. Students’ views on the three languages and language learning experience will be presented to highlight their attitudes in language learning. The findings will provide information for language programme development.