Trilingual paths: Cultures of learning and the use of Cantonese, English or Putonghua within a Hong Kong primary school

After sketching in the political, economic and cultural context of Hong Kong, a vibrant cosmopolitan city with a profoundly Chinese heritage, this chapter reviews recently published work on the Hong Kong culture of learning, which amalgamates powerful educational influences from China and the UK, yet exhibits a number of identifiably local characteristics. This overarching conceptualization of the Hong Kong culture of learning (HKCOL) suggests that disparate impulses converge or diverge in a number of key curriculum areas which are crucial to the teaching and learning of language. However, in either case, there is an ensuing disharmony or confusion that inhibits the effective implementation of educational and language teaching reforms and restricts classroom practices to the more mundane. One such key area of difficulty is the issue of the Medium of Instruction (MOI). Copyright © 2013 Phil Glenwright and Wang Lixun.