Mr Nigel Bruce (English Centre) Dr Chris Davison (Faculty of Education) Miss Scarlet Poon (Faculty of Education) The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong email: njbruce@hku.hk, cdavison@hku.hk & scarletws@hku.hk Language policies and practices at the University of Hong Kong

Founded as an English-medium university more than 90 years ago, medium of instruction policies and practices at the University of Hong Kong have long been influenced by competing discourses and ideologies. This presentation begins with a brief report of HKU's language practices from archival sources from its foundation years up till the 1950s. With the exception of a clause about the language of examinations, language policies at HKU since the 1950s have been mostly implicit, and 'language' assumed not to be an issue for students or staff. However, a closer analysis of actual practices reveals that at HKU, as at most other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, there are many unresolved questions around language, exacerbated by increasing internationalism, major structural and curriculum changes, and an official government policy of trilingualism and biliteracy. In 2005, a Language Policy Committee was established, charged with the formation of a language policy and its implementation, and at about the same time the working group on Language in Education and Assessment began a collaborative research project into MOI and language-related issues in the university, centred on a large scale sociolinguistic survey of undergraduate beliefs, attitudes and practices in relation to language use in different learning contexts. We have also initiated a series of doctoral-level case studies of particular areas of language policy and practice. The paper concludes with a look ahead to the implications for language policy of moving to a 6 + 4 system, in line with the rest of China, whereby students will be entering university a year earlier.

Mr Nigel Bruce is a Principal Language Instructor of the English Centre, the University of Hong Kong, and is currently researching the construction of language policy.

Dr Chris Davison is Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong, and co-convenor of the Strategic Research Theme on Language in Education and Assessment.

Miss Scarlet Poon is the Project Officer for the collaborative project, and has recently completed a study of colonialism and English education at the University of Hong Kong, 1913-1964.