This paper examines inter-speaker phonological variation within a mini-corpus of spoken Hong Kong English. The study focuses on consonantal features, and indicates that variation in the use of these features follows patterns that are implicational or hierarchical in nature. The findings are presented in the form of an implicational scale, in which the use of a particular feature by a speaker implies the use of other features by that speaker. The implicational patterns are discussed with reference to the intelligibility characteristics of the features and possible developmental pathways among L2 users. The possible relevance of the findings for areas of study such as the description of new varieties of English is also considered, with particular regard to pedagogical applications
Perspectives from both World Englishes (WE) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) can assist in the description of Hong Kong English phonology. Mario Saraceni's article (English Today 94) provides some useful insights into the current debates about English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). His discussion of the background to this debate identifies three viewpoints: a traditional ENL view with its adherence to native-speaker models; the WE (World Englishes) paradigm with its ‘pluralised and pluricentric view of English in the world’; and the emerging ELF position, with its rejection of native-speaker norms in favour of ‘endonormative realisations of lingua franca varieties’ (Alessa Cogo, English Today 95). However, Cogo believes that the second and third positions are not separate paradigms, and that ELF sits ‘comfortably within a WE framework’, as claimed by Jenkins (2007:17). In this article, I would like to show how the two positions can work together to inform pedagogy by exploring the possible options for English pronunciation models in Hong Kong.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.