Pedagogical Foci of Teaching Cantonese as a Second Language

Abstract

When the West met East at the Pearl River delta during the 19th century, learning Cantonese as a second language was rooted in the area. Nowadays, there always exists a need by expatriates who are living and working in Hong Kong for learning the local language. The field was developed and influenced by theories in TESOL and foreign language education. It is also inspired by ideas and concepts of teaching Chinese as a second language since the learning of Mandarin Chinese has rapidly spread out in recent decades. Teaching Cantonese as a second language has developed with its own characteristics. This article reviews the development of teaching Cantonese as a second language in terms of pedagogical framework and teaching approaches. The article presents different pedagogical foci in the field of teaching Cantonese as a second language and discusses the academic debates whether to focus on linguistic competence or on pragmatic language use when teaching Cantonese as a second language in Hong Kong.