https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4114-6367
![Sample our Language & Literature journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5941/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Language-Literature.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Quantitative research on the linguistic acculturation of sojourners in non-Western and multilingual social contexts remains scarce. Revising the Framework of Acculturation Variables (FAV), we propose a parsimonious model exploring the effect of acculturation conditions (trilingual language usage and perceived discrimination), orientations (social connectedness to mainstream and minority community), and outcome (psychological well-being). In particular, we examined the alternative paths enabled by non-local languages in the acculturation process, revealing the complexity of multidimensionality in trilingual linguistic acculturation. The findings highlight the crucial mediating role of acculturation orientation in the acculturation process. The effects of Cantonese, Mandarin, and English usage on the acculturation process of Mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong (N = 798) were examined.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Acknowledgments
We would like to greatly thank Prof. Chen, Hsuan-Ting’ s inspiring and generous help on this manuscript and her inspiring course Quantitative Communication Method. We also want to appreciate Prof. Michael Chan’s beneficent help on developing the manuscript.
Notes
1 As Hong Kong functions as a special administrative region of China, Chinese overseas students in Hong Kong are officially called ‘Mainland Chinese students’. Under the framework of ‘One Country, Two Systems’, the educational institutions in Hong Kong regard Mainland Chinese as students similar to international students, rather than local students.
2 This study does not differentiate the sub-dialects of Cantonese according to different regions (e.g., Guangdong and Hong Kong; Poon Citation2010).
3 CSSA is the biggest association among postgraduates, while CSSAUD and MUA cater to undergraduates. Students join these associations mainly to connect with the Mainland community in Hong Kong, to familiarize themselves with the new environment, and to participate in social activities with other Mainlanders.
4 This survey was approved by the Survey and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee at the local university in Hong Kong.
5 WeChat and QQ are the two most-used Chinese social media applications developed by Tencent (Hootsuite Citation2019).
6 From the WeChat and QQ groups, 851 responses were obtained for a total response rate of 13%.
7 Red Packet is a widely used mobile application inserted within WeChat. It is based on the Chinese tradition of hongbao (red envelope or red packet), in which money is given to family and friends as a gift. We acknowledge that people who open the lucky bag might be more active on social media.
8 Specifically, the scale ranges from 1 = never, 2 = seldom, 3 = several times a month, 4 = several times a week, and 5 = several times a day.
9 We also noted their secondary language preference. The analysis indicated that 11% of participants acquired Cantonese as a secondary language, 55.3% regarded English as a secondary language, and 33.7% viewed Mandarin as a secondary language.
10 The outbreak of COVID-19 has prevented the return of Mainland Chinese students from the Mainland to Hong Kong. Therefore, we expanded the time period to three months in order to guarantee that Mainland Chinese students can recall their experiences in Hong Kong from an earlier time.
11 The crosstab contingency table showed that within the Cantonese-dominant group, 29% of participants’ mother tongue is Cantonese.
12 Though we controlled people whose mother tongue is Cantonese in the full model, we additionally did a group comparison between people whose mother tongue is Cantonese (N = 75) and the rest as a robustness check. The results using correlation, regression and SEM did not show a big difference between the two groups’ acculturation processes. However, since the sample size for Cantonese speakers to do SEM was not enough, future researchers who are interested in Cantonese speakers’ acculturation process in Hong Kong should increase the sample size and specifically study this group of people.