The representation of multilingualism and citizen identity in a series of public service advertisements

ABSTRACT

Social reality is refined and redefined through media. This article explores the representation of discourse of multilingualism in a series of Hong Kong government public service advertisements called Faces of Hong Kong. Given the role of advertisements in social reproduction and the construction of identities and subjectivities, there is scope to explore how public service advertisements that include a subset of advertisement texts, reflect and are governed by market ideologies. This article focuses on the cultural reproduction of differences and identities, and sees the ideology conveyed in public service advertisement as a powerful trope operating across different sociocultural communities. A critical reading of the promotional series suggests that discourses on English as a global language and Hong Kong as a multilingual and multicultural city are strategically co-opted to further neoliberal ideologies. This has implications for policy practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Multilingualism
• identity
• discourse
• promotional video

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR), Hong Kong Education Bureau [grant number EDB(LE)/P&R/EL/175/9]].

Notes on contributors

Mingyue (Michelle) Gu

Mingyue (Michelle) Gu is Associate Professor in the Department of English Language Education, Education University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include language and identity, linguistic ideology, multilingualism and mobility, and teacher professional development. She has published widely in the above fields. She received Research Excellence Award in 2017 and Young Researcher Award in 2015 at Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is the editor of book review section at the Journal of Asia TEFL and on the editorial board of Multilingual Education book series, Springer.

Ho Kin Tong

Ho Kin Tong is Professor in the Department of Literature and Cultural Studies, Education University of Hong Kong. His research interests include language competency, classical Chinese literature, and language education in multilingual context. He has co-authored four books and published a series of papers on language competency and classical Chinese literature education in Hong Kong, Mainland, Singapore and Canada. He serves on various committees of the Education Bureau and Hong Kong Examination and Assessment Authority.