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Filipina Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong: Domestic Language Use, Attitudes, and Linguistic Awareness—An Empirical Survey



Author(s)

Stefanie Reden, Hans-Georg Wolf

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DOI:10.17265/1539-8080/2014.11.001

Potsdam University, Potsdam, Germany

Although the importance of the so-called foreign contract workers (alternatively domestic helpers or maids) from the Philippines in the linguistic situation in Hong Kong has been noted in the literature, little research has been devoted to this topic so far. Based on recent statistical surveys and a questionnaire study conducted in 2010, this paper tries to shed some light on the potential impact the Filipina domestic helpers may have on the acquisition of English by the (Cantonese-speaking) children of Hong Kong. The study found, inter alia, that 67% of the respondents reported speaking English with their employers, and 82% with the children of their employers. Also, the results showed that nearly all respondents deemed speaking English with the children as very important (87%) or important (11%) and that the Filipina helpers are aware of their role as informal language teachers. As a side-effect and an additional point worth reporting, the study revealed a striking awareness by respondents as regards the differentiation of English into distinct varieties in general and those spoken in Hong Kong specifically.

Hong Kong, Filipinas, domestic helpers, English, informal language teachers