Following Langscape

Assumptions concerning the variation of the international usage of the English language resulting from the Langscape Survey (Peters, P., 1998) are explored in relation to the Hong Kong Poly U Business Corpus (PUBC). The PUBC contains 1.2 million English, Chinese, & Japanese words taken from various Hong Kong business sources, specifically in the area of financial services. It is argued that the questionnaire-based methodology used in the Langscape Survey yields results that depend on indirect evidence of individual subjectivity rather than on actual documented practice. It is suggested that evidence from a corpus is the best support for this type of study. Language usage patterns among Hong Kong English speakers as evidenced in the PUBC are compared with the results of the Langscape Survey results. Patterns discussed include (1) the dropping of the letter e in the plural form of words ending in -o & before suffixes; (2) the capitalization & decapitalization of words; (3) formal agreement, notional agreement, & proximity of singular & plural forms; (4) double consonants in words & spelling variation; (5) British vs American spelling conventions; & (6) apostrophes & stops in abbreviated titles & common words. It is concluded that both British English & American English are present in Hong Kong, with British English being slightly more dominant. Even though language policy in Hong Kong gives preference to the British form, it is argued that both American & British forms are found with about the same frequency. 6 Tables, 10 References. A. Rice