Conclusion

 

We have presented six cases of minority languages in an intermarriage. All of them are spoken by the mother. We found that the mothers’ attitude towards their native tongue can be attributed to the prestige, economic function and cultural value of the language, and our interviewees’ personal emotion and sense of belonging to her linguistic community, the children’s perception depends on their interest and peers, local linguistic environment and institutional support. However, whether the acquisition is successful or not is a negotiation between the child’s attitude and the linguistic environment. Facing an increasing trend of heritage language loss in Hong Kong, we advocate bilingualism and intermarriage families. It can be done through paternal support, wider immersion and cultural and identity education.