The findings come from the study Linguistic Attitudes of Young People in Macau (2023), conducted by researchers Yuqi Sun and Jingwei Zhang of the University of Macau’s Centre for Linguistics. The research examined young people’s perceptions of Cantonese, Standard Putonghua, Cantonese-accented Putonghua, Portuguese and English.
For Roberval Teixeira e Silva, a professor at the University’s Centre for Linguistics, the high regard for Portuguese should be understood within Macau’s specific context: “What we are seeing is a clearly instrumental view of Portuguese, which is regarded primarily as a vehicle for social mobility because of the possibility of securing well-paid jobs in the public administration.”
The study used the matched-guise technique, an indirect method that measures language attitudes without asking participants directly what they think of each language.
“In direct methodologies, participants tend to answer what they believe is politically correct or what they think the institution expects from them. In conservative educational environments, as is the case in many institutions in Macau, it is common for them to respond with answers they believe will please teachers or researchers,” he says.
Read more: Macau: Director defends “more international” Portuguese studies at UM
Although Portuguese is the study’s most surprising finding, Sun and Zhang also conclude that both Cantonese and Standard Putonghua continue to receive high status ratings among young people in Macau. According to Roberval, this balance “appears to reflect Macau’s plural identity and unique geopolitical position,” reconciling local identity with national belonging.
Prestige without a community
Although the study concludes that Portuguese ranks above English in terms of status, Roberval stresses that the findings should be interpreted with caution: “In fact, only 53 of the 106 students were able to identify Portuguese among languages such as German or French. Only those students expressed an attitude toward the language,” he notes.
According to the researcher, the association between Portuguese and prestige is mainly linked to its economic and institutional value. “When a young person hears Portuguese and associates it with ‘high salary’ or ‘prestige,’ that is consistent with the local elite labor market. Knowing Portuguese in Macau can lead to starting salaries far higher than those earned by someone who only speaks English in standard administrative positions.”
“It is inconsistent and paradoxical that a language spoken by an almost invisible segment of the population enjoys greater status prestige than the language of globalization. This proves that young people’s evaluation is strictly institutional, instrumental and localized, shaped by the very particular financial ecosystem of the Macau SAR,” he says.
Despite the status attributed to Portuguese, its everyday use remains limited. “Cantonese continues to be the dominant language of social interaction, local youth culture, informal communication and primary emotional expression,” Roberval says.
At the same time, “proficiency in and use of Standard Putonghua are advancing rapidly in formal, academic and professional spheres, such as the tourism and gaming sectors.” English and Portuguese, meanwhile, “are seen as important professional and technical tools, but they have less spontaneous circulation and vernacular use in everyday interactions.”
In the researcher’s experience, despite increasing regional integration, “young people in Macau (and even those in mainland China, to a lesser extent) ultimately gravitate toward their own community.”
Roberval believes that the political and economic status of Portuguese is likely to remain stable over the coming years, supported by Macau’s integration into the Greater Bay Area and the role assigned to the region in relations with Portuguese-speaking countries.
“The upward trend in the political and economic status of Portuguese should remain stable over the coming years, supported by Macau’s continued integration into the Greater Bay Area and by the geopolitical role assigned to it by Beijing,” he told PLATFORM. “Naturally, bilateral relations with Portuguese-speaking countries, especially Brazil and Angola, will further reinforce this trend.”
However, he identifies a structural challenge: “Only 2.3% of the population speaks Portuguese fluently in daily life, confining the language to specific niches – courts, universities, institutional events and gatherings within certain communities.”
According to Roberval, as long as Portuguese continues to be viewed primarily as a tool for professional advancement, its consolidation as a community language will remain limited: “If Portuguese continues to be perceived primarily as a strictly instrumental tool, it will struggle to take root in the community identity of Macau’s residents, limiting its growth as a living language in the city.”
Box
Two identities, one balance
The study’s findings also show that both Cantonese and Putonghua receive very high ratings in terms of social status. According to Roberval, this balance “appears to reflect Macau’s plural identity and unique geopolitical position.”
“Cantonese is not only the majority’s mother tongue; it also represents local strength, ancestry and regional identity,” he says. On the other hand, “the high evaluation of Standard Putonghua reflects national strength and political and economic alignment with post-handover mainland China.”
In the researcher’s view, young people “do not see the affirmation of national identity through Standard Putonghua as a threat to their local cultural identity through Cantonese, but rather integrate the two harmoniously.” He describes this as “a sociocultural characteristic of Macau” that distinguishes it from neighboring regions.
Roberval also draws attention to attitudes toward what is commonly referred to as “Cantonese-accented Putonghua.”
“The idea of a pure language or a perfectly standard pronunciation is highly damaging when it comes to sociocultural diversity. An accent is a marker of identity. Speaking a language well does not mean speaking it without an accent, because such a thing simply does not exist,” he explains.
