Accustomed language management in contact situations between Cantonese speaking Hong Kong employers and their Filipino domestic helpers

The present paper deals with the use of English as the primary contact language in interactional situations between local Cantonese speaking employers and their Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong. While the focus of the existing literature on Englishes in the globalised setting has been largely placed on the language itself, this paper discusses the use of English as a third-party language from the point of view of the participants involved. The aim of this study is twofold. First of all, on the basis of the concept of accustomed language management as suggested by Muraoka (2010), I attempt to demonstrate that as a result of prolonged and continuous interaction in the same living environment, meta-linguistic behaviour towards contact situations particularly related to norm selection is significant among the Hong Kong employers. In addition, I argue that accustomed language management such as de-overtisation of some aware and overt norms may have contributed to the development of a long-term and comparatively stable third-party language contact situation in spite of the absence of an apparent language host.