Due to its unique historical background and linguistic diversity,Macau is known as a typical multilingual metropolis,which has earned it the name of “a live language museum”.Its extremely complicated multilingual ecology and relatively isolated geographical environment make up a rare research sample for the study of linguistic identity and language competition.This paper argues that linguistic identity is the speaker’s psychological positioning of the relations between a speaker and a certain language or dialect.A speaker’s identifi cation with different languages has a noticeable impact on his or her language attitudes and linguistic performance.Also,linguistic identity is closely associated with regional identity and cultural identity.Among the four languages spoken in Macau,young people tend to mostly identify with Cantonese,which is not only a mother tongue,but also the language for daily communication both in domestic settings and workplaces;it is also an ethnic symbol and an official language.The other three languages receive less cultural and ethnic identifi cation,and their functions are differentiated.Most Macau youths regard Portuguese as an offi cial language and the second foreign language,Putonghua as the national language,whereas English is seen as their fi rst foreign language.
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