In the same CUHK report, when children were asked their motives for studying Mandarin, over 70 % replied that it would "help them to converse with others" and would be "useful for future employment," while more than 50 % said that "speaking Mandarin is symbolic of our status as Chinese."
但就一般學生來說，「便於參與回歸政權」的大餅還分不到，香港中文大學同一份報告裡，問及學普遍話的動機，七成以上的學生認為「有助於交談」、「將來對工作有幫助」，有五成以上認為「說普通話是一種中國人的身份象徵」。