Macau society has undergone anumber of significant changes in the 20 years since the 1999 handover of administration to the People’s Republic of China and these changes have ramifications within the linguisticecology of the territory. Population has grown annually at a consistent rate of approximately 3.0% over the two decades, but an increasing number of non-resident workers (many of whomdo not speak Cantonese) has fuelled much of this population growth. The diversification of gaming (i.e., gambling) concessions is primarily responsible for Macau’s tremendous economicgrowth and development of middle-class jobs. Nevertheless, the gaming industry relies upon tourists from China who are accustomed to using Putonghua as a lingua franca and Macau’spopulation who use Putonghua has grown from 12.5% in 1996 to 50.4% in 2016. Similarly, the number of English speakers (either as a usual or additional language) has also increased inthe territory by more than 450% over the past twenty years. In 2017 the Macau government issued its first statement of policy for language in education. While the document contains somespecific recommendations for proficiency standards of English teachers, the bulk of the document attempts to find balance between discourse of integration (as an SAR of China) andautonomy.