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Investigating Adolescents’ Digital Citizenship through Social Media: (Trans)Formation, Digital Literacy Practices and Influential Factors

The internet's anonymity and unrestricted access facilitates both (a) hacking, online aggressions, and cyberbullying of adolescents and (b) opportunities to learn, socialize, and accept one another. Teaching students to participate in online communities and society (digital citizenship [DC] education) can help them (a) protect themselves from such harmful behaviors and (b) maximize their positive affordances. To provide such education, we must understand the ethically, socially, and culturally meaningful literacy practices that support positive DC. Past studies primarily examined the DC views of individuals (mostly adults rather than adolescents) but not how they actually enact their DC through digital literacy practices across social media and/or social networking contexts, or the factors that influence their DCs. Without such knowledge, properly preparing our young people for DC will be extremely challenging.


Year: 2023 - 2025

Project Leader -

Dr GU Mingyue Michelle

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD $1,095,862

Towards an Understanding of Second Language Writing Teachers’ Metacognition in Teaching

Metacognition, defined as the individual’s knowledge about cognitive processes and the application of this knowledge for controlling the cognitive process, has a stronghold in educational vernacular. It has been well documented in the literature that metacognition does not develop automatically in students and teachers play an instrumental role in fostering learners’ metacognition to optimize instructional effectiveness. Yet, the literature points to a dearth of teachers who possess adequate knowledge about metacognition at their disposal or the expertise in developing students’ metacognitive capacities. There is an urgent call for more research into the advancement of teachers’ professional knowledge in metacognition to enhance the learning processes of the students. Against this backdrop, the project will examine how teachers integrate metacognitive learning and instruction into the writing classroom; how, and to what extent teachers develop their competence in metacognitive writing instruction; and what factors influence teachers’ development of competence in metacognitive writing instruction.


Year: 2023 - 2024

Project Leader -

Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline

Capacity: PI

Amount: $737,140

Bridging the Gap: Investigating the Effectiveness of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) with Translanguaging and Trans-semiotizing Pedagogy in Nursing Education

Internationalisation is gaining in popularity in higher education. Bilingual programmes where a second language is used as the medium of instruction have thus become increasingly popular. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) with both content and language having an integrated curricular role is one such programme. There has been fruitful research on CLIL in various contexts in primary and secondary education. However, how to integrate target language support (eg English) with content teaching at university has not featured prominently in research literature. The study will investigate the impact of CLIL on university students’ content and language development in English-medium nursing education. The CLIL pedagogy in the study will draw upon recent theoretical development of translanguaging and trans-semiotising. Results of the study will inform bilingual university education, nursing education and theory and practice of translanguaging and trans-semiotising.


Year: 2021 - 2023

Project Leader -

Dr LIU Yiqi

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD731,844

Understanding the development of student feedback literacy in the L2 writing classroom

A growing body of literature has discovered that the potential of feedback to enhance learning rests upon student feedback literacy. Despite being acknowledged as significant, empirical research on student feedback literacy, especially in L2 writing, is underexplored. Adopting a case study design spanning one academic year, the present study seeks to examine elementary students’ development of student feedback literacy through the use of writing portfolios; how, and to what extent such development of student feedback literacy may influence text revisions and writing improvement; and what the factors are that influence the development of student feedback literacy. The study will contribute to the limited literature on the development of student feedback literacy with the potential to offer pedagogical implications for enhancing students’ feedback literacy, which in turn will encourage greater learner agency and improvement in writing. 


Year: 2021 - 2023

Project Leader -

Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline

Capacity: HKD661,240

Preparing pre-service language teachers to teach critical thinking: An ethnographic case study in Hong Kong

This project seeks to investigate how student teachers are prepared to teach CT in a pre-service language teacher education programme in Hong Kong. Adopting an ethnographic case study design and informed by an ecological perspective on teacher education, the project will explore how student teachers learn to teach CT in relation to their programme coverage, coherence and applicability. The project will also draw on multiple perspectives from language teacher educators and programme leaders/coordinators to discover how CT is integrated with their situated teacher education curricula. Such an ethnographic design not only can contribute to our understanding of CT, but can also generate insights into the dynamic, complex process of teacher learning across different sites, influenced by a range of institutional and socio-cultural factors.


Year: 2019 - 2021

Project Leader -

Dr YUAN Rui Eric

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD614,740

The Identity Construction Experiences of Teachers of English to Young Learners in Mainland China

This project responds to the need for research into the teaching of English to young learners (TEYL), defined as children between the ages of 5-12. Despite the significant increase in popularity of TEYL globally, including mainland China, our knowledge of how TEYL is implemented, the attitudes of teachers, and the challenges they face is scant. This project, therefore, addresses this gap in our understanding of English language teaching and learning by exploring the experiences of one group of primary school English teachers in mainland China. A particular contribution of this project is to examine the experiences and perceptions of teachers of English to young learners using the theoretical lens of teacher identity. The results of this project will be of interest to policy makers, teacher educators, school authorities, researchers, and teachers of young learners themselves, both in mainland China and analogous educational settings worldwide.


Year: 2019 - 2021

Project Leader -

Dr TRENT John Gilbert

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD614,033

Home-School partnerships to support ethnic minority student achievement in Hong Kong

The project investigates the expectations and experiences of home-school relations amongst different groups of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong schools.

 


Year: 2019 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr TRENT John Gilbert

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD716,564

The interplay of language-in-education policy, language ideology and linguistic practices within discourse of internationalization in higher education – a comparative study

Year: 2018 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr GU Mingyue Michelle

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD623,992

Focused written corrective feedback in Hong Kong secondary classrooms

Year: 2018 - 2019

Project Leader -

Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline

Capacity: Co-I

Amount: HKD591,992

The identity construction experiences of novice English language teachers in Hong Kong

This project will investigate the experiences of eight English language teachers in Hong Kong during their initial years of full-time teaching.


Year: 2016 - 2018

Project Leader -

Dr TRENT John Gilbert

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD221,472

Psychological and sociocultural adaptation and experience of international students in Hong Kong

Year: 2014 - 2016

Project Leader -

Dr YU Baohua

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD531,750

Second Language(s) Learning Motivation and Identity Construction of Ethnic Minority Students in Hong Kong

Year: 2014 - 2016

Project Leader -

Dr GU Mingyue Michelle

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD368,500

Learning to Listen in EMI: The Effects of Strategy Instruction on Strategic Behaviour and Learner Uptake

In English Medium Instruction (EMI), students learn content subjects (e.g., Science, Geography) through English, which is their less familiar second language (L2). The underlying assumption is that students can gain both content subject knowledge and L2 English. However, according to recent research, this dual goal is not always attained. This study investigates how learning and teaching can be improved in the EMI classroom by providing students with listening strategy instruction (SI). It is hypothesised that students who underwent SI can learn to listen strategically and comprehend the teacher's input more effectively. The results of this study will give rise to pedagogical implications, highlighting what learners can do to become more strategic listeners and how teachers can support them in developing their strategic repertoire.


Year: 2023 - 2025

Project Leader -

Dr FUNG King Tat Daniel

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD $975,180

Role of Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) in Hong Kong University Students’ Perceptions of English as an International Language (EIL)

This project aims to examine the relationship between IDLE and two dimensions of EIL among Hong Kong university students, who are increasingly experiencing diverse accents among users of English through IDLE activities. Drawing on a sequential explanatory mixed-methods research design, data will be collected from 20 ESL/EFL classes at two universities by means of questionnaires (N = 400), open-ended questions (N = 400), semi-structured interviews (n = 40), and stimulated recalls (n = 40). With an interdisciplinary approach drawing from E-learning, sociolinguistics, and TESOL, theoretically this study can help us better understand and further theorize the way in which informal language practice using technology is related to contemporary students’ perceptions of EIL. Pedagogically, the findings will offer practical insights into how English language teachers can better prepare contemporary English learners for cross-cultural interactions in digital or face-to-face milieus.


Year: 2020 - 2022

Project Leader -

Dr LEE Ju Seong

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD453,150

Towards an Understanding of EFL Teacher Educators' Expertise in Hong Kong

This ECS project, drawing on a complexity theory and adopting an ethnographic case study design, seeks to explore teacher educators’ expertise at different stages of their career and how they (re)construct their expertise through different forms of professional practice (eg, teaching, research and practicum supervision) across time and contexts. The study will make a theoretical contribution to our understanding of teacher educator expertise by shedding light on its subject-specific and context-sensitive nature as well as its developmental process mediated by various influencing factors at personal, institutional and societal levels. The study can also generate implications on how to support teacher educators’ professional development at different stages of their career in higher education.


Year: 2017 - 2018

Project Leader -

Dr YUAN Rui Eric

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD416,000

Impact of short-term study in mainland China programme on Hong Kong local university students’ intercultural competence, perception and attitude about mainland China, and national identity

Year: 2018 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr. GU Mingyue Michelle

Capacity: Co-I

Amount: HKD594,435

A Foucauldian Perspective on Citizenship and Identity (Re)Construction Among University Students in Social Movements in Hong Kong

This study aims to investigate how university students understand prevailing political discourses in Hong Kong’s social-political context; investigate the development of citizenship and (re)construction of identity among university students within Hong Kong’ socio-political, cultural and economic discourses; identify the difficulties and challenges students face in their interactions with peers holding different political and ideological views and their coping strategies; and provide theoretical resources and suggest effective university-level measures and individual-level strategies to facilitate students’ whole-person development.


Year: 2020

Project Leader -

Dr GU Ming Yue Michelle

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD$458,735

Assessment as Learning through Portfolio Assessment in the Second Language Writing Classroom

Year: 2021 - 2023

Project Leader -

Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD1,124,244

Multimedia annotations for vocabulary acquisition: Modes, modalities, application, effects and pedagogical implications

Year: 2018 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr. ZOU Di

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD774,430.4

The Effects of Family Socialisation on Second-Generation South Asian Adolescents in Hong Kong: Academic Identity Construction and Second Language Learning

Year: 2018 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr. GU Mingyue Michelle

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD1,022,200

Learning Autonomy and Cross-border Adaptation of First Year Mainland Students in Hong Kong Universities

Year: 2017 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr. YU Baohua

Capacity: Co-I

Amount: RMB10,000

Understanding the nature and impact of teacher and peer feedback on student translations in Chinese EFL context: A multiple case study

Year: 2017 - 2019

Project Leader -

Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline

Capacity: Co-I

Amount: MOP420,000

Digital Archive of English Language Learning Histories

Year: 2014 - 2017

Project Leader -

Dr. John TRENT

Capacity: Co-I

Amount: HKD1,232,000

Multilingualism & Mobility in the Northern & Southern Hemispheres

Year: 2015 - 2016

Project Leader -

Dr. GU Mingyue Michelle

Capacity: Co-I

Amount: HKD120,000

Negotiating Multilingual Identities in Migrant Professional Contexts

Year: 2012 - 2013

Project Leader -

Dr. GU Mingyue Michelle

Capacity: Co-I

Amount: HKD120,000

Spacing effects in L2 vocabulary learning (Gorilla Fund 2020)

Year: 2020 - 2021

Project Leader -

Dr ROGERS John

Capacity: PI

Amount: USD500

Developing implicit and explicit knowledge of L2 case-marking

Year: 2015

Project Leader -

Dr. John Rogers

Capacity: PI

Amount: USD2,000

Translanguaging and Trans-semiotizing Pedagogies in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): Multimodalities-Entextualisation Cycle as a Method

Year: 2021 - 2022

Project Leader -

Dr LIU Yiqi

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD125,000

A New Approach to Content-based Language Teaching and Learning: Integrating Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality into the Flipped Classroom

Year: 2020 - 2021

Project Leader -

Dr ZOU Di

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD150,000

The effects of task-relevant input on L2 interaction, performance, and development. Principle Investigator (Andrea Révész, Co-I)

Year: 2020 - 2021

Project Leader -

Dr ROGERS John

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD125,000

Developing a personalized vocabulary learning system based on the checklist of technique feature analysis

Year: 2017 - 2018

Project Leader -

Dr. ZOU Di

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD100,000

Who Succeeds at University? Modelling Transition Effects of First Year Students’ Learning Experiences and Learning Outcomes at the Education University of Hong Kong

Year: 2016 - 2017

Project Leader -

Dr. YU Baohua

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD100,000

Toward a multidimensional model of acculturation, willingness to communicate and adaptation: A longitudinal examination on mainland students in Hong Kong Universities

Year: 2014 - 2016

Project Leader -

Dr YU Baohua

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD100,000

Hong Kong Teachers' Opinions about Using Translanguaging and Transsemiotizing in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

Year: 2021 - 2022

Project Leader -

Dr LIU Yiqi

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD30,000

Linguistic and Cultural Collaboration between Ethnic Minority Students and Local Majority Students in English Learning: An Exploratory Study in Hong Kong

Year: 2021 - 2022

Project Leader -

Dr JIANG Lianjiang

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD30,000

The Validity and Use of C-test in L2 English Research: A Systematic Review

Year: 2021 - 2022

Project Leader -

Dr FUNG King Tat Daniel

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD30,000

Extramural English and language learning outcomes: Cross-cultural comparison between Sweden and Korea

Year: 2019 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr. LEE Ju Seong

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD$28,607

Reviewing game-based vocabulary learning and vocabulary learning in virtual environments

Year: 2017 - 2018

Project Leader -

Dr. ZOU Di

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD30,000

Understanding teacher students learning motivation, strategies and outcomes in Hong Kong and Mainland China

Year: 2013 - 2015

Project Leader -

Dr. YU Baohua

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD30,000

Hong Kong Secondary School Students’ Perceptions about Using Translanguaging and Trans-semiotizing in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

Year: 2021 - 2022

Project Leader -

Dr LIU Yiqi

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD50,000

Investigating pre-service teachers’ digital literacy competence and teacher identity construction

Year: 2021 - 2022

Project Leader -

Dr GU Mingyue Michelle

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD50,000

Engagement in Online English Learning: Relationships with ICT use enjoyment and Learning Outcomes

Year: 2020 - 2021

Project Leader -

Dr YU Baohua

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD50,000

Linguistic demands in EMI assessment

Year: 2020 - 2021

Project Leader -

Dr FUNG King Tat Danial

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD50,000

An exploratory study on EMI teachers’ professional challenges and needs in Hong Kong

Year: 2019 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr GU Mingyue Michelle

Capacity: Co-PI (Dr GU Mingyue Michelle, Dr YUAN Rui Eric)

Capacity: Co-I (Dr. LEE Ju Seong)

Amount: HK$50,000

Coached versus uncoached negotiation of meaning in a French FL classroom

Year: 2019 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr ROGERS John

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD5,000

Does the provision of cookies influence students’ evaluation of teaching?

Year: 2019 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr ROGERS John

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD2,000

Exploring the effects of a short-term overseas immersion program: The case of Hong Kong student teachers

Year: 2019 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr. LEE Ju Seong and Dr. ZOU Di

Capacity: Co-PI

Amount: HKD50,000

Scaling Up: Piloting a web-based teacher-training platform for 100 primary and secondary preservice and in-service English teachers

Year: 2019 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr TAYLOR Timothy

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD43,000

A study on the validity and reliability of contributory factors and outcome indices of non-local students’ adaptation in Hong Kong

Year: 2018 - 2019

Project Leader -

Dr. YU Baohua

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD50,000

Role of Willingness to Communicate in Adaptation of Asian International Students in Hong Kong Universities: Changes and Causes

Year: 2017 - 2018

Project Leader -

Dr. YU Baohua

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD50,000

Implementing the Secondary English Language Curriculum in Hong Kong under a new era (Phase 2)

Year: 2016 - 2017

Project Leader -

Dr. WONG Ming Har Ruth

Capacity: PI

Amount:  

Starting from Scratch: Implementing the Secondary English Language Curriculum in Hong Kong under a new era (Phase 2)

Year: 2015 - 2016

Project Leader -

Dr. WONG Ming Har Ruth

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD50,000

Starting from Scratch: Implementing the Secondary English Language Curriculum in Hong Kong under a new era (Phase 1)

Year: 2014 - 2015

Project Leader -

Dr. WONG Ming Har Ruth

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD50,000

Changeable or not? Teacher Beliefs of Chinese EFL teachers on Task-based Learning

Year: 2013 - 2014

Project Leader -

Dr. WONG Ming Har Ruth

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD30,000

Engagement and Collaboration of University Students in Hong Kong: A Pilot Study

Year: 2021

Project Leader -

Dr YU Baohua

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD80,000

Self-Regulated Vocabulary Learning: Effects, Challenges, and Strategies

Year: 2021

Project Leader -

Dr ZOU Di

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD80,000

Exploring Student Feedback Literacy Development through Writing Portfolios

Year: 2020 - 2021

Project Leader -

Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD79,999

Spacing effects in learning revisited: A temporal ridgeline for learning L2 vocabulary

Year: 2020 - 2021

Project Leader -

Dr ROGERS John

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD80,000

Student-developed Digital Video Projects as a Way to Promote Students’ Autonomy and Digital Literacy Skills

Year: 2019 - 2020

Project Leader -

Dr YU Baohua

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD70,000

Generative use of vocabulary in web-based and paper-based collaborative and individual writing

Year: 2018 - 2019

Project Leader -

Dr. ZOU Di

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD80,000

Unpacking student self-assessment: What are the self-assessment processes and how do they work?

Year: 2017 - 2019

Project Leader -

Mr. Sterling Shaffer WU

Capacity: Co-I

Amount: HKD250,000

Sorry I can’t help it: The teaching of Vocabulary

Year: 2012 - 2013

Project Leader -

Dr. WONG Ming Har Ruth

Capacity: PI

Amount: HKD30,000