Sociolinguistics

Improving language learning and digital citizenship through Sociolinguistics

The English Language Education (ELE) aims to be a leading research group in Sociolinguistics and education. Its research focuses on critical issues including the challenges faced by ethnic minority students and digital citizenship among adolescents in multilingual and multicultural classrooms. The team takes an interdisciplinary approach to its rigorous research and develops intervention programmes to improve awareness, attitudes, and behaviours among stakeholders. Its work, supported by competitive grants, has resulted in publications in internationally renowned journals.

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Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure posperity for all.

The research team contributes towards the following SDG(s):

Our Researcher(s)

Dr LEE, Ju Seong

Department of English Language Education

jslee@eduhk.hk

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The programme addresses critical challenges in multilingual and multicultural educational contexts, focusing in particular on the educational experiences of ethnic minority students, digital citizenship among adolescents, and the development of teacher identity. It investigates how language policies, teaching methodologies, and educational technologies can better serve diverse student populations. The programme also examines the effectiveness of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) with translanguaging approaches and explores home-school partnerships to support student achievement among ethnic minorities.

This research is significant in advancing the understanding of sociolinguistics in educational contexts, especially in multilingual and multicultural settings like that of Hong Kong. It provides evidence-based solutions for improving educational outcomes for ethnic minority students while simultaneously developing innovative pedagogical approaches. The findings will influence policy and practice in language education, teacher preparation, and digital citizenship. They not only contribute to theoretical frameworks in sociolinguistics and education but also offer practical interventions to enhance teaching and learning in diverse environments.

The programme benefits multiple stakeholders, including students (particularly ethnic minorities and language learners), teachers (both pre-service and in-service), school administrators, policymakers, and parents. Its impact extends across educational levels, from young learners to university students, in Hong Kong, mainland China, and other English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings. The research also benefits nursing education through CLIL applications and promotes digital citizenship development among adolescents. Its findings will be disseminate to, and contribute to, international academic communities through knowledge transfer events and high-impact publications.

Externally Funded Research Projects

Project
SCOLAR (Research & Development Project) Innovating with a translanguaging/trans-semiotizing informed LAC model to improve ESL junior secondary students’ academic English literacy
General Research Fund Bridging the Gap: Investigating the Effectiveness of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) with Translanguaging and Trans-semiotizing Pedagogy in Nursing Education
Early Career Scheme Learning to Listen in EMI: The Effects of Strategy Instruction on Strategic Behaviour and Learner Uptake
General Research Fund The impact of online social networking (OSN) practices on adolescents' online identity and self-concept clarity (SCC): Patterns and mechanisms
SCOLAR Family Language Policy among Underprivileged Families in Hong Kong in the Digitalized Era: Antecedents, processes, and effects on English language learning
General Research Fund Youth digital literacy practices, online social networking and well-being: antecedents, patterns and interplay
General Research Fund Investigating Adolescents’ Digital Citizenship through Social Media: (Trans)Formation, Digital Literacy Practices and Influential Factors
General Research Fund The Identity Construction Experiences of Teachers of English to Young Learners in Mainland China
General Research Fund Preparing pre-service language teachers to teach critical thinking: An ethnographic case study in Hong Kong
General Research Fund Home-School Partnerships to Support Ethnic Minority Student Achievement in Hong Kong

Selected Publications

Zhang, S., Mingyue Gu, M., Sun, W., & Jin, T. (2024). Digital literacy competence, digital literacy practices and teacher identity among pre-service teachers. Journal of Education for Teaching, 50(3), 464-478. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2023.2283426 (SSCI, Q2 in Education)
Gu, M. M., Jiang, G. L., & Chiu, M. M. (2024). Translanguaging, motivation, learning, and intercultural citizenship among EMI students: A structural equation modelling analysis. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 100, 101983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2024.101983 (SSCI, Q1 in Social Sciences)
Jiang, L., Zhou, N., Gu, M. M., & Li, X. (2024). Exploring student motivation and engagement in EMI: A latent profile analysis. Language and Education, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2024.2311146 (SSCI, Q1 in Education)
Lu, C., & Gu, M. M. (2024). Review of research on digital translanguaging among teachers and students: A visual analysis through CiteSpace. System, 123, 103314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2024.103314 (SSCI, Q1 in Linguistics)
Lu, C., & Gu, M. M. (2024). A systematic review and meta-analysis of factors and outcomes of digital citizenship among adolescents. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2023.2296352 (SSCI, Q2 in Education)
Gu, M. M., Huang, C. F., & Lee, C. K. J. (2023). Investigating university students’ digital citizenship development through the lens of digital literacy practice: A Translingual and transemiotizing perspective. Linguistics and Education, 77, 101226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2023.101226 (SSCI, Q1 in Linguistics)
Li, Z., Gu, M. M., & Zhu, Y. (2023). Identity and cultural intimacy of Central Asian students in a Hong Kong university. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2023.2272148 (ESCI, Q1 in Education)
Gu, M. M., Jiang, L., & Ou, W. A. (2022). Exploring the professional teacher identity as ethical self-formation of two multilingual native English teachers. Language Teaching Research. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/13621688221117061 (SSCI, Q1 in Education)
Gu, M., & Tong, H. K. (2020). Constructing classed linguistic practices across borders: Family language policy in South(east) Asian families in Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 41(7), 581-599. doi: 10.1080/01434632.2019.1622708 (SSCI, Q1 in Linguistics)
Gu, M. M., & Yu, L. (2022). An investigation of citizenship construction among students in higher education: A Foucauldian perspective. Higher Education, 84(1), 51-65. doi: 10.1007/s10734-021-00754-z (SSCI, Q1 in Education)
Ou, W. A., & Gu, M. M. (2022). Competence beyond language: Translanguaging and spatial repertoire in teacher-student interaction in a music classroom in an international Chinese University. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(8), 2741-2758. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2021.1949261 (SSCI, Q1 in Linguistics)
Huang, C. F. (2022). Transgression in institutional space: Heteroglossic political signs in a Hong Kong university. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 26(4), 441-461. doi: 10.1111/josl.12554
Gu, M. M., & Huang, C. F. (2022). Transforming habitus and recalibrating capital: University students’ experiences in online learning and communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Linguistics and Education, 69. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2022.101057 (SSCI, Q1 in Linguistics)
Lee, J. S., Lee, K., & Chen Hsieh, J. (2022). Understanding willingness to communicate in L2 between Korean and Taiwanese students. Language Teaching Research, 26(3), 455-476. doi: 10.1177/1362168819890825
Lo, Y. Y., Lin, A. M. Y., & Liu, Y. (2023). Exploring content and language co-construction in CLIL with semantic waves. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 26(3), 289-310. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2020.1810203
Liu, Y. & Lin, A. M. Y.(2024 forthcoming) .Spontaneous teacher collaboration in early primary CLIL classrooms with pupils of special educational needs (SEN): A dynamic translanguaging and trans-semiotizing perspective. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2024.2441408
Liu, Y. & Lin, A. M. Y. (2024). Positioning gender in time-travel: time-travel TV dramas as dialogic resources for constructing and re-imagining identity among Mainland Chinese postgraduates in Hong Kong. Feminist Media Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2024.2374813
Liu, Y. (2024) Translanguaging for doing gender in English-medium classrooms in Hong Kong: Towards critical CLIL in plurilingual settings. Journal of Language, Identity & Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2023.2281959
Liu, Y. (2020). Translanguaging and trans-semiotizing as planned systematic scaffolding: Examining feeling-meaning in CLIL classrooms. English Teaching and Learning, 44, 149–173.
Liu, Y. (2022). Pedagogy of Multiliteracies in Self-directed Content and Language Integrated Learning: Innovating with the Social System-Genre- Multimodalities (SGM) framework. OLBI Journal.
Liu, Y. (accepted). Social semiotics and critical applied linguistics. In A. M. Y. Lin and P. d. Santos (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (2nd Edition).Wiley.
Liu, Y. and Lin, A. M. Y. (2021). “Translanguaging and trans-semiotizing as artistic performance: Rapping the city, rapping the Hong Kong identity”. In T. K. Lee (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City. Routledge.

International achievements or awards

Oct 2024, Sept 2022 - The top 2% most-cited scientists in the world by Stanford University (Prof Angel Lin, Prof Gu Ming Yue Michelle, Prof John Trent

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