Faculty Newsletter

The Second ELE e-Learning Roundtable

The Department of English Language Education (ELE) held the 2nd ELE e-Learning Roundtable on 8 June 2019. The event was organised to share the experiences from local English teachers involved in the project “Unleashing e-Resources in English Language Education (URiELL)” supported by the University’s Central Reserve Fund. The project’s aim is to promote the integration of e-Learning in English language teaching in primary and secondary schools through an organic approach to professional development. The roundtable introduced the soft launch of eTeachers.online, which is a website that provides news, tutorials, case studies and research generated from the URiELL project and community. The roundtable also included a keynote presentation, roundtable discussion and parallel sessions. The discussion explored the topic of what teachers can do to gain focus after their first exploratory year of integrating technology into their classrooms.

Department of English Language Education

Learning Group Lunchtime Seminar

The Department of English Language Education (ELE) Learning Group on e-Learning held a lunchtime seminar titled “Introduction to Google Classroom for Course tutors and Field Experience (FE) supervisors” on 29 August 2019. ELE has formed learning interest groups as a way to develop the department’s strengths and disseminate that knowledge back to the wider community through seminars. As a way to share this knowledge, a member of the Learning Group on e-Learning, Mr Sterling Wu, held the seminar introducing the use of Google Classroom as a means to manage and provide support to students on FE and in regular courses. The event was well received and attended.

Department of English Language Education

Inaugural Conference on Language Teaching and Learning: Cognition and Identity

The Department of English Language Education organised the Inaugural Conference on Language Teaching and Learning: Cognition and Identity on 28 and 29 June 2019.

Department of English Language Education

Exploring Dynamic Korea 2019

The cultural event “Exploring Dynamic Korea 2019”, held on 11 October 2019 by the Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies (LML), attracted more than 100 staff and students.

Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies

French Breakfast

The Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies organised a French Breakfast on 7 November 2019, with the aim to pique participants’ interest in learning French and the culture.

Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies

Students’ Internship at the Hong Kong Museum of History

In 2019, students from the Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Chinese History) and Bachelor of Education (Honours) (History) had an opportunity to become engaged with their subject in a very hands-on way. 17 students were recruited as interns at the Hong Kong Museum of History to provide services there and at other history-oriented museums around Hong Kong for six months. They attended 12 hours of seminars given by the staff of the Museum. There were 10 hours of workshops on topics to do with laboratory work in preservation, collection management and learning to be a docent. They gave presentations in small groups on what they had learned before they offered their services. Besides the Hong Kong Museum of History, students provided services to the Sun Yat-Sen Museum, the Fireboat Alexander Grantham Exhibition Gallery, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and the Law Uk Folk Museum. They worked on preservation and upkeep of artefacts. They wrote exhibit captions and helped to plan exhibits. They also worked on the preparation and dismantling of special exhibitions. Dr David Kang Jong Hyuk, Associate Head and Assistant Professor of the Department of Literature and Cultural Studies remarks, “Sometimes, study in history classrooms is too detached from the vividness of past events. When students handle documents and artefacts, they gain a valuable perspective.” He continues, “As history educators, students need to explain historical events to students. From the experience of being docents, students better understand how to use the kind of materials that are to be found in a museum.”

Department of Literature and Cultural Studies

"On the Spirit and Quintessence of the Classics" Open Forum

The Department of Literature and Cultural Studies (LCS) held an open forum on 18 September 2019 titled "On the Spirit and Quintessence of the Classics", which attracted about 60 students and staff members as participants.

Department of Literature and Cultural Studies

Watermelon Carving and Hocus Pocus: A Spooktacular Witchy Event

The International Tutors of the Centre for Language in Education offered two spooky and fun Halloween events at the Arthur Samy Language Learning Centre on 31 October 2019. The Watermelon Carving and Hocus Pocus: A Spooktacular Witchy Event aimed to show students the different cultures of Halloween and to enhance their English language skills through different activities.

Centre for Language in Education

Student Sharing of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language – Overseas Field Experience

Guan Zhiming, Year 4 Student of BA(TCSL) (2019/20) - Through Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language (BA[TCSL]), my subject knowledge and personal attributes have been strengthened significantly. Teachers of The Education University of Hong Kong are very helpful and willing to provide a lot of useful guidance. The most challenging and rewarding part of the programme is the overseas field experience at Beijing Language and Culture University in summer. We were given the opportunity to practise as a student teacher. By engaging in preparatory work like lesson planning and selection of teaching materials, our problem solving skills and critical thinking skills were greatly enhanced. Also, since we were teaching non-Chinese speaking students, interacting with them as friends and teachers have enlightened our global perspectives and trained our communication skills. Overall, these are the valuable experiences we have learned from the BA(TCSL) and overseas field experience.

Faculty of Humanities

Student Sharing of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Language Studies and Bachelor of Education (Honours) (English Language) (Co-terminal Double Degree) – Our Journey of Learning Literature

Zheng Hanzhi, Year 4 Student of BA(Lang Studies) & BEd(EL) (Co-terminal Double Degree (2019/20) - The literature-related courses in Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Language Studies and Bachelor of Education (Honours) (English Language) (Co-terminal Double Degree) can be summed up as a gradual, step-by-step process. Approaching English Literature is mainly to cultivate our interest. Literature in Context enables us to understand literature in the context of its own epoch. The three genre courses on fiction, drama and poetry help us to build connections between classic works and the present. They relate the universal meaning of literary classics with contemporary life. In the course LIT2045 Literatures in English II: Drama, in particular, in addition to having a traditional written test and a personal essay as the assessment method, we were given an opportunity to perform scenes in class and present a creative reinterpretation of the plays covered in the course, which promoted imaginative engagement with the literary texts. Through the process of working on a new presentation of a masterpiece, we exercised creative and critical thinking skills. Moreover, the assignment allowed us to provide masterpieces with new, different endings, which can provide more meaning for a modern audience while also carrying the primary intention of the original work. As a result of our literature courses, we are more able to relate the unfading spiritual power of authors and artists with the contemporary era. These courses help us grow. We learn to walk on the right path, one step at a time.

Faculty of Humanities

Student Sharing of Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Chinese Language) – Reflection on Summer Internship Scheme

Tang Lai Shan, Year 3 Student of BEd(CL) (2019/20) - I participated in the Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Chinese Language) Summer Internship Scheme in Summer 2019 and was allocated to teach an intensive writing course for language enhancement in a secondary school. My goal was to cultivate students' interests and creativity in Chinese writing, and further enhance their ability in Chinese writing and appreciating skills.

Faculty of Humanities

Student Sharing of Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Chinese History) – Reflection on the Museum Internship

Cheng Sam Yuet, Year 4 Student of BEd(CHI HIST) (2019/20) - In summer 2019, I participated in an internship programme at the Hong Kong Museum of History. The internship scheme was co-organised by the Department of Literature and Culture Studies of The Education University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Museum of History. The purpose of the internship is to promote participants’ awareness and opportunity to engage in the museum’s work and operation. I learned a lot from the internship and believed that it will be of great benefit to other students in the Chinese History and History programmes.

Faculty of Humanities

Student Sharing of Bachelor of Education (Honours) (History) – Fostering Global Mindset

Yang Shuojun, Year 4 Student of BEd(HIST) (2019/20) - As a student of the Bachelor of Education (Honours) (History), I have been given different training and opportunities to foster a global mindset especially through understanding the diverse social and cultural contexts of History. Apart from focusing on my major study, I took part in the University’s overseas exchange programme in Semester II of 2018/19.

Faculty of Humanities