A Research Hub Devoted to the Study of Linguistics and Language Studies and Beyond

(只有英文版 English version only)

The Research Cluster Fund (RCF) project “Establishing a Research Cluster in The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) for Promoting Research on Multilingual Acquisition and Multilingual Education” has brought forth a group of colleagues of EdUHK who have expertise in the field of multilingual acquisition and multilingual education to form a research cluster. Led by Dr Wang Lixun (Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies (LML)), Professor Cheung Hin Tat (Centre for Research on Linguistics and Language Studies (CRLLS) and LML), Professor Bob Adamson (Department of International Education and Lifelong Learning (IELL)), Dr Kataoka Shin (LML), Dr Gao Fang (IELL) and Dr Pamela Leung Pui Wan (Department of Chinese Language Studies (CHL) and Centre for Language in Education (CLE)). This project has brought EdUHK the potential to take the leading role in promoting research on multilingual acquisition and multilingual education. Numerous seminars, open to the public, have been held regularly targeting teaching staff and students in order to continuously promote research in multilingual acquisition and multilingual education and to keep them informed and updated on current research trend in this field.

An international conference on multilingual acquisition and multilingual education will be held from 22 to 24 June 2019, where leading scholars in the field from around the world will give keynote speeches and the project team members and other scholars from around the world will present their research at the conference. As multilingualism is gaining momentum in this globalised world, especially in the Asian context, it is hoped that through the conference we can promote Hong Kong as a hub for academic exchanges and collaborations in the area of multilingual acquisition and multilingual education.

By the end of the project, the team plans to come up with a joint proposal to bid for the Hong Kong government Strategic Public Policy Research Fund, and the proposed project will aim at gaining a better understanding of multilingual education policies in Hong Kong, and how multilingual education can be carried out more effectively in Hong Kong. Recommendations will be made. It is hoped that the research cluster will strengthen the research profile of EdUHK in this field, and when language policy related issues need to be addressed or discussed, the government or EDB will consider consulting the team because of their expertise and reputation in this field.

On another aspect, CRLLS and Centre for Clinical Neurolinguistics of Shandong University cohosted the “Symposium on Chinese Clinical Linguistics and Child Language Development” from 23 to 25 November 2018 in Jinan, Shandong. Professor Cheung attended the meeting on behalf of the centre and conducted a workshop on child language development to share his expertise with other fellow scholars.

Dr Pamela Leung (CHL)’s seminar on 3 October 2018 was attended by more than 40 participants. Her seminar was on “Rethinking of Chinese language instruction for non-Chinese speaking students in Hong Kong”.

 

Dr Kataoka Shin’s seminar on “Roles of Cantonese romanization in multilingual Hong Kong” was held on 21 November 2018.

 

A group photo of scholars attending the “Symposium on Chinese Clinical Linguistics and Child Language Development”. Professor Cheung Hin Tat, the Director of CRLLS, is the fifth from the right in front row.