Perspectives and Foci

Topic and Abstract of Keynote Speaker

Professor LEE Chi-Kin John

President

Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction

The Education University of Hong Kong

Topic: Translanguaging, AI & Talent Development: Implications for Leadership in Language Education

Abstract:

Structuralists’ static view of the boundaries of languages is challenged and blurred when we move towards translanguaging. This paper explores the multifaceted aims of translanguaging, including revitalizing and maintaining vulnerable languages, maximizing communicative potential through accessing different linguistic features or various modes of autonomous languages (Garcia, 2009, p.140), and enhancing the motivation for learning the target languages. It also highlights how language learning is more closely linked with real-life communication or career purposes (particularly in non-specialized jobs), makes language learning more accessible and less stressful for beginners, and provides social-emotional support for emergent bilingual (EB) students (DeFalco, 2023).

Regarding the assessment, this paper advocates for eliciting more meaningful and relevant evidence of students’ knowledge and skills. It investigates the challenges and opportunities of translanguaging practices in language assessment, such as the“holistic trans-semiotic repertoire and two languages and skills messily co-exist” and the phenomenon of students using their L1 in L2-focused (target language) or monolingual designs (e.g., English-based tests). The paper also addresses the need for multi-modal and multisensorial assemblances in language testing, a wider range of research subjects, and inclusive assessment approaches that include different forms of expression in translanguaging assessment through drama, music, singing, narration, art as well as using hand gestures and signals.

Translanguaging under the AI era & other issues of talent development provide implications for leadership at various levels for language education.

Professor LI Wei

Director and Dean

Professor of Applied Linguistics

Institute of Education, University College London

Topic: Co-Learning and Leadership in Language Education in the Digital Age

Abstract:

Digital transformation of language education invites a reassessment of the role of the teacher. When learners, and the general public, feel that they can learn languages with GenAI-enabled digital mobile apps, and when large quantities of information are freely accessible at one’s fingertips, what is the role of the teacher in front of the class? Do teachers understand how social media savvy students learn? Moreover, how should teacher education programmes address the new challenges that the posthuman society presents?

This presentation explores the concept of ‘co-learning’ and its practical professional implications for language education in the digital age, especially with regards to leadership issues. Coming from AI and computer simulation, co-learning in essence is a process in which several agents simultaneously try to adapt to one another's behaviour so as to produce desirable global outcomes that would be shared by the contributing agents. When applied to teaching and learning, co-learning entails the teacher and the learner constantly monitoring and adapting their actions and learn from each other in order to achieve desirable learning outcomes. Co-learning in the classroom does not simply involve the teacher in developing strategies to allow equitable participation for all in the classroom; co- learning requires much unlearning of cultural conditioning and challenges the traditional authoritative, dominant and subordinate role sets in schooling environments and the unequal power relationships in wider spheres of our world. It empowers the learner, and builds a more genuine community of practice. It moves the teacher and the learner towards a more dynamic and participatory engagement in knowledge construction. Co-learning requires transpositioning on behalf of the teacher in particular and a new understanding of leadership in language education.

Professor HE Weiyun Agnes

Professor of Applied Linguistics

Stony Brook University

Topic: Multilingual Minds: The Cornerstone of 21st-Century Leadership and Cultural Resilience

Abstract: 

Multilingualism is more than the ability to speak multiple languages—it is a gateway to diverse ways of thinking, being, and leading. Grounded in linguistic anthropology, this keynote explores how multilingual minds are uniquely equipped to navigate the complexities of the 21st century, fostering cultural resilience and transformative leadership.

In a world defined by rapid change, the most critical ability is to adapt, grow, and continually reinvent ourselves. Multilingualism, based upon multiple and mutually embedding linguistic indexical systems (Ochs), embodies this adaptive mindset. It enables individuals to develop cognitive flexibility and to see problems through varied cultural lenses, which is essential for addressing global challenges that transcend borders and demand innovative, inclusive solutions. Multilingualism also allows individuals to integrate diverse cultural models (Holland & Quinn), fostering empathy, cross-cultural understanding, and the ability to create spaces for dialogue and mutual respect. Finally, as a social practice (Bourdieu), multilingualism equips individuals to navigate complex social dynamics, power structures, and identities. By mastering and meshing multiple linguistic codes, multilingual leaders build trust across cultures and lead with cross-cultural competence.

In an era dominated by AI and digital tools, the human capacity for nuanced communication and cultural insight remains irreplaceable. This keynote aims to inspire the audience to view multilingualism not just as a skill, but as a mindset. It is a mindset that fosters and amplifies continuous adaptability, integrates diverse cultural models, and identifies innovative, inclusive solutions. It is also a mindset rooted in a deep understanding of the intricate social realities that span across cultures. The speech concludes with a call for a paradigm shift in education, prioritizing multilingualism as a foundational capability for global citizenship and leadership in the 21st century.

Professor ZHU Hua

Professor of Language Learning and Intercultural Communication

Institute of Education, University College London

Topic: Dancing In-Between: Turning Differences Into Strengths in Internationalising Universities

Abstract:

In 2016, I co-edited a volume on Crossing boundaries and weaving intercultural work, life and scholarship in globalising universities. Through the narratives of transnational scholars, the volume explores how academics navigate new institutions, cultures, and interpersonal relationships. In this talk, I revisit the key insights from that earlier work and reflect on how transnational academics continue to ‘dance in-between’—between languages, roles, institutions, cultures, and expectations amongst shifting geopolitical climates, heightened calls for inclusion, and the expanding role of digital technologies. By tracing continuity and change over nearly a decade, this talk invites a conversation on how we can better understand, support, and value the boundary-crossing work that defines academic life in a global and digital age.

Professor John O' REGAN

Professor of Critical Applied Linguistics

Institute of Education, University College London

Topic: Transpositional Processes in Intercultural Practice: The Planar Subjectivities of Leadership in Transnational Academic Settings

Abstract:

In the late modern era, the hyper-globalization of the world has given rise to an explosion in trans perspectives on language, culture and identity. For example, global academia has come to characterized by transnational working, often through the medium of English. In conjunction with English as a dominant lingua franca for transnational academic working, under the conditions of hyper-globalization we also operate simultaneously in multiple semiotic modes, leading to endlessly emergent semiotic assemblage configurations, for example as translanguaging (transgression of linguistic boundaries), transmodality (transgression of non-linguistic semiotic boundaries) and transpositionality (transgression of singular positions and identities). The postmodern orientation to the ceaseless flux of languages, semiotic modes and identities is epitomised by Bauman’s liquid modernity and its identification of a modernity that is marked by contingency, fluidity, hybridity and an inclination to constant change. The liquid modernist obligation to engage with multiple technological and communicative networks as part of human life also takes us into the domain of the posthuman, and that of hybrid, multiple and contextually contingent identities and practices – transpositionality in a word. In this talk, I approach the posthuman condition and transpositionality from to a critical realist perspective so as to illustrate how the liquid modernity of the posthuman condition when set against the materialities of structural power does not fully take account of the underlying causalities which are responsible for the ongoing reproduction of hegemonic norms and subjectivities.

Professor GU Mingyue Michelle

Professor of Sociolinguistics

The Education University of Hong Kong

Topic: From Netflix’s Adolescence to Adolescent Selves: Identity and Digital Trans-literacies

Abstract:

This talk explores adolescent identity formation through a sociolinguistic lens, using the cultural phenomenon of Netflix’s Adolescence as a springboard for theoretical inquiry. I employ the concept of digital trans-literacies (Gu et al, under review) and presents youths’ discursive identity development in social media to theorize how adolescents construct, negotiate, and perform identity through online discourse. Drawing on sociolinguistic and developmental frameworks, the talk addresses how algorithm-driven platforms and peer interaction co-construct identity, with implications for emotional well-being, and critical digital literacy. It also elucidates in the digital era, how social media impacts identity via individuals’ different kinds of engagements in the self-content-environment interaction.