Research and Professional Development Committee

In 2009-2010, the Centre conducted a wide range of projects, focused in the following areas:

Academic genres

• An exploration of students’ discourse choices in 5^th year tutorial interaction in problem-based learning (PBL) medical curriculum (A. Storey)
• Genre acquisitions, identities and roles in placements’ communities of practice (K. Lau)
• Identifying the English language and communicative demands of bedside learning of students in the clinical years (L. K. Chan, Institute of Medical and Health Science Education; L. K. Tse and A. Storey)
• Identity and academic writing (K. Hyland)
• Interaction in problem-based learning (PBL) in Clinical Medicine: A discoursal inquiry into the development of professional participation (A. Storey)
• A pilot English in the major project with the Faculty of Science (D. Gardner and D. L. Phillips, Chemistry)
• Research article biographies in three disciplines (K. Hyland and P. Tse, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

Language education

• Applying outcomes-based teaching and learning and English in the discipline in the BSc [Information Management] program (S. Chu, Education; N. Fong and E. Martyn)
• The development of an English for academic purposes course at the University of Hong Kong: From needs analysis to course evaluation (M. Legg)
• Development of and pilot of a General University English course for the 2012 four-year curriculum (M. Legg, L. S. W. Chan, L. H. Y. Chan and W. L. Tsang)
• Exploring the effectiveness of teaching methods incorporating formulaic sequences for L2 oral fluency development (J. Chan; M. Evans, University of Cambridge; and B. Kwan, City University of Hong Kong)
• Integration, implementation and preliminary evaluation of VELA (Virtual English Language Advisor) into HKU VEC (Virtual English Centre) (P. Voller)
• An evaluation of the custom-made electronic platform for self-reflections in the English enhancement courses for the Faculty of Dentistry (L. Cheung, Y. Loong and L. K. Tse)
• In-service teacher development for facilitating learner autonomy in curriculum-based SALL (C. Lai)
• Proposal for a pilot project for the development of a business communication assessment mechanism for the Faculty of Business and Economics (Y. Loong, P. Smyth, A. Lau, Business and Economics; and E. Christopher, Business and Economics)
• Proposal for a pilot English in the major project with the Faculty of Dentistry (L. Cheung, Y. Loong, L. K. Tse and C. McGrath, Dentistry)
• Reflective practice in portfolios: The case of an English for legal purposes course (P. Smyth)
• Second language motivation and possible L2 selves of university students in a self-access language learning (SALL) programme (L. H. Y. Chan and D. Gardner)
• A study of the vocabulary learning strategies of Dentistry students in an English for academic purposes (EAP) course (Y. Loong and L. S. W. Chan)

Language acquisition

• The L3 acquisition of null arguments in Japanese (I. Leung, Linguistics; W. L. Tsang and V. Yip, Linguistics and Modern Languages, Chinese University of Hong Kong)
• The L3 acquisition of null arguments in Mandarin Chinese (I. Leung, Linguistics; W. L. Tsang and V. Yip, Linguistics and Modern Languages, Chinese University of Hong Kong)
• The Mandarin interlanguage corpus (W. L. Tsang and Y. Yeung, School of Chinese)

Literature in language learning:

• Contemporary Asian poetry in English: The development of poets and their voices (A. Lam)

Funding

Funding for the projects came from various sources including the Research Grants Council, the Teaching Development Grants, the Committee on Research and Conference Grants, Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research, and the University Grants Committee.