Research Projects
In 2011-2012, the Centre conducted a wide range of projects, focused on the following areas:
Academic Genres
- Disciplinary & Seniority Variations in Research Articles: A Corpus-based Study of Metadiscourse (P. Tse)
- “I believe that” or “It is suggested that”? Authorial presence in the use of reporting verbs in ‘soft’ discipline academic writing by community college students in Hong Kong (K. Ho)
- Interaction in two journalistic genres (K. Hyland)
- Stance and voice in Final Year Reports (K. Hyland)
Autonomy and Language Learning
- The Effectiveness of Integrating a Self-access Learning Component into a Taught Course (E. Law)
- Enhancing the Use of English (D. Gardner, K. Li, A. Lok, P. Martin and J. Petsch)
- Evaluating the Effectiveness of Teacher Development for Self-Directed Learning Facilitation in CAES (C. Lai, D. Gardner and E. Law)
- Learner Motivation in Self-Access Language Learning (D. Gardner and K. Yung)
- Peer Tutoring: Out-of-Class Speaking Opportunities (D. Gardner and P. Voller)
- Self-Access Language Learning Managers (D. Gardner and L. Miller, City University of Hong Kong)
Discourse Analysis
- Identities and roles in academic and workplace communication (K. Lau)
- ‘The most popular English star-tutor in Hong Kong’: Discursive construction of tutor identities in shadow education websites (K. Yung)
English-in-the-Discipline
- Design and Piloting of three “English in the Discipline” Courses for History, Music, and Linguistics Students (M. Hui-Bon-Hoa (CAES), A.Umberto (Department of Linguistics); D. Pomfret, C. Schencking and G.Q. Xu (all from Department of History); H.Y. Chan, K. Youn, G. Biancorosso and D. Waugh (all from Department of Music); S. Matthews (Department of Linguistics); K. Muse, L. Wakeland, M. Tang and M. Sung (CAES)
- English-in-the-discipline for Modern Languages and Cultures Students (L.L.C. Wong and F. Sin)
- Enhancing a corpus-based approach to academic literacy and language learning in the fourth-year English-in-the-Discipline course in the new dental curriculum (L. Cheung and C. McGrath (Faculty of Dentistry, HKU)
Language Acquisition
- The blessing or curse of multilingualism: Cross-linguistic influence amongst Cantonese, English and French (W. L. Tsang)
- English learning motivation in shadow education and its impact on higher education (K. Yung)
- Shadow education in Hong Kong: The experience of learners of English (K. Yung)
Language Education
- Contextual influences on student perceptions of teacher written feedback: The case of a Legal Research and Writing (LRW) Course in Hong Kong (P. Smyth)
- Corpora and innovation in the language classroom (K. Hyland)
- Language, Education Policy and Social Cohesion in Post-conflict Sri Lanka (S. Roberts)
- Messages in tutor responses to students’ writing in English (K. Hyland)
- Writing Practices of Undergraduate Business Students in Hong Kong (E. Kwan)
Literature in Language Learning
- Asian poetry in English: The development of poets and their voices (A.S.L. Lam, C.S. P. Ng and K.Y.N.Tse)
Technology and Teacher Professional Development
- Curriculum innovation and teacher change: IT in teacher professional development (L.L.C. Wong)
Funding
Funding for the projects came from various sources including Research Grants Council General Research Fund, Teaching Development Grants, Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research, Leung Kau Kui Research,Teaching Endownment Fund and Merit Award from HKU.
