The internet's anonymity and unrestricted access facilitates both (a) hacking, online aggressions, and cyberbullying of adolescents and (b) opportunities to learn, socialize, and accept one another. Teaching students to participate in online communities and society (digital citizenship [DC] education) can help them (a) protect themselves from such harmful behaviors and (b) maximize their positive affordances. To provide such education, we must understand the ethically, socially, and culturally meaningful literacy practices that support positive DC. Past studies primarily examined the DC views of individuals (mostly adults rather than adolescents) but not how they actually enact their DC through digital literacy practices across social media and/or social networking contexts, or the factors that influence their DCs. Without such knowledge, properly preparing our young people for DC will be extremely challenging.
Year: 2023 - 2025
Project Leader -
Dr GU Mingyue Michelle
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD $1,095,862
Metacognition, defined as the individual’s knowledge about cognitive processes and the application of this knowledge for controlling the cognitive process, has a stronghold in educational vernacular. It has been well documented in the literature that metacognition does not develop automatically in students and teachers play an instrumental role in fostering learners’ metacognition to optimize instructional effectiveness. Yet, the literature points to a dearth of teachers who possess adequate knowledge about metacognition at their disposal or the expertise in developing students’ metacognitive capacities. There is an urgent call for more research into the advancement of teachers’ professional knowledge in metacognition to enhance the learning processes of the students. Against this backdrop, the project will examine how teachers integrate metacognitive learning and instruction into the writing classroom; how, and to what extent teachers develop their competence in metacognitive writing instruction; and what factors influence teachers’ development of competence in metacognitive writing instruction.
Year: 2023 - 2024
Project Leader -
Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline
Capacity: PI
Amount: $737,140
Internationalisation is gaining in popularity in higher education. Bilingual programmes where a second language is used as the medium of instruction have thus become increasingly popular. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) with both content and language having an integrated curricular role is one such programme. There has been fruitful research on CLIL in various contexts in primary and secondary education. However, how to integrate target language support (eg English) with content teaching at university has not featured prominently in research literature. The study will investigate the impact of CLIL on university students’ content and language development in English-medium nursing education. The CLIL pedagogy in the study will draw upon recent theoretical development of translanguaging and trans-semiotising. Results of the study will inform bilingual university education, nursing education and theory and practice of translanguaging and trans-semiotising.
Year: 2021 - 2023
Project Leader -
Dr LIU Yiqi
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD731,844
A growing body of literature has discovered that the potential of feedback to enhance learning rests upon student feedback literacy. Despite being acknowledged as significant, empirical research on student feedback literacy, especially in L2 writing, is underexplored. Adopting a case study design spanning one academic year, the present study seeks to examine elementary students’ development of student feedback literacy through the use of writing portfolios; how, and to what extent such development of student feedback literacy may influence text revisions and writing improvement; and what the factors are that influence the development of student feedback literacy. The study will contribute to the limited literature on the development of student feedback literacy with the potential to offer pedagogical implications for enhancing students’ feedback literacy, which in turn will encourage greater learner agency and improvement in writing.
Year: 2021 - 2023
Project Leader -
Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline
Capacity: HKD661,240
This project seeks to investigate how student teachers are prepared to teach CT in a pre-service language teacher education programme in Hong Kong. Adopting an ethnographic case study design and informed by an ecological perspective on teacher education, the project will explore how student teachers learn to teach CT in relation to their programme coverage, coherence and applicability. The project will also draw on multiple perspectives from language teacher educators and programme leaders/coordinators to discover how CT is integrated with their situated teacher education curricula. Such an ethnographic design not only can contribute to our understanding of CT, but can also generate insights into the dynamic, complex process of teacher learning across different sites, influenced by a range of institutional and socio-cultural factors.
Year: 2019 - 2021
Project Leader -
Dr YUAN Rui Eric
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD614,740
This project responds to the need for research into the teaching of English to young learners (TEYL), defined as children between the ages of 5-12. Despite the significant increase in popularity of TEYL globally, including mainland China, our knowledge of how TEYL is implemented, the attitudes of teachers, and the challenges they face is scant. This project, therefore, addresses this gap in our understanding of English language teaching and learning by exploring the experiences of one group of primary school English teachers in mainland China. A particular contribution of this project is to examine the experiences and perceptions of teachers of English to young learners using the theoretical lens of teacher identity. The results of this project will be of interest to policy makers, teacher educators, school authorities, researchers, and teachers of young learners themselves, both in mainland China and analogous educational settings worldwide.
Year: 2019 - 2021
Project Leader -
Dr TRENT John Gilbert
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD614,033
The project investigates the expectations and experiences of home-school relations amongst different groups of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong schools.
Year: 2019 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr TRENT John Gilbert
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD716,564
Year: 2018 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr GU Mingyue Michelle
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD623,992
Year: 2018 - 2019
Project Leader -
Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline
Capacity: Co-I
Amount: HKD591,992
This project will investigate the experiences of eight English language teachers in Hong Kong during their initial years of full-time teaching.
Year: 2016 - 2018
Project Leader -
Dr TRENT John Gilbert
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD221,472
Year: 2014 - 2016
Project Leader -
Dr YU Baohua
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD531,750
Year: 2014 - 2016
Project Leader -
Dr GU Mingyue Michelle
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD368,500
In English Medium Instruction (EMI), students learn content subjects (e.g., Science, Geography) through English, which is their less familiar second language (L2). The underlying assumption is that students can gain both content subject knowledge and L2 English. However, according to recent research, this dual goal is not always attained. This study investigates how learning and teaching can be improved in the EMI classroom by providing students with listening strategy instruction (SI). It is hypothesised that students who underwent SI can learn to listen strategically and comprehend the teacher's input more effectively. The results of this study will give rise to pedagogical implications, highlighting what learners can do to become more strategic listeners and how teachers can support them in developing their strategic repertoire.
Year: 2023 - 2025
Project Leader -
Dr FUNG King Tat Daniel
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD $975,180
This project aims to examine the relationship between IDLE and two dimensions of EIL among Hong Kong university students, who are increasingly experiencing diverse accents among users of English through IDLE activities. Drawing on a sequential explanatory mixed-methods research design, data will be collected from 20 ESL/EFL classes at two universities by means of questionnaires (N = 400), open-ended questions (N = 400), semi-structured interviews (n = 40), and stimulated recalls (n = 40). With an interdisciplinary approach drawing from E-learning, sociolinguistics, and TESOL, theoretically this study can help us better understand and further theorize the way in which informal language practice using technology is related to contemporary students’ perceptions of EIL. Pedagogically, the findings will offer practical insights into how English language teachers can better prepare contemporary English learners for cross-cultural interactions in digital or face-to-face milieus.
Year: 2020 - 2022
Project Leader -
Dr LEE Ju Seong
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD453,150
This ECS project, drawing on a complexity theory and adopting an ethnographic case study design, seeks to explore teacher educators’ expertise at different stages of their career and how they (re)construct their expertise through different forms of professional practice (eg, teaching, research and practicum supervision) across time and contexts. The study will make a theoretical contribution to our understanding of teacher educator expertise by shedding light on its subject-specific and context-sensitive nature as well as its developmental process mediated by various influencing factors at personal, institutional and societal levels. The study can also generate implications on how to support teacher educators’ professional development at different stages of their career in higher education.
Year: 2017 - 2018
Project Leader -
Dr YUAN Rui Eric
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD416,000
Year: 2018 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr. GU Mingyue Michelle
Capacity: Co-I
Amount: HKD594,435
This study aims to investigate how university students understand prevailing political discourses in Hong Kong’s social-political context; investigate the development of citizenship and (re)construction of identity among university students within Hong Kong’ socio-political, cultural and economic discourses; identify the difficulties and challenges students face in their interactions with peers holding different political and ideological views and their coping strategies; and provide theoretical resources and suggest effective university-level measures and individual-level strategies to facilitate students’ whole-person development.
Year: 2020
Project Leader -
Dr GU Ming Yue Michelle
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD$458,735
Year: 2021 - 2023
Project Leader -
Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD1,124,244
Year: 2018 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr. ZOU Di
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD774,430.4
Year: 2018 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr. GU Mingyue Michelle
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD1,022,200
Year: 2017 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr. YU Baohua
Capacity: Co-I
Amount: RMB10,000
Year: 2017 - 2019
Project Leader -
Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline
Capacity: Co-I
Amount: MOP420,000
Year: 2014 - 2017
Project Leader -
Dr. John TRENT
Capacity: Co-I
Amount: HKD1,232,000
Year: 2015 - 2016
Project Leader -
Dr. GU Mingyue Michelle
Capacity: Co-I
Amount: HKD120,000
Year: 2012 - 2013
Project Leader -
Dr. GU Mingyue Michelle
Capacity: Co-I
Amount: HKD120,000
Year: 2020 - 2021
Project Leader -
Dr ROGERS John
Capacity: PI
Amount: USD500
Year: 2015
Project Leader -
Dr. John Rogers
Capacity: PI
Amount: USD2,000
Year: 2021 - 2022
Project Leader -
Dr LIU Yiqi
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD125,000
Year: 2020 - 2021
Project Leader -
Dr ZOU Di
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD150,000
Year: 2020 - 2021
Project Leader -
Dr ROGERS John
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD125,000
Year: 2017 - 2018
Project Leader -
Dr. ZOU Di
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD100,000
Year: 2016 - 2017
Project Leader -
Dr. YU Baohua
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD100,000
Year: 2014 - 2016
Project Leader -
Dr YU Baohua
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD100,000
Year: 2021 - 2022
Project Leader -
Dr LIU Yiqi
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD30,000
Year: 2021 - 2022
Project Leader -
Dr JIANG Lianjiang
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD30,000
Year: 2021 - 2022
Project Leader -
Dr FUNG King Tat Daniel
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD30,000
Year: 2019 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr. LEE Ju Seong
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD$28,607
Year: 2017 - 2018
Project Leader -
Dr. ZOU Di
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD30,000
Year: 2013 - 2015
Project Leader -
Dr. YU Baohua
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD30,000
Year: 2021 - 2022
Project Leader -
Dr LIU Yiqi
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD50,000
Year: 2021 - 2022
Project Leader -
Dr GU Mingyue Michelle
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD50,000
Year: 2020 - 2021
Project Leader -
Dr YU Baohua
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD50,000
Year: 2020 - 2021
Project Leader -
Dr FUNG King Tat Danial
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD50,000
Year: 2019 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr GU Mingyue Michelle
Capacity: Co-PI (Dr GU Mingyue Michelle, Dr YUAN Rui Eric)
Capacity: Co-I (Dr. LEE Ju Seong)
Amount: HK$50,000
Year: 2019 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr ROGERS John
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD5,000
Year: 2019 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr ROGERS John
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD2,000
Year: 2019 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr. LEE Ju Seong and Dr. ZOU Di
Capacity: Co-PI
Amount: HKD50,000
Year: 2019 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr TAYLOR Timothy
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD43,000
Year: 2018 - 2019
Project Leader -
Dr. YU Baohua
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD50,000
Year: 2017 - 2018
Project Leader -
Dr. YU Baohua
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD50,000
Year: 2016 - 2017
Project Leader -
Dr. WONG Ming Har Ruth
Capacity: PI
Amount:
Year: 2015 - 2016
Project Leader -
Dr. WONG Ming Har Ruth
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD50,000
Year: 2014 - 2015
Project Leader -
Dr. WONG Ming Har Ruth
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD50,000
Year: 2013 - 2014
Project Leader -
Dr. WONG Ming Har Ruth
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD30,000
Year: 2021
Project Leader -
Dr YU Baohua
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD80,000
Year: 2021
Project Leader -
Dr ZOU Di
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD80,000
Year: 2020 - 2021
Project Leader -
Dr MAK Wing Wah Pauline
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD79,999
Year: 2020 - 2021
Project Leader -
Dr ROGERS John
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD80,000
Year: 2019 - 2020
Project Leader -
Dr YU Baohua
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD70,000
Year: 2018 - 2019
Project Leader -
Dr. ZOU Di
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD80,000
Year: 2017 - 2019
Project Leader -
Mr. Sterling Shaffer WU
Capacity: Co-I
Amount: HKD250,000
Year: 2012 - 2013
Project Leader -
Dr. WONG Ming Har Ruth
Capacity: PI
Amount: HKD30,000