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Prof Susanna Yeung, has successfully secured a HK$2million-plus research grant from The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR). The project, titled " Design and evaluation of an English conversational agent to enrich home language support for young students: Parental support, underlying mechanism, train-the-trainer and technology adoption,’’ is proposed to conduct research and development (R&D) of a L2 conversational agent (LCA) to enrich the home language environment by providing young children with more exposure to a second language through parent-child game.

The research will involve a team of two higher education experts from Canada and Hong Kong, working together as Co-Principal Investigators. The project will investigate the mechanisms underpinning the use of LCA at home and its impact on oral language competence. It will also include interviews with parents, who will respond to questionnaires on family background, digital literacy, and perceived child’s L2 intrinsic motivation. Additionally, semi-structured interviews will be conducted to understand user experiences and identify enablers and barriers to technology adoption. The funded project is set to commence in September 2024.

SCOLAR’s mission is to help Hong Kong's students and working adults become biliterate in written Chinese and English, and trilingual in Cantonese, Putonghua, and spoken English. Since 1994, SCOLAR has used the Language Fund to support language education through research projects, teacher development, school-based support, and the creation of a supportive language environment. With SCOLAR's support, Professor Yeung’s project is poised to benefit many young children’s language development