RGC Public Lecture: A Journey into Language: Evolution, Cognition, and Neuroscience

Brief introduction:

Humans are one of the numerous species on earth but the few that have adapted and thrived in every part of the world. A reason for this is due to the invention of language. In this talk, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University will introduce the evolutionary history of human beings that has made language possible, the cognitive and neural bases of language, the brain changes in normal and pathological ageing, and how they impact human language functions. Some research projects of the Department on brain age estimation, language comprehension, foreign language learning, etc. will also be discussed.

About the Speakers:

Prof. William Wang got his PhD in Linguistics from the University of Michigan in 1960, and he founded the Journal of Chinese Linguistics in 1973. He is best known for his theory of lexical diffusion and the pioneering experimental works in Chinese linguistics. After serving as Professor of Linguistics at the University of California Berkeley for nearly three decades (1966-1995), he moved to Hong Kong. He has since taught at the City University of Hong Kong (1995-2004), the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2004-2015), and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2015-present). His many accolades included Academician of Academia Sinica, Taiwan (1992), Professor Emeritus of University of California Berkeley (1995-Present), Honorary Professor of Peking University (2011), Lifetime Achievement Award in Anthropology, Shanghai Society of Anthropology (2017), and Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from University of Chicago (2018). He has supervised over 40 PhD students and published over 200 journal articles.

Dr. Manson Fong got his PhD in Electronic Engineering from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2015. He did his postdoctoral work at the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2016-2021), where his research focused on the cognitive neuroscience of ageing and language, using neurophysiological and neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). He has recently been promoted to Research Assistant Professor (2022-Present). He has published 10 peer-reviewed articles in various journals, including Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Brain and Language, and Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

Both Prof. Wang and Dr. Fong are members of the Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience (RCLCN) and of Research Institute for Smart Ageing (RISA) at HK PolyU.

Remarks: The lecture will be conducted in Cantonese.