Dr Jenifer Ho

Assistant Professor

AG409
+852 2766 4382
jenifer.ho@polyu.edu.hk

ORCID ID

SCOPUS ID

Research Gate

Research Overview

My research interests are in video-mediated communication, translanguaging and social semiotic multimodality. I am particularly interested in conducting qualitative investigations of informal/recreational language learning practices, including language learning in the digital wild, and online language teachers’ creation of teaching materials on social media platforms. My other research interest lies in intercultural communication in digital contexts, in particular, the multimodal construction of identities and/or interculturality. Broadly speaking, my work strives to develop an understanding of translanguaging and multimodality in digital communication contexts.

My other research interests include multilingualism, digital multimodal composing, linguistic/semiotic landscape, digital literacies, and ethical issues related to digital research.

Education and Academic Qualifications

PhD in Applied Linguistics, Institute of Education, University College London
MA in English (Applied English Linguistics), The Chinese University of Hong Kong
BA in English for Professional Communication, City University of Hong Kong

Academic and Professional Experience

Assistant Professor, Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2023-present)
Assistant Professor, Department of English, City University of Hong Kong (2018-2023)
Teaching Fellow, English Language Centre, University of Macau (2016-2018)

Teaching Areas

Syllabus Planning and Materials Design
Intercultural Communication

Research Interests

Research Output

Ho, W. Y. J. (2024). Digital multimodal composing pedagogy in a university writing course. ELT Journal. Online published. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccae011
Ho, W. W. J. (2024). “By the way I want to give you some masks”: Exploring multimodal stance-taking in YouTube videos. Applied Linguistics Review. Online published. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2023-0262
Ho, W. Y. J. (2023). Discursive construction of online teacher identity and legitimacy in English language teaching. Learning, Media and Technology. Online published. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2023.2259295
Mendoza, A., Hamman-Ortiz, L., Tian, Z., Rajendram, S., Tai, K. W. H., Ho, W. Y. J., & Sah, P. K. (2023). Sustaining critical approaches to translanguaging in education: A contextual framework. TESOL Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3240
Hafner, C. A., Harrison, S., Ho, W. Y. J., & Kwan, B. S. C. (2023). Digital mediation in ESP genres. English for Specific Purposes, 71, 115-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2023.03.002
Ho, W. Y. J. &Feng, D. (2022). Orchestrating multimodal resources in English language teaching: A critical study of an online English teaching video. Pedagogies: An international journal, 17(4), 368-388. https://doi.org/10.1080/1554480X.2022.2139257
Ho, W. Y. J. (2022). The construction of translanguaging space through digital multimodal composing: A case study of students' creation of instructional videos. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 58, 101134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2022.101134
Ho, W. Y. J. (2022). “Coming here you should speak Chinese”: The multimodal construction of interculturality in YouTube videos. Language and Intercultural Communication, 6(22), 662-680. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2022.2056610
Ho, W. Y. J. & Tai, K. W. H. (2021). Translanguaging in digital learning: The making of translanguaging spaces in online English teaching videos. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. (Online published)
Wang, Y., Feng, D., & Ho, W. Y. J. (2021). Identity, lifestyle, and face-mask branding: A social semiotic multimodal discourse analysis. Multimodality & Society, 1(2), 216-237.
Ho, W. Y. J. & Tai, K. W. H. (2020). Doing expertise multilingually and multimodally in online English teaching videos. System, 94, 102340.
Hafner, C. A., & Ho, W. Y. J. (2020). Assessing digital multimodal composing in second language writing: Towards a process-based model. Journal of Second Language Writing, 47.
Ho, W. Y. J. (2019). Developing professional communication: The construction of a multimodal understanding of job interviews. Languages, 4(5), 1–12.
Ho, W. Y. J. (2019). ‘I knew that you were there, so I was talking to you’: The use of screen-recording videos in online language learning research. Qualitative Research, 21(1), 120-139.
Ho, W. Y. J., & Li, W. (2019). Mobilizing learning: A translanguaging view. Chinese Semiotic Studies, 15(4), 533–559.
Li W., & Ho, W.Y. J. (2018). Language learning sans frontiers: a Translanguaging view. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 38, 33-59.
Ho, W. Y. J. (2018). Mobility and language learning: A case study on the use of an online platform to learn Chinese as a foreign language. London Review of Education, 16(2), 239–249.
Chik, A., & Ho, J. (2017). Learn a language for free: Recreational learning among adults. System, 69, 162–171.

Sindoni, M. G. & Ho, W.Y.J. (2024). A translanguaging and multimodal approach to video-mediated ‘street language learning’. In R. Hampel & U. Stickler (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Language Learning and Technology (pp. 352-363). Bloomsbury Publishing.
Ho, W. Y. J. (2021). Face masks and cultural identity on YouTube. In R.H. Jones (Ed.), Viral discourse (pp. 19-25). Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Elements in Applied Linguistics series).
Lee, A. S. & Ho, W.Y. J. (2021). Using Google Docs for peer review. In L. Miller & J. G. Wu (Eds.), Language learning with technology: Perspectives from Asia (pp. 123-132). Springer.
Ho, W. Y. J. (2019). Self-directed language learning: A semiotic analysis of a language learning app. In S. Bagga-Gupta, G. M. Dahlberg, & Y. Lindberg (Eds.), Virtual sites as learning spaces: Critical issues on languaging research in changing eduscapes (pp. 295–327). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

Others

Principal Investigator: A qualitative investigation of the interculturality of online tourism videos, PolyU Start-up Fund for New Recruits (2024-2027)
Co-Investigator: Linguistic and cultural miscommunication between tourists and hosts in Hong Kong: An interdisciplinary perspective, PolyU Faculty of Humanities Faculty Reserve for Interdepartmental Collaboration (2024-2026)
Principal Investigator. Online corporate instructional videos for branding: A qualitative investigation of pre-flight safety videos, Research Grants Council General Research Fund (2024-2026)
Principal Investigator: Online teaching architecture and affordances for learning: A qualitative investigation of language teaching videos, Research Grants Council Early Career Scheme (2022-2024)
Principal Investigator: Developing a translanguaging approach to investigate the pedagogical architecture of online teaching videos, CityU Strategic Research Grant (2020-2022)
Principal Investigator: Video blogs (vlogs) as a resource for informal language learning: Developing an analytical framework for analysing the interactional architecture of pedagogical vlogs, CityU Strategic Research Grant (2019-2021)
Principal Investigator: The creation of English teaching materials ‘from below’: The construction of expertise and self-expression of pedagogical vloggers, CityU Start-up Grant for New Faculty (2019-2021)

Esteem Measures

Editorial board member of Qualitative Research

Best article award 2020, Journal of Second Language Writing
Hafner, C. A., & Ho, W. Y. J. (2020). Assessing digital multimodal composing in second language writing: Towards a process-based model. Journal of Second Language Writing, 47.
Best article award 2020, International Language Testing Association
Hafner, C. A., & Ho, W. Y. J. (2020). Assessing digital multimodal composing in second language writing: Towards a process-based model. Journal of Second Language Writing, 47.