New and on-going research projects
| Prof. Eric Friginal | I specialize in corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics, quantitative discourse analysis, intercultural communication, language policy and planning, technology (including Generative AI) and language education, study abroad and international education, and research methods in applied linguistics. I have been exploring real-world recorded and transcribed texts (i.e., corpora) from domains such as outsourced customer service call centers, healthcare, tourism and hospitality, global aviation, international maritime industry, and talk in multi-cultural and multimodal workplaces. Some of my current projects include:
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| Prof. Kathleen Ahrens |
My research interests are in cognitive linguistics and corpus linguistics, with a focus on research related to Conceptual Metaphor Theory and, in particular, the Conceptual Mapping Model (Ahrens 2010; Ahrens and Jiang 2021). My current focus is on metaphor and gender in business communication. I can co-supervise students interested in cognitive lingusitics, corpus linguistics, professional communication, and critical discourse analysis. |
| Prof. Louise Cummings | My research interests are in pragmatics, clinical linguistics, communication disorders, and health communication. I can supervise students who want to work in the area of language and communication disorders (particularly pragmatic disorders). I can also supervise projects in health communication such as how experts and lay people reason about public health problems. Below are some of the topics I am working on:
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| Prof. Shaofeng Li |
My research focuses on second language acqusition and its subareas such as task-based language teaching, individual difference factors in language learning (such as anxiety, aptitude, motivation, working memory, etc.), research methods, corrective feedback, and second language writing. I am also interested in the application of generative AI in language teaching and learning. I am open to new research areas and methods and welcome applicants who are dedicated and who bring novel and original perspectives on language learning and teaching. Below are the projects I am currently working on:
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| Dr Lydia Catedral |
My research focuses on language and migration. I take a critical approach in this work to explore the ways in which language and discourse plays a role in marginalizing migrants, and in migrants' resistance. My theoretical focus is on the relationship between language, space-time (chronotopes) and scales. I use methods from sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and anthropology, and can supervise students who are interested in using ethnographically situated approaches to discourse analysis. I would be particularly interested in working with students who want to do research on the situation of grassroots migrants (or grassroots people more generally) through the lens of either discourse (e.g. discourses about migration, or the discourses of migrants themselves) or semiotic practices (e.g. migrants' multilingualism, their digital communication etc.). My current projects (below) are collaborative endeavors with grassroots organizations of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong, however, I am very open to working with students who are interested in other communities and other geographical areas.
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My research interests are in corpus linguistics, linguistic landscape, (multimodal) discourse analysis, and professional communication. I can supervise students who want to work in the area corpus-based discourse analysis. I can also supervise projects in the areas of linguistic landscape or professional communication. Below are some of the topics I am working on:
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| Dr Phoebe Lin |
My research interests include vocabulary learning, speech prosody, second language acquisition, psycholinguistics, computer-assisted language learning, and machine learning. I can supervise students interested in the areas of vocabulary learning and speech prosody, particularly from psycholinguistic and corpus linguistic perspectives. Below are some of my recent projects:
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| Dr Renia Lopez |
My focus of interest is gestures, movements of the hands and arms co-occurring with speech, a modality used together with language to externalize the thought. I first became aware of gestures as a field of research when analyzing why non-proficient speakers could not successfully communicate with native speakers. Aside from the obvious lack of language proficiency, there was also an apparent lack of proficiency in nonverbal skills that hindered creating meaningful content and relevant pragmatic meaning. The ultimate aim of my research is to prove the link between thought speech and gesture. I believe that gestures help alleviate cognitive load in thinkers/speakers but also that they carry a significant portion of the pragmatic meaning of our utterances. In the early stages of my studies, I was fortunate to be challenged by Prof. David McNeill, who is one of the founding fathers of research into gestures, leading to a joint publication in 2017. In this paper we discussed the meaning of the ‘Growth Point’, McNeill’s hypothesis explaining the gesture-speech-thought link. Currently, I am working with other gesture researchers in Prof. Gale Stam’s AILA Research Network “Gesture, Multimodality, and SLA”. Below are some of the topics I am working on:
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| Dr Jeffry Oktavianus |
My research focuses on new media and social change, particularly in the context of health. I explore how digital media can drive change in individuals and communities, addressing issues like health disparities and online mis/disinformation, and facilitating social activism and public campaigns. My work often highlights the experiences of underrepresented groups, such as migrant communities. I can supervise projects on online mis/disinformation, health communication, media content and effects, and other related topics. Below are some of my recent projects:
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| Dr Anne Ambler Schluter |
With a keen interest in examining the sociolinguistic aspects of communication in different multilingual workplace and/or migration contexts, my current research activities lie primarily within the broader strands of language and identity, embodied communication, affective attachments, language and inequality, language attitudes (including discrimination), language policy, and World Englishes. A deeply qualitative approach guides most of these research inquiries. I can supervise students interested in any of the topics listed above, especially as applied to workplace communication, media analysis, and health communication. My new and on-going projects include the following:
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