The 6th Hong Kong Confucius Institute Day

On 24 September 2022, the 6th Hong Kong Confucius Institute Day was held at PolyU. More than 300 PolyU teachers, students and alumni signed up for the event. Prof. Li Ping, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities of PolyU, Prof. Chu Hung-lam, Chairman of Council of CIHK, and Prof. Han Xiaorong, Director of CIHK, attended the event and delivered speeches. Mr Yao Gongbai, a master of the art of Guqin, and Dr Sharon Cheung from the Department of Chinese Language and History of CityU gave a talk and demonstration on the culture and history of the Guqin. Also invited were the President of the Hong Kong Zhuzi Cultural Exchange Association, Mr and Mrs Zhu Xiang, and the District Councilor Hung Chiu-wah of Yau Tsim Mong District Council.

10 FH Students Honoured at PolyU Entry Scholarship Award Ceremony 2022

10 students of the Faculty were honoured at the University’s Entry Scholarship Award Ceremony 2022 held on 21 September. These 10 scholarship awardees are as follows: AI Zixin (BA (Hons) Scheme in Linguistics and Translation) AKHTER Ishita (BA (Hons) Scheme in English and Applied Linguistics) BOONPOG Natcha (BA (Hons) Scheme in English and Applied Linguistics) CHEUNG Chin To (BA (Hons) Scheme in English and Applied Linguistics) CHU Wing Kiu (BA (Hons) Scheme in Linguistics and Translation) HO Nam Wai Tinky (BA (Hons) Scheme in English and Applied Linguistics) LEUNG Kwan Yi (BA (Hons) Scheme in Linguistics and Translation) SHI Samantha Monique Zhang (BA (Hons) Scheme in Linguistics and Translation) WANG Xinran (BA (Hons) Scheme in Linguistics and Translation) ZHANG Shuying (BA (Hons) Scheme in Linguistics and Translation) Our ENGL student Tinky Ho, who represented Hong Kong at the Tokyo Olympics, delivered a speech on behalf of the awarded undergraduates, sharing her excitement of joining PolyU, and expressing her appreciation to the PolyU community for their support.

The Hong Kong Linguistics Olympiad Featured on RTHK Radio 3’s Common Room

The Hong Kong Linguistics Olympiad is honoured to be featured on RTHK Radio 3’s Common Room programme on 19-23 September. We will be featured in a 2-minute segment called the Social Takeover, which will take place between 5-6 pm each evening. We will talk about what linguistics and the Linguistics Olympiad are, what events you can participate in, the amazing results of the HKSAR teams in past international competitions, as well as why you should join the HKLO! Moreover, we will feature some easy linguistics problems on RTHK’s Instagram to get you started, so make sure to follow @commonroomradio!

PolyU to Host the First China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters in Hong Kong

On 7 September 2022, PolyU signed a cooperation agreement with the China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters (CATTI) Management Center (CATTI Management Center) of the China International Communications Group (CICG). The agreement authorises PolyU to organise the CATTI test in Hong Kong, with a view to uplifting the professional standard of Chinese-English translation in the city. The first Chinese-English translation and interpretation tests will be held in Hong Kong on 5 and 6 November by the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies. Interested candidates can register from now until 10 October. Read more

Secretary for Education Visits Speech and Language Sciences Laboratory

The President, Acting Dean of the Faculty, and representatives of our Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies met with the Secretary for Education, Dr the Hon. Christine Choi, during her visit to the University on 5 September 2022. The Secretary for Education and her delegates were introduced to facilities of the Speech and Language Sciences Laboratory and our research projects including developing a social robot for speech prosody training in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and identifying neurocognitive markers for typical language development and language disorders in children.

Launch of PolyU's eLanguage 易語學

A new language learning e-platform created by FH is ready for undergraduate students this semester. The e-platform, called eLanguage 易語學, has been created by colleagues in the CLC and ELC. Students are encouraged to join eLanguage 易語學 to improve their language proficiency in Chinese and English (self-enrol instructions HERE). The platform includes learning modules on writing essays, general vocabulary and workplace English and Chinese as well as an introduction to pinyin. The best performing students on eLanguage 易語學 will have the chance to win great prizes including tablets, bluetooth earphones and book vouchers. Find out more details in this video: https://youtu.be/Lea6tPytOks

Prof. William S-Y. Wang Named Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America

Prof. William S-Y. Wang, Chair Professor of Language and Cognitive Sciences, has been elected a Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the discipline. Prof. Wang, along with seven other eminent linguistics scholars selected for the 2023 Class of Fellows, will be inducted in a ceremony at the LSA Annual Meeting on 6 January 2023. The LSA was founded in 1924 to advance the scientific study of language and its applications. To be elected a Fellow of the LSA is an honour accorded annually to distinguished members of the Society.

STU 10th Anniversary Symposium: The Future of Speech Therapy in Hong Kong

The Speech Therapy Unit (STU) 10th Anniversary Symposium: The Future of Speech Therapy in Hong Kong was successfully held on 6 August 2022. The Symposium was attended by 240 participants who are predominantly practicing speech therapists. Celebrating the 85th anniversary of the University and the 10th anniversary of the STU, the Symposium provided an opportunity for local speech therapy practitioners, researchers, and stakeholders to exchange ideas on the latest developments of communication sciences and disorders in the Hong Kong context. The STU aims to create a platform to serve education and research purposes through the provision of speech therapy services to the public.

Dr Phoebe Lin Awarded JSPS Invitational Fellowship for Research in Japan

Dr Phoebe Lin, Assistant Professor of ENGL, has been awarded an Invitational Fellowship for Research in Japan. The Invitational Fellowships, sponsored by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), provide overseas researchers who have an excellent record of research achievements with an opportunity to conduct collaborative research, discussions, and opinion exchanges with researchers in Japan. Dr Lin will be developing an automatic speech scoring system for English learners in collaboration with Dr Keiko Tsuchiya (Yokohama City University), Dr Alex Gillmore (University of Tokyo) and Dr Neil Millar (University of Tsukuba). She will also be giving public talks and workshops at these three universities in the first semester of 2022/2023.

Hong Kong Linguistics Olympiad Team Excels at IOL 2022

Our Hong Kong Linguistics Olympiad (HKLO) team achieved outstanding results at the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) 2022 held on 25-29 July in the Isle of Man. The team took home two medals, two best solution awards and an honourable mention: 💡Best Solution Award Ian Tam for problem 4 Henry Wong for problem 5 🥈Silver Medal Ian Tam (individual contest) 🥉Bronze Medal Henry Wong (individual contest) 👏Honourable Mention Ian Tam, Henry Wong, Ryan Lo, and Samantha Yung (team contest) The team is jointly trained by the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies and the Department of English and Communication. Please visit the HKLO page for more information about the team.