New Head to Lead the Department of English and Communication
Cover Story
Prof. Eric Friginal recently joined the Faculty as the new Head of the Department of English and Communication (ENGL). Before moving to PolyU, Prof. Friginal was Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Department of Applied Linguistics and English as a Second Language (ESL) at Georgia State University (GSU) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He was also the Director of International Programmes at the College of Arts and Sciences at GSU.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to make the move, essentially uprooting myself from nearly 13 years of what I’d consider to be a successful and very rewarding career in US academia, but the PolyU opportunity seemed an ideal progression in my professional trajectory. Ultimately, I consider it a great honour and privilege to be here!”
Prof. Friginal describes his work principles, “My professorship and work have been guided by several important and seminal principles, including (1) a comprehensive knowledge of my areas of specialisation; (2) the ability to conduct competent and reliable research; (3) successful teaching and mentoring students and researchers; (4) awareness of the critical global reach and applications of my outputs; and (5) the recognition of my positive contributions to the field by peers, my students, and the broader international community engaged in the intricacies of personal and professional communication,” he says. “These principles continue to guide me here at PolyU, and I am pleased to have become a part of the strong team, the excellent programme, and outstanding accomplishments already achieved, and I am challenged and excited as I anticipate potential accomplishments by ENGL as we work together into the future. ENGL@PolyU, under the Faculty of Humanities—where “language, communication, culture, and technology converge,” certainly provides the ideal environment for me to pursue more ground-breaking, practical research and teaching across global communicative domains. I am prepared to work with my colleagues and our students and provide the leadership necessary to discover exciting new directions and emerging cross-cultural, future-oriented, linguistics initiatives.”
Recent publications of Prof. Eric Friginal, New Head of ENGL
The New Head shares his vision, “I envision ENGL leading the way in global professional, English-based communication research and pedagogy, harnessing what we do best as professors and researchers and celebrating our inimitable location in Asia’s World City.” Noting that Hong Kong continues to be a global hub for creativity, innovation, business and entrepreneurship, Prof. Friginal believes ENGL’s ability to utilise cutting-edge research and tools in applied linguistics will provide real-world knowledge that transfers well to the global community.
“Our Department houses two strategic research centres: the International Research Centre for the Advancement of Health Communication (IRCAHC) and the Research Centre for Professional Communication in English (RCPCE). Health communication is a critical area of study, merging the work of practicing health professionals and educators, while professional communication is an area crucial to successful interactions, including those from non-traditional, technology-mediated workplaces such as aeronautical communications, outsourced customer service call centres, audio-visual media and advertising, and many others,” he continues.
Seeing the Department as a milieu of linguistic principles, realities, talents, personalities, programmes, and potential future achievements, Prof. Friginal says, “This milieu is, of course, characterised by an overriding reality: we are human beings as well as applied linguists in ENGL. As much as possible, this dynamic context within which we work together focuses on making life easier and meaningful for everybody through more effective communication. That is our objective and that is why we’re here!”
