Second Annual Undergraduate ENGL Conference “PolyU-CALLS 2024” Reflects Astounding Growth
Research & Scholarly Activities
Organised by the Department of English and Communication (ENGL), the second annual PolyU Undergraduate Conference on Applied Linguistics and Language Studies (PolyU-CALLS) was held on Saturday, 23 March 2024. The event, held on campus at PolyU, was an even greater success than the previous year, with 150 students participating in the conference. In addition to student participants from Hong Kong and Mainland China, this year's PolyU-CALLS became a truly international conference and included presenters from Thailand and South Korea. In total, over 20 different universities from around the world were represented at the conference.
“PolyU-CALLS reflects an important trend in undergraduate education: the increasing emphasis on developing research skills and the ability to critically analyse data. As students progress through their studies, particularly in their Capstone or Final Year Projects, it is crucial that they receive robust training and opportunities to engage in substantive research. PolyU-CALLS again demonstrates a recognition that nurturing these research capacities should be a core part of the undergraduate experience. By providing a platform for students to present and discuss their original research, such events foster a culture of inquiry and empower students to make meaningful contributions to their fields of study”, said Prof. Eric Friginal, Head of ENGL.
(Left) The conference allows students to present their research to an audience of peers, instructors, and scholars.
(Right) Head of ENGL, Prof. Eric Friginal, appreciates the support of the Department’s undergraduate student volunteers for the conference.
The breadth of topics and diversity of presenters at PolyU-CALLS 2024 attracted an audience that included faculty, postgraduate students, and undergraduate students. The conference featured about 50 different undergraduate presentations covering a wide range of subject areas, from hip-hop music lyrics to sign language interpretation in Hong Kong courtrooms.
While all the student presenters at PolyU-CALLS 2024 did an amazing job, ENGL would like to acknowledge the work of several outstanding student presenters. The PolyU-CALLS 2024 Award winners for best presentations are:
- Best PolyU-CALLS Presentation Award: Wang Yanning and Wang Ziyue, from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Best ENGL Presentation Award: Gu Beiwei, from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Best Non-ENGL Presentation Award: Aiden Y. H. Cheung, from The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Best International Presentation Award: Jung Haechan, from Kyung Hee University
PolyU-CALLS 2024 Award winners received their awards at a hybrid presentation ceremony organised by ENGL on 24 May. From left: Aiden Y. H. Cheung, Gu Beiwei, Wang Ziyue, Jung Haechan (on screen), and Wang Yanning.
The level of student participation at PolyU-CALLS 2024 highlights an appetite for more student-oriented conferences in Applied Linguistics and Language Studies. “The quality of the student presentations at PolyU-CALLS 2024 was absolutely outstanding,” said Dr Max Diaz, ENGL Undergraduate Programme Leader. “I look forward to next year’s conference, which we hope will be even bigger, more international, and allow us to extend the conference to include a day for MA students to also present their work.”
