Our Projects

PROJECTS
INTRODUCTION

If your center have a project which you desire to share with other language centers in Hong Kong higher education, please get in touch with info@ahklc.hk

PROJECTS

STiLE (Scholarship of Teaching in Language Education)

Project funding start and end date: March 2021 - June 2023

STiLE is a UGC-funded Inter-Institutional Collaborative Activity (IICA) project, whose active development is overseen by 5 UGC funded language centres in Hong Kong. This multimedia platform was motivated by a desire to provide more peer-reviewed outlets for language education practitioners to publish their scholarly work so that it is accessible for exchange in a way that others in the language education community can not only use but also develop, thereby adding to our understanding and improving our practice. In addition to full-length papers, it features a range of reviews and reflection pieces, along with ready-to-use digital learning objects for classroom teaching.

Scaling up students’ graduate attributes: Developing a series of Instagram reels and posts for effective and appropriate email communication for university students

Project funding start and end date: Aug 2021 to Mar 2023

Email has been a common and important communication channel between students and instructors in higher education since the 21st century. However, the limited exposure to and proper instructions on email writing and a second language learning environment added hurdles for our students to write English emails effectively. This project aims to raise students’ awareness of netiquette by teaching them the crucial skills in email writing using a series of succinct, easily-accessible, and interesting animated videos and posts that are created after analyzing their problems and needs. We hope that students can write emails effectively and appropriately and then be able to transfer the skills learned to other contexts and audiences after going through the videos and posts on our project Instagram account.

Mastering the Technical Vocabulary of STEM

Project funding start and end date: September 2017 – July 2021

Mastering the Technical Vocabulary of STEM is a UGC-funded project that helps students of science and technology to learn and correctly use technical vocabulary, in both written and spoken English. In university language courses, it is often assumed that students do not require assistance from language teachers with technical language since it will be acquired during the study of content courses. However, research finds that specialist vocabulary is among the biggest challenges facing undergraduate students in Hong Kong (Evans & Morrison, 2012). Research also suggests that the role played by technical vocabulary has been significantly underestimated. A substantial portion (between 20% and 30%) of the vocabulary in specialised texts is composed of technical vocabulary (Chung & Nation, 2004; Liu & Lei, 2019; Nation, 2013), making such texts potentially difficult to decode. Students are also unlikely to use words that they do not fully understand. This project addresses the above problems by creating learning resources based on technical words judged to be important and difficult for students. The five key learning resources are:

10 subject-based corpora,
10 subject-based technical wordlists,
A diagnostic quiz,
Learning objects for 10 subject areas, and
Guidelines for teachers who wish to make use of the resources

ICOSA (Inter-institutional Collaborative Online Self-Access)

Project funding start and end date: January 2012 – January 2016

The ICOSA project was a collaboration between the language centres of five tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, in which the institutions shared existing online interactive language learning materials and produced more materials that were shown to be needed by a collaborative needs analysis. This was aimed at saving time and money, as institutions would not be 're-inventing the wheel' when it came to materials development. Over 500 packages of materials were shared or produced. The materials were made available via a repository, hosted on a server at Lingnan University.

Pronunciation: the sounds of English words

Sounds introduces how to pronounce individual sounds in English in 10 short lessons. Learn about the vowels and the consonants through interactive exercises and short videos. By the end of the10 lessons learners should be able to, recognise the phonemic symbols of English, recognise the sounds of English, tell the difference between these sounds, say these sounds, know the common spellings of these sounds, and pronounce some words containing these sounds. This site can be accessed via a mobile device and is available to anyone without any sign in.

IELTS

The PolyU IELTS site provides tips and practice for the four papers of the IELTS exam. The materials have been specifically developed to provide support for students who are preparing to take the IELTS test. The site includes instructional videos, sample videos, interactive exercises, and sample papers so that students can have a complete overview of the IELTS exam before taking it for real. Sample videos on the site have received over half a million views - a testament to its popularity and usefulness.

Referencing

The PolyU Referencing Guides include detailed information to the four most common referencing styles used in HK universities. They are written to help you become familiar with academic referencing conventions and to reference your work correctly. The four styles, including APA, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver are regularly updated so that students are able to cite their essays accurately. This mobile accessible page is easily navigable and is packed with information that the student needs in their university studies.

Inscribe: Journal of Student Writing

Inscribe: A Journal of Undergraduate Writing in Asia is a refereed electronic journal which publishes writing by PolyU undergraduate students from all disciplines. By showcasing polished and professionally written work, the journal allows students to experience an academic publishing environment which provides a platform to develop their writing, research, and publication skills.

Teachers' Lift

The Teachers’ Lift is a teacher-initiated and teacher-produced podcast designed to be a comfortable space to chat about teaching. This cross institutional initiative, run by colleagues from the language centres at PolyU, HKU and HKUST, has regular episodes throughout the teaching semester. Past episodes have come from instructional designers, language centre heads and ordinary teachers, all with something interesting to say and share.

ELC YouTube

The ELC’s PolyU YouTube channel has over three million views and 450 videos on all aspects of study at university. Find the video to match your needs on the ELC's YouTube channel. The channel features a variety of videos designed to help English language learners improve their skills. The channel includes lessons on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and more, as well as tips for studying and learning English effectively. The videos are led by experienced English teachers and are suitable for learners at all levels.