Postgraduate Research
The Centre for Applied English Studies encourages applications for full-time and part-time Ph.D or M. Phil from well-qualified candidates whose research interests match those of the Centre. The Centre has special expertise in a number of areas. It is particularly strong in linguistics as applied to English language education at university level.
Possible supervisors are: Professor Ken Hyland, Professor Agnes Lam, Dr. David Gardner, Dr. Ken Lau., Dr. Yvonne Loong and Dr. Tsang Wai Lan.
Research interests
Discourse analysis. Academic and professional literacies. English across the curriculum. Writing. Vocabulary and dictionaries.
Curriculum development, task-based learning, classroom interaction, autonomous learning, self-access and computer-assisted language learning. Assessment and evaluation. Teacher education.
Second language acquisition, psycholinguistics and bilingualism. Individual differences in language learning. Learning styles and strategies. Vocabulary acquisition. Learner histories.
Sociolinguistics, Language contact, including acquisition and use of language in multilingual contexts, code mixing.
World Englishes, especially the English of Hong Kong and China. Language education in China. Creative writing in English in Asia.
Postgraduate Admissions Advisor
Professor Agnes Lam, Fax 25473409, E-mail agneslam@hku.hk
Application can be made at any time of the year, although we generally advise applicants to aim for the main round deadline in December (for admission in September of the following year).
Potential applicants should contact the Postgraduate Admissions Advisor, Professor Agnes Lam, in the first instance, giving brief information about qualifications and research interests.
For further details on formal application procedures, please see the Faculty of Arts page.
Bibliographies
Four useful bibliographies are:
- Qualitative research (PDF)
- Language education in China:
Agnes S. L. Lam (PDF) - English
language education in China: Wenfeng Wang, Xuesong Gao and Jing Huang (PDF) - Foreign language education in China: A bibliography based on major national journals 2001-2005: David C. S. Li, Hong Kong Institute of Education; Agnes S. L. Lam, The University of Hong Kong and Peter Y. Gu, Victoria University of Wellington (PDF)
Recent graduates
Gao Xuesong, Andy, From the Chinese Mainland to Hong Kong: Understanding shifts in Mainland Chinese Students’ English learning strategy use
Huang Jing, Peter, Autonomy in EFL learning and teaching in the Chinese university context: Pathways, perspectives, and possibilities
Alice Chik, How experience shapes individual differences among second language learners: A biographical study of Hong Kong learners in three age groups
Nora Hussin, Interaction from an activity theoretical perspective: Comparing learning discourse of language face-to-face, in chat and in audio conferencing in second language learning
Wang Wenfeng, Clarence,Teachers’ beliefs and practices in the implementation of a new English curriculum in China: case studies of four secondary school teachers
Lillian Wong, Innovation and change: Information technology and in-service teacher professional development
Citing Li, Chinese EFL learners’ pragmatic and discourse transfer in the discourse of L2 requests
Xiao Lei, Understanding writing strategy use from a sociocultural perspective: A multiple-case study of Chinese EFL learners of different writing abilities
