Lecturer
PhD in English Language, National University of Singapore
MPhil in Language Policy, Hong Kong Baptist University
MA (Distinction) in Language Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University
PGDE in Teaching of English, Hong Kong Baptist University
Fellowship of Advance HE
I am a Lecturer in the Centre for Applied English Studies (CAES), having joined the University in 2022. My teaching and research draw on an interdisciplinary background in sociolinguistics, language policy, English for Academic and Specific Purposes (EASP), and semiotic landscapes.
I began my career as a secondary-school English teacher before undertaking postgraduate study in sociolinguistics. I hold an MA with Distinction in Language Studies and an MPhil from Hong Kong Baptist University, and a PhD in English Language from the National University of Singapore. Before joining CAES, I taught Applied Linguistics and EASP across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, supervised master’s dissertations, and mentored school teachers. I am a registered secondary-school teacher in both Hong Kong and Scotland, and a Fellow of Advance HE (UK).
My research interests are in language policy and semiotic landscapes in Hong Kong and Singapore. My most recent journal article published by Taylor and Francis examines the linguistic landscape of Hong Kong’s MTR system. My ongoing projects investigate Hong Kong toponymy, changing patterns of public multilingualism in Hong Kong, and the semiotics of Chinese in Singapore’s public realm.
I was awarded the highly competitive Teaching Relief for Scholarship twice within three academic years. During the 2022–23 award period, I developed a new Language Policy course for the MA in Applied Linguistics (MAAL) programme, which is also intended for delivery within a joint Master’s Programme in Multilingual Education with University College Dublin. During my 2024–25 teaching-relief period, I developed a proposal for a new undergraduate course on semiotic landscapes. Building on two successful MAAL workshops, the course will enable non-specialist students to “read” Hong Kong as a text through fieldwork-based, interdisciplinary approaches. I am currently developing its teaching and learning materials.
I also developed seven EASP self-study workbooks for actuarial-science students. These materials introduce functional grammar to address students’ limited awareness of contextually appropriate communication and strengthen their control of disciplinary language choices. In addition, I am co-developing an Advanced Research Methods module, scheduled to offer to dissertation-track students in 2027.
Professional Affiliations:
Member, Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics
Selected Publications / Presentations:
Peer-reviewed Journal Article
Fong, J. (2026). Language preferences in the metro space of Hong Kong: A study of borderland dynamics. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 47(2), 369–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2025.2556382 [Q1, Scopus]
Guest Editorship
Fong, J., Lee, S., & Wang, C. (Eds.). (2026). Innovations in language education: Advancing pedagogy, practice and research [Special issue]. Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 20(4).
Conference Papers
Fong, J. (2026). Rethinking Chinese privilege: The semiotics of multilingualism in Singapore’s state-regulated signage. Paper presented at the Sociolinguistics Symposium 26, University of Fort Hare, South Africa.
Fong, J. (2025). Choreographed Pluricentricity: Analysing Language Dynamics in Hong Kong’s Civic Signage. Paper presented at the 11th International Conference on Pluricentric Languages and Their Nondominant Varieties, ISCTE, Institute University of Lisbon, Portugal.
Fong, J. (2024). Hong Kong’s metro stations as fluid borderlands of Chineseness. Paper presented at the Linguistic Landscape 15, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Fong, J. (2023). Social indexicality in the visual complexity of storefront signs: A field study in two Hong Kong’s shopping mall. Paper presented at the International Conference Semiosis in Communication Conference: New Challenges of Multimodality in the Digital Age, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania.
Fong, J. (2021). How ICT enhances the process of learning and teaching in tertiary education. Paper presented at the International Conference on Technology-Enhanced Language Learning and Teaching & Corpus-based Language Learning and Teaching 2021 (TeLLT & CoLLT 2021). The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Fong, J. (2019). Indexical orders of identity in Hong Kong: An analysis of railway station exit signs as contested spaces for identity struggles. Paper presented at the Multidisciplinary Approaches in Language Policy & Planning Conference. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, Canada.
Fong, J. (2019). Chinese as a pluricentric language in post-handover Hong Kong: Legitimacy of traditional and simplified Chinese characters. Paper presented at the Conference of Languages, Nations, Cultures: Pluricentric Languages in Context(s). Stockholm University, Sweden.