ENGLWinter2009 Issue

ENGLink is publishedby the Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Contact for contributions or further information about the articles:

Email:egdept@polyu.edu.hk

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Highlights

PromotingPlainEnglishatBookFestival

StaffDelegationtoIndia

3rdPostgraduateResearchSymposium

AlumniSharing-TheStoryofSettingupaSocialEnterprise

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Newsletter of the Department of EnglishThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University

The 15th PolyU Congregation – Faculty of Humanities

The Faculty of Humanities has organised three conferment sessions from 31 October – 1 November

2009 and about 800 undergraduates and postgraduates were conferred degrees or awards. The Department has 141 graduates receiving postgraduate degrees or awards and 79 graduates receiving bachelor’s degree.

Dr Chris Green, Programme Leader of MA in English Language Studies and MA Scheme Coordinator, gave a congratulatory address at one of the sessions for postgraduate degrees. He commended the graduates for overcoming different obstacles during their studies to achieve their goal. He advised the graduates that in the age of information overload, it is important to make use of the social aspect of learning to transform acquired knowledge into wisdom. He shared with the graduates that “the creation of wisdom involves a further process: the continuous application and revision of knowledge… wisdom is knowledge that has been tried out, discussed and qualified.”

Several student awards were also presented at the sessions to those graduates and current students who have outstanding academic performance.

Dr Chris Green shares his views on knowledge and wisdom in the congratulatory address of one of the postgraduate degrees sessions.

Dr Cathy Wong and her undergraduate students.

Event Highlights

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Promoting the Use of Plain English at Book Festival

On 25 December 2009, Dr Mable Chan was invited by Popular Holdings Limited to be a speaker in BookFest @ Hong Kong 2009

held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai. This is the second year BookFest is held, and its mission is to promote reading to the public. With the theme of Joy to the Reading World, the event is a good opportunity for the general public to enjoy reading while celebrating Christmas.

The topic of the talk is Use of Plain English. A year 1 MAEP student, Lau King Kuen, Don, was invited by Dr Chan to be a guest speaker sharing with the audience his experience of using plain English in the workplace. In addition to parents and adults, a number of Dr Chan’s undergraduate and postgraduate students also attended the talk. The talk was interactive and the audience was very interested in finding out how to use simple and clear English to communicate ideas. Two of Dr Chan’s new book 職時上位：名人英語全面睇 was given to 2 members of the audience as prizes. More talks are being arranged in secondary schools to raise students’ awareness of the topic, preparing them for taking the subject Workplace Communication in the new curriculum.

Dr Chan (left) and Lau King Kuen, Don, an MAEP student

Departmental Seminars

Current Issues in Professional & Organisational Communication Research – A seminar series (27 October – 24 November 2009)This seminar series was conducted by Prof. Christopher N Candlin from Macquarie University in Sydney. It presented research and practice which served to highlight a number of issues and challenges in the study of professional and organizational discourse, with a particular focus on the themes of the nature of professions and organisations and the link to discourses, challenges to empirical research in terms of methodology and reflexivity, and issues of practical relevance of research into professional and organizational discourse. A total of four seminars were held which attracted a number of researchers, academics and research students from PolyU and other local universities.

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Tensions of Discourses in Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions in Australian Mining Industry: A Comparative Study (10 November 2009)

In this seminar, Dr Yunxia Zhu from Australian National University discussed her study drew concerns that managing tensions of discourses is essential for the implementation of strategic alliances, especially with Chinese firms which represent larger cultural and institutional distances as compared to other western cultures. Through a detailed comparison of media texts about two joint-venture deals with a UK and Chinese firm, the paper demonstrated two types of tension: those arising from the rationalistic discourse and those from the nationalistic discourse about the national interests. Using content and discourse analysis, this study has demonstrated that it is essential to manage tensions of both rationalistic and nationalistic discourses.

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Dr Chan, Don Lau and a winner of Dr Chan’s new book

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Research

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Symposium on English as the Language of Asian Business and Professions (ELABP)

The Symposium on ELABP was held at PolyU, 5-6 November 2009, with the aim to explore ELABP across a range of themes:

• Discourse and pragmatic studies of English in academic, professional, institutional and other workplace contexts in Asia

• Concerns, methodologies and problems• Curriculum design, materials writing, instruction and assessment• Corporate training, assessment and appraisal, staff development and

quality assurance• Partnership with corporations and consultancies

The Symposium attracted over 80 participants coming from 8 different countries or regions, namely Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and United Kingdom. Over the two days, the ELABP Symposium presented two plenary talks, two panel discussions and 34 paper presentations. The symposium was very well-received by the participants. It was commented that it was interesting, well-organized, and successful in bringing together academics, researchers, and practitioners to have meaningful dialogues.

3rd Postgraduate Research Symposium: Language and Cultural Studies in the Pearl River Delta (26 April 2010, Hong Kong)

Organised by the Faculty of Humanities of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the School of Humanities & School of Foreign Languages of Sun Yat-sen University, the

3rd Postgraduate Research Symposium aims to bring together postgraduate students from Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong to contribute to a stimulating and dynamic exchange of ideas. The Symposium will cover the following academic areas:

• Language Studies, Linguistics and Applied Linguistics in Chinese, English, or Other Languages

• Cultural Studies• Humanities-related Studies.

Prof. Chen Chunsheng, Professor of Chinese History and Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University and Prof. Elizabeth Traugott, Emerita Professor of Linguistics & English, Stanford University, USA will be the speakers at the Open Session and Plenary.

All current postgraduate students in any of the Humanities departments of any university in the three places are invited to attend and submit abstract for presentation at the event.

Students and Alumni News

Jack is pleased to learn under teachers from the Department including Dr Cathy Wong (left) and Dr Gail Forey (right).

Jack gains a different perspective about the English language after taking the minor.

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“ I can apply what I have learned from one subject to others”

I had a hard time at the beginning, but after several weeks, I overcame and realized I was working at different levels of meanings: from the bottom (phonetics & phonology) to the middle (lexico-grammar) expanding to the top (context, genre). The most amazing thing is that I can apply what I have learned from one subject to others. In a discourse assignment, I employed the term ‘mood choices’ that I learned from the grammar course and used it as a focus to analyze a 2-minute conversation and interpreted their interpersonal meanings and speech functions in order to make an assessment of the speaker’s social status. The course work allowed me to apply my skills (analyze and interpret results) learned in chemistry while learning new concepts related to English studies.

Studying a Minor in English is a Right Decision! — Sharing by Pun Kwok Hung, Jack, Student of BSc (Hons) in Chemical Technology

The Minor in English Language Studies for the Professions offers a wide range of quality English subjects to choose from. The interactive seminars and cutting edge teaching materials which have been adapted from workplace help students enhance their

proficiency in English and develop effective skills for professional communication. Such skills are very important for students from other disciplines who do not receive such detailed knowledge about English training in their major. Studying for a minor in English can equip us with skills and help us to prepare for the Graduating Students' Language Proficiency Assessment (GSLPA) and fulfill our expectations of effective English communication.

Studying in the Department of English has allowed me to explore and appreciate the global and cultural dimensions of the English language. Last semester, I took subjects focusing on analyzing English grammar and pronunciation, studying written and spoken discourse adapted from workplace text, learning techniques for conducting administration tasks, appreciating advertising design in PR & Marketing industry and understanding the strategies of intercultural communication in business.

“My dream is to pursue a research degree in cross-language research in the Department”

Extending my studies by a year to do a minor in English was definitely the right decision, and reflects my enthusiasm for language studies. I was introduced to Systemic Functional Linguistics, and now I have developed a strong interest in this theoretical model. Learning Japanese and Korean for two years, I gained a better perspective to understand English which helped me to see how comparing languages sheds light on English. My dream is to pursue a research degree in cross-language research in the Department of English. To make my dream come true, I have applied for MAELS which is the ideal next step for me, re-orienting from my background in Chemistry and providing me with an opportunity to learn research techniques and to undertake a small-scale research project.

Students and Alumni News

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Good Communication in English Critical to Success in Modern Business

To broaden our students' understanding of the real business environment and expand their vision, the Department has organised a Student Development Talk on 21 Jan 2010. The

speaker of the talk was Mr KN Tang, BBS, JP, Chairman Emeritus of Nielsen, Asia Pacific. Mr Tang has been a market researcher of over 35 years and a pioneer in introducing market research to Taiwan and the Chinese Mainland in the early 1980's. He is currently Deputy Chairman of HK Sports Institute and Agency for Voluntary Services as well as an Independent Director of the Travel Industry Council.

Citing his own experience in learning and using English in the business setting, Mr Tang made a convincing argument that the English language plays an important role in business communication. He also pointed out key elements in effective communication and provided the audience with some important tips for effective business writing, especially for proposal and report writing. At the talk, Mr Tang urged our students to maintain a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) towards work and life. He deeply believes that PMA can not only help us to focus on solution and turn failure to success but also to enjoy a much happier life.

Alumni Sharing: Striving to Create Change in the Hong Kong Education Sector (Freddy Law, Graduate of 2007 from BA in Language Studies with Business)

The story began when I was working as a Chinese teacher for a group of South Asian children in Hong Kong. I had a

conversation with a young girl which changed my perspective and sowed the seeds for what is now my career and passion. When I asked her why she was not enthusiastic about the lesson she said "I don’t want to learn Chinese; I know that even if I could speak Chinese, people in Hong Kong would still discriminate against me." I was speechless and wondered what was wrong with our 'Asia’s world city'? Minority groups make up 5% of our population and more than half of them have reported that they have experienced discrimination in Hong Kong. What is the cause of this issue?

“We are lack of intercultural competency in our education”

I reflected on my 13 years of local education before entering PolyU to conclude that we rarely interact with foreigners throughout our youth. Statistics show that an average school

Mr Tang shares with the students how he can gain confidence from his boss.

Freddy (front row, third from left) believes the workshops for secondary school students would provide them a positive attitude to learning.

of 1,000 students in Hong Kong has only one Native English Teacher (NET). I therefore realized that the problem was rooted in the lack of intercultural competency of our education.

For the past 2 years, I have been fortunate enough to work in more than 9 countries across Europe and Asia. In India, I was a Management Trainee at Google, in Ukraine, Germany, Romania and Macedonia I devised and delivered student personal development programs and I conducted leadership seminars in Mainland China and Taiwan. This intense international exposure inspired me and, as a result, I felt a burning desire to create change in the Hong Kong education sector. In August 2009 ‘Inter Cultural Education’, commonly known as ICE, was born.

Students and Alumni News

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“Inter Cultural Education is a social enterprise with a mission to make a change”

We recruited an international team from across the globe, including trainers from countries such as the UK, US, Germany, Eastern Europe, Malaysia, Columbia, Korea and China to formulate workshops for local students. The three key goals are to broaden global perspectives, cultivate independent thinking and expose our youth to new, interactive and exciting ways of teaching in order to excite them and encourage a positive attitude to learning. Also of great importance, we recruit local ethnic minorities to be part of our global team, including people from the Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan communities.

We are a social enterprise, with a dream to make an impact and a need to be financially sustainable. For our society, we strive to increase interaction between students and foreigners, create bridges between different races and integrate our minority groups to feel valued in Hong Kong. By the end of 2010 alone, we hope to have reached 3,000 students and project thousands more in the years to come.

Establishing a business is never an easy task; high risk, hard work, seeking investors, dealing with business partners, marketing, managing the finance, and this doesn’t include all the administrative tasks which are necessary. Whilst doing this you balance the business objectives with the social impact and, most importantly, you do not take a salary.

“We are change-makers; we persist, and we will succeed”

My family was skeptical about my passion and the achievements of ICE. Completing our first school contract, we were interviewed by the newspaper and ATV for the new way of enterprising and education, my parents became increasingly supportive of what I do. Lucky enough, we have now broken even and the company is growing at speed.

We see ourselves as change-makers; just like every dreamer in history, we persist, and we will succeed. You can visit our website www.i-c-e-centre.com to find out more about us.

The tutors of ICE come from different countries and they adopt exciting teaching methods that appeal to the youngsters.

The results that achieved by ICE as a social enterprise is covered in one of the local newspapers.

Editorial note: Freddy was the team leader in the Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge 2009 and his team is the champion at the Grand Final held in early February 2010. Out of the 240 teams, they are number 1 in Hong Kong. Freddy is the only person from PolyU who got into the semi-final, and at the end led the whole team to beat all others even some MBA students from CUHK. Congratulations Freddy and well done!

Students and Alumni News

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Gillian chose to study in Hong Kong because she likes its mixed culture.

From Limelight to Student Life

To many girls, winning a beauty pageant would be a dream that offers a fast track to the entertainment business. For MAELS (MA in English

Language Studies) student Gillian Zeng, champion of Miss Chinese Cosmos 2007, it is only a different role that she wanted to try in her life and she chose to continue what she has determined to pursue in her life, including finishing her MA in Hong Kong.

After studying in Hong Kong for about 6 months, the greatest challenge that Gillian found is the different teaching style between China and Hong Kong. When Gillian was doing her BA in Legal English in Xian International Studies University, the key learning method was to remember things and she admitted this style has brought difficulty in coping with her MA assignments. However, she enjoyed the way used by the MA teachers in the classes – encourage students to think and to understand and this has helped to open up her mind a lot. Another aspect that she liked most is to work with Hong Kong students via group assignments as she can learn a lot from them in the process.

In addition to studying, Gillian is now working part-time for Phoenix TV in Hong Kong which is a duty that she needs to fulfill as the champion of Miss Chinese Cosmos. The job involves being a host for several entertainment programmes and interviewing different guests at the shows. “This role has really given me lots of exciting opportunities. I interviewed Jackie Chan and Yao Ming before and also have the honour to be a torchbearer at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong,” said Gillian. While all these glamorous jobs make Gillian appear to be special, she prefers people to take her as a normal person.

Gillian is planning to complete another Master’s degree in China upon finishing her MA in Hong Kong. At the same time, she is also researching various job information in Hong Kong to get some directions about her future career. No matter which route she will take, she will grab the opportunity to learn the most.

Being the Miss Chinese Cosmos 2007 exposes Gillian to many exciting opportunities.

Indoor Experiential Team Building Workshop Begins Mentorship Programme 2009/10

The Team Building Workshop, which was held on 18 December 2009, is a new attempt which aims at building rapport, team spirit

and enhances the communication between the mentors and mentees at their first meeting. This workshop was conducted by two external trainers who have strong experience in arranging and delivering tailor-made training programs.

Around 30 participants joined this workshop. The occasion has provided a good opportunity for both mentors and mentees to know each other better via various kinds of team building activities focusing on problem solving, strategic planning, decision making, time management as well as communication.

Mentors and mentees work together at the workshop activities to solve different problems.

Gillian is proud to be a torchbearer at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong.