Media

Academic English Symposium 2012

30 May 2012

 

The reform of undergraduate education in Hong Kong is one of the most radical changes in higher education ever undertaken. In September 2012, Hong Kong's public universities will launch a four-year undergraduate curriculum to replace the existing three-year curriculum. Almost 30,000 new entrants will be admitted under two different systems, following two different curricula and spanning two different time frames. An important aspect of this is to ensure that students are able to manage their studies and develop professional skills in English and an important symposium is being held at HKU with these issues as its focus.

The Academic English Symposium 2012, hosted by the Centre for Applied English Studies (CAES) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will be held on June 1 (Friday) with the theme Research into Practice in the Four-year curriculum.

This one-day Symposium features the plenary address "Re-envisioning Undergraduate Education" by Professor Amy B.M. Tsui, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Vice President (Teaching & Learning) of HKU, Chair of Language and Education and a panel discussion with the Heads of English Language Centres at 7 local universities on "Innovations in the four-year curriculum: What do language centres do?" Professor Ken Hyland, CAES Director and Chair of Applied Linguistics, gives a closing remark on "So what's going on? Ten things we learnt about research into practice" There are also 28 presentations on innovations in English language education in Hong Kong by academics.

This Symposium is the third in the series and also the last before the commencement of the new four-year curriculum in Hong Kong higher education, so it serves as a vital platform for intellectual and knowledge exchange among English language practitioners at a critical time of curriculum change. 200 educators will attend the Symposium to discuss issues about English teaching and learning in the new curriculum. Details of the Symposium are as follows:

Date: June 1, 2012 (Friday)
Time: 8:50 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue: Meng Wah Complex, HKU

For enquires about the event, please contact CAES via email at: rips2012@hku.hk

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Trinni Choy (Assistant Director (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2606 email: pychoy@hku.hk or Ms Melanie Wan (Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2600 email: melwkwan@hku.hk.