Abstracts of Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant for 2022-25 Triennium

Language Enhancement Projects

No.	Project Title	Abstract
1.	Advancing Language Learning: Integrating Large Language Models in Chinese Education for Non- Chinese Speaking Students	Since the release of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, Generative AI tools have emerged as revolutionary across all disciplines. Over the past year, tech companies worldwide have introduced chatbots, and students have taken chances to explore them outside school. With robust databases, computational power, and interactive features, generative AI tools have the potential to reshape the current language learning environment and revolutionize language learning pedagogy. This research proposal aims to assess students’ attitudes toward generative AI tools in the language learning process and evaluate the current integration of AI elements into their coursework at CUHK. The study seeks to uncover insights that can inform adjustments to teaching pedagogy. By understanding students’ perceptions and the current status of AI in language education, the project aims to provide valuable recommendations for educators to enhance their teaching methods and effectively leverage generative AI tools for language learning. Additionally, in response to the growing importance of Chinese language proficiency in an interconnected world, the study explores innovative pedagogical designs through the application of Generative AI tools. It assesses the advantages and disadvantages of this pedagogical approach, addressing challenges associated with Generative AI tools integration through both quantitative and qualitative research. The study also aims to enhance the learning experience for non-Chinese speaking students, aligning with the University’s commitment to language enhancement and students’ global readiness in the era of artificial intelligence. Additionally, the study contributes to pedagogy research by highlighting innovative practices in higher education language education. The proposed methodology involves a quasi-experimental design, comparing the effectiveness of ChatGPT as a personal language tutor with a control group where students pair with Chinese-speaking peers. The study’s outcomes have broader implications for system-level improvements in teaching and learning activities at CUHK
2.	Understanding the Challenges for Student Learning in Different Languages of Instruction	Over the past six decades, CUHK has adopted and maintained a bilingual education policy, i.e., a policy of two written languages (Chinese and English) and three spoken languages (Cantonese, Putonghua and English). In recent years, there is an increasing number of non-local students in CUHK under the trend of internationalization. A further rise can be anticipated in view of the latest 2023 Policy Address of the Chief Executive of HKSAR, which proposes to double the quota for non-local students in Government-funded universities starting from the 2024/25 academic year. While CUHK has taken bilingualism as its unique characteristic and strength, how to cater for the expanding linguistic diversity of the student population with bilingual education is a matter of urgency. Past research has shown that local university students in Hong Kong encounter various difficulties from the use of English-medium instruction (EMI) in class. On the other hand, non-local students find it challenging to learn in class where code-switching or translanguaging is used. Given the profound effect of medium of instruction (MOI) on student learning, this project proposes to investigate what related challenges that CUHK students encounter, whether these challenges vary between students of different linguistic backgrounds, and what improvement and support measures students suggest. By surveying two cohorts of undergraduate students, it is expected that this project will have pedagogical implications on the enhancement of learning and teaching. It will also shed light on how to harness the strengths and overcome the weaknesses of bilingual education in CUHK.
3.	從小說構思到跨媒介改編：學生創作計劃 From Novel Construction to Transmedia Adaptation: A Creative Project	“University Chinese I and II” are the core courses provided for around 3000 CUHK students to enhance their Chinese language abilities and to generate their innovative ideas. The newly reformed University Chinese II (2 credits) will be conducted in 2023, and “Fiction” is one of the new elements of the course. This application is now proposing a Chinese language enhancement and creativity cultivation project as a supplement and extension to the reformed course. It is also available to all CUHK students. The project focuses on not only the writing of fiction, but also its transmedia adaptations with high involvement of students. These adaptations will be transformed into 3 micro-modules to assist the teaching and learning of University Chinese II. The project includes: 1. holding 7 professional workshops to enhance students’ transmedia writing and creating skills; 2. organizing a fiction writing and transmedia adaptation competition for CUHK UG students; 3. displaying students’ works through online platform and exhibition in CUHK; 4. further development of 3 micro-modules to benefit the teaching and learning of University Chinese II. There are some materials for teaching fiction writing in the market, but it is the first time that students can further transform their creations into transmedia works. This project is expected to cultivate students’ stronger engagement in learning Chinese Language, Literature and Arts, and motivate them to be an active learner; encourage students to think creatively, collaborate effectively in teamwork, integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and concern about important global issues that their work needs to be related to, which will prepare them to become responsible global citizens and leaders.
4.	Enhancing Spoken Chinese Proficiency: A Comprehensive Initiative for Student Success	The ability to effectively communicate in spoken Chinese is of paramount importance for students' academic success and career advancement. However, with the cancellation of the oral assessment in HKDSE from the 2023/24, the focus on oral proficiency in local education has notably declined. In CUHK, the primary focus of the core Chinese curriculum, "University Chinese", is written composition, with oral communication serving as an optional teaching unit. This disparity is evident when compared to English teaching unit’s (ELTU) offerings, which include courses such as “ELTU 2005 Speaking and Presenting like TED” and “ELTU 3502 Essentials of Public Speaking”, and the Project Chrysalis initiative[note1], focusing on oral communication training. Our students are thus at a disadvantage, lacking sufficient opportunities to enhance their spoken Chinese skills. Furthermore, the cessation of the annual "CUHK Speech Competition", which has been a platform for students to showcase and improve their spoken Chinese since 2004, has further limited these opportunities. This project aims to enhance our student’s spoken Chinese skills as its primary goal. We anticipate that the project's outcomes will provide more opportunities for spoken Chinese practice and access to online self-learning resources. The project encompasses three main initiatives: 1. A University-wide Chinese Speech Competition: This competition, open to all full-time undergraduate students, will provide a platform for students to showcase their proficiency in spoken Chinese. Preliminary plans include allowing speeches in both Cantonese and Mandarin, with topics centered around local language, cultural issues, positive life attitudes, values, and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The competition will consist of preliminary and final stage. Competitors only need to submit their self-recorded speech clips in the preliminary stage, and a suitable number of competitors will be selected to final stage. Each competitor of final stage will receive “one-on-one speech guidance” provided by the project members to further improve their speech levels and ensure the quality of the speech which will be transformed to online self-learning resources for CUHK students. 2. A Series of talks on Spoken Chinese Skills: Starting from 2024/25 academic year, we will organize 3 talks or workshops focusing on spoken Chinese skills. The content will include the use of tone, gestures, eye contact and facial expression in public speaking, speaking skills for different contexts, industries, and purposes, and debate skills. The aforementioned topics are distinct from the speaking teaching components of the 'University Chinese' course and closely align with students' prospective academic and career development needs. The speakers will come from various sectors both inside and outside CUHK, thus ensure the talks’ content is relevant to the local context and provide our students with opportunities to learn spoken Chinese. The talk series will be open to all students of CUHK and will be incorporated into the 'Language Talk' (語文講堂) series of 'University Chinese' courses, with the aim of attracting a wider student participation. The project team will also disseminate information about the talks to Chinese teaching units at other tertiary institutions for broader publicity. 3. Setting up social media platform for the project: The project members will create a social media platform, like IG or Facebook fan page, to regularly upload information about the talk series, speech competition, and other events, as well as publish event clips. These clips, including talk recordings and speech recordings in final stage, aim to expose the project's results to students and the public who could not participate in the project activities in person, thereby achieving a broader impact. This project is slated for a one-year pilot in the 2024/25 academic year, with the possibility of seeking additional teaching grants in subsequent years, contingent on the project's success. [Note 2] Note 1: https://eltu.cuhk.edu.hk/Project_C/ Note 2: The initial proposal included the provision of additional oral communication activities, like impromptu speeches and talk shows, as an informal approach to bolster students' oral proficiency. However, given the constraints of time and resources, the team has decided to prioritize the execution of competitions and related learning activities, thereby necessitating the withdrawal of the aforementioned suggestion.
5.	Tailored Language Enhancement Program: Chinese Across Curriculum and Care for SEN Students	Following the successful execution of the pilot project in the academic year 2022/23, the Department of Chinese Language and Literature (hereafter the "Department") aims to continue its collaborations with the Office of General Education (hereafter "OUGE") and United College, while providing comprehensive support for students with special educational needs (SEN). This initiative will benefit students from various academic backgrounds beyond the formal curriculum. To further enhance the project's effectiveness, several modifications will be implemented in the activities' implementation. Firstly, the Department will organize three theme-based lectures focusing on the reading skills of selected course materials for students enrolled in "UGFH1000 In Dialogue with Humanity". Additionally, as for collaboration with colleges, the Department will prioritize the promotion of upcoming activities for the next academic year and explore collaborations with other colleges as part of their partnership efforts. Last but not least, a novel approach will be implemented to enhance the delivery of Chinese language learning support for SEN students to improve the effectiveness and accessibility of the support provided to these students. Overall, these modifications and collaborations will contribute to the sustainability and success of the project, ensuring that students from diverse academic backgrounds, including those with special educational needs, receive valuable support and engagement beyond the formal curriculum.
6.	AI System for Teaching and Learning University Chinese	The project aims to develop an AI mobile Web Portal to support Chinese language teaching and learning correspond to the core curriculum of the University: University Chinese I and University Chinese II, with the goal of enhancing students' Chinese language proficiency. The AI Web Portal should be able to: 1) Provide handwriting translation function: recognize both traditional and simplified Chinese characters, and translate students' handwritten Chinese into computer characters, making it convenient for students who are not familiar with Chinese typing can efficiently convert their handwritten text into computer text for further editing, modification, archiving, and submitting their assignments to satisfy the requirement that the Veriguide system can only review computer fonts. 2) Provide sentence, paragraph, and chapter generation functions that meet the needs of the above core curriculum. Teachers and students only need to input information such as writing theme and learning key point (for example various rhetorical, argumentative, or descriptive techniques), and then they can obtain the teaching and learning materials that meet the students' level and curriculum needs. 3) Provide the function of analyzing articles that corresponds to the teaching focus of the University Chinese courses. Includes analysis of descriptive and argumentative writing techniques, rhetorical skills, and structural organization, etc. 4) Generates prompts and writing suggestions based on writing topics to enhance students' problem-solving and writing skills. 5) Provides the function of creating learning history files. Support to categorize and archive the generated content according to different topics or genres, making it convenient for users to manage and review at any time. It is never easy to find good examples for teaching and learning that fully meet the needs of the course. This project can assist students to generate learning materials according to their individual learning needs, promote independent learning, improve wording, and polish sentences; teachers can also use it to generate suitable teaching examples to solve teaching difficulties such as outdated and unsuitable sample texts and insufficient vocabulary and expression of students.
7.	Culture and Life: Promotion and Learning of Chinese Classical Poetry on Campus	Classical Chinese poetry is a treasure of Chinese culture and a superb embodiment of the Chinese language. "University Chinese I and II" are increasingly valuing classical poetry, but the teaching hours are limited. This project aims to fill the existing gap in university Chinese teaching, with the goal of promoting classical poetry learning and bringing poetry to students' lives. This project breaks through the framework of traditional language learning, designs diverse learning activities in order to arouse students' interest in classical poetry, improve their language ability and promote the diversity of Chinese language and literature learning. The project includes: 1. Establish a classical poetry E-Platform, categorized by themes such as festivals, nature, hunger, and poverty. The platform will analyze the rhythm, content and writing skill of the poetry, and provide Cantonese and Mandarin audio files to assist both local and non-local students in mastering the pronunciation, form and aesthetics of the works, enhance their ability to interpret and appreciate literature. 2. Organize the poetry dissemination activity "Elegant Recitation", promote a campus-wide poetry learning atmosphere through displaying poetry on posters and electronic screens, recruiting student teams to write poetry on display boards on the campus. In addition, organize peer study groups of students, stimulating the atmosphere of studying classical poetry. 3. Hold 4 professional talks to enhance students' writing and appreciation skills of classical poetry. 4. Organize a couplet creation competition, in order to promote the overall campus poetry learning and creation environment. This project is not only for more than 3000 students of "University Chinese I and II", but also for students from different departments of CUHK, to broadly promote classical poetry learning. Through the design of diverse and innovative learning programs, the project encourages students to take the initiative to learn classical Chinese poetry in order to improve their language proficiency and inherit valuable culture and positive values from poetry.
8.	Collaborative Approach for Language Learning (CALL): A Proposal for Peer Learning Language Enhancement (Chinese Language) 協作式語言學習：同儕共學語文提升計劃 (中文)	The majority of students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have Chinese as their mother tongue and possess a basic command of the language. The objective of this project is to build upon this foundation by enhancing students' cognitive and practical skills in advanced semantic and pragmatic aspects of Chinese and by fostering collaborative learning within the student community. Entitled CALL (Collaborative Approach for Language Learning), the project positions students as the main participants and calls upon their peers to cultivate greater attention to the Chinese language. It endeavors to nurture a culture of group learning where students can exert a positive influence on one another. The project comprises two core components: Mentor Program Development: On various language topics, cultivate academically outstanding students to become mentors, equipping them with the ability to tutor lower-grade students. This not only provides care for the younger students, helping them quickly master learning strategies and techniques, but also fosters a sustained enthusiasm for learning Chinese and the ability to reflect on the Chinese language among the senior students. Language Lecture Series: These lectures will be led by student mentors and will focus on themes that resonate with the students' interests or are pertinent to their academic experience, providing an opportunity for student mentors to present their research findings. The lectures will be open to all students and will foster student participation through interactive discussions. The aim is to enhance the students' understanding of Chinese, to stimulate their interest in the language, and to cultivate a culture of peer learning and ongoing reflection on language.
9.	Students as partners in Language Enhancement: Game your way to Chinese 語文提升學生夥伴計劃：桌遊中文	This proposal aims to support an activity focused on boardgame design and production, to be applied in University Chinese I and II. The project will be led by experienced teachers, guiding students who have completed their University Chinese I /II, to create Chinese language learning boardgames. Students will receive advanced training in Chinese language. They will work collaboratively in teams to design and produce boardgames that will serve as teaching materials for future Chinese language classes. Through this approach, we not only reinforce the knowledge acquired by students in their University Chinese language courses but also apply the concept of "Students as partners," involving students in the teaching and learning process. Additionally, these students will also serve as peer tutors, joining the teachers in leading Chinese learning boardgame activities in the classrooms. This involvement will provide students with an opportunity to practice teaching skills and methods, while enhancing their confidence and leadership abilities. Moreover, it will foster interaction and mutual assistance among students of different seniority levels. By designing well-crafted boardgames, we aim to provide University Chinese I and II classes with game, based learning opportunities that align with teaching objectives, and the thinking and interests of young adults. This initiative will contribute to improving the Chinese language proficiency and learning interest among students, while also providing teachers with innovative teaching methods. We believe that this project will have a positive impact on university-level Chinese language teaching while providing students with an engaging and meaningful learning experience.
10.	Chinese across the Curriculum: collaboration with Colleges and the Office of University General Education	The Chinese across the Curriculum (hereafter "CAC") project aims to achieve the following objectives: 1. Continue collaborating with the Office of General Education (hereafter "OUGE") to build on existing partnerships. 2. Maintain and strengthen the collaboration with the United College (hereafter "UC"). 3. Establish a new collaboration with Wu Yee Sun College (hereafter "WYS") to expand collaborative efforts. 4. Explore additional potential collaborations with other colleges/ departments/ units for further engagement. 5. Develop a new one-credit face-to-face Chinese language proficiency elective course, specifically designed to enhance the language skills of students enrolled in general education core courses. By actively pursuing these ongoing collaborations and implementing innovative initiatives, our objective is to ensure the long-term sustainability and success of the project. Through these efforts, students from diverse academic backgrounds will have valuable opportunities to enhance their language proficiency beyond formal curriculum.
11.	Ancient Chinese Texts Online: Enhancing Students' Chinese Writing Skills through the Study of Classical Sayings	The "University Chinese I and II" courses at CUHK cater to over 3,000 students, aiming to bolster their Chinese language proficiency and foster critical thinking. The inclusion of "Ancient Texts" is crucial for distinct learning objectives in each level. In University Chinese I, students delve into specialized topics concerning ancient Chinese language, exploring its unique usage and historical evolution. Meanwhile, in University Chinese II, emphasis is placed on analytical and argumentative skills through the study of classical texts, equipping students with a rich understanding of classical Chinese literature and enhancing their persuasive writing abilities. Additionally, across at least 6 elective courses, students engage in further refinement of their Chinese language skills, particularly in classical Chinese reading and usage, contributing to an overall enhancement of their language proficiency. We propose developing a user-friendly website, designed to ease students into the domain of Chinese ancient wisdom, and facilitate its practical application, using the scaffolding theory of learning. The goal is to improve students' proficiency in Classical Chinese and foster an elegant writing style. This E-Platform applies scaffolding in its design, starting with sentences and smaller sections to make learning more manageable, mirroring the step-by-step support that scaffolding theory advocates. It addresses common difficulties students encounter in learning ancient texts, such as feeling distant from the material and being overwhelmed by the vast volume of ancient texts. Key features of the platform, constructed with scaffolding theory in mind, include a categorized repository, classical commentary from different scholars, retrieval functionality, daily sayings, and personalized learning. This allows students to build upon their knowledge in a structured way, exploring content relevant to their study fields, efficiently searching for specific sayings or related topics, engaging in manageable daily learning, and customizing their learning journey based on their interests and professional needs. Also, we will design pre-tests and post-tests to assess student outcomes. The proposed website fills a crucial gap in the existing landscape of online resources. While there are some existing websites catering to professional research or secondary students, there is a notable scarcity of platforms specifically designed to cater to the needs of general university students, particularly in accessing Chinese ancient texts. Our platform aims to bridge the gap between secondary and university-level curricula, serving as a vital resource for students transitioning from secondary to tertiary education. It prepares them for their journey into society by fostering a deeper understanding of Chinese traditional wisdom and culture, equipping them with essential knowledge and insights before entering the workforce. By integrating textual explanations, the E-Platform facilitates students' exploration and application of Chinese ancient texts anytime, anywhere, as per the support-then-independence approach of scaffolding. The E-Platform serves as a crucial resource for students to gain a deep understanding and practical application of ancient sayings within their respective fields, fostering a meaningful connection with China's cultural heritage.
12.	Augmenting Reality Treasure Hunt for Learning Japanese	1. For many Japanese language learners at CUHK, language acquisition takes place through classroom-based learning with relatively limited opportunities for meaningful and authentic language use outside the class. The purpose of this project is to bring real world relevance to classroom activities by building an Augmented Reality (AR)-assisted treasure hunt platform that delivers an authentic language experience in the field. The project uses gamification approach to enable students to interact with frequent users of Japanese language in the city and beyond (both native and non-native Japanese speakers). 2. Augmented reality (AR) is an attractive area for educators thanks to its flexible design, the fact that it can be integrated in formal and informal learning settings, and because it enables students to interact with digital information embedded in physical environments. 3. This project aims to utilise these features to engage students in deeper exploration of real world learning sites in Hong Kong relevant to Japanese language and studies. In essence, the goal of this project is to develop an e-learning platform incorporating AR and gamification elements that can be utilised to enhance students’ educational experience during teacher-guided, peer-guided and self-guided field trips in the city. 4. The activities incorporating the e-learning platform will be used to supplement the instruction of courses focused on Japanese language and culture, with a goal to addressing relevant content learning objectives as well as boosting students’ authentic enquiry, active observation, and a sense of belonging to a multi-cultural real-world community. 5. The technology component of the project includes a mobile-optimised website developed in-house and used to access the AR experience running on wireless-enabled mobile devices powered by Android and iOS. The AR experience will be created using third-party mobile apps, COCOAR and Geocaching, a vision-based AR technology and a location-based technology respectively, and will use the camera on a student’s smartphone to recognise real world images (trigger images) and overlay media on top of them. 6. To maximize students’ engagement, we use gamification approach and incorporate game design elements such as ‘meaningful stories’, ‘badges’, and ‘teammate’ to recreate a treasure hunting experience in which students (a) visit physical locations around the city; (b) unlock hidden video clips embedded in real-world objects such as entrance curtain of Japanese sushi restaurant containing problem-based narratives, eg, Japanese chef’s introduction to sushi culture in Japanese (meaningful stories); (c) complete comprehension quizzes found at the end of the videos; (d) collect digital tokens as rewards (badges); and (e) collaborate with other students to maximise their rewards (teammate). 7. The objective of this project is to transform students’ everyday experiences into learning opportunities in and outside the classroom through visualizing authentic use of Japanese language in the city. Our mobile-optimized website will engage students taking Japanese subjects to interact with the Japanese language through completing real world authentic tasks and develop a deeper connection with the Japanese speaking community.
13.	Monitoring Students’ English Language Proficiency using IELTS	This project aims to provide (1) continuous additional information about CUHK undergraduate students’ language needs; and (2) to help monitor these students’ English proficiency over time. By adopting the stratified sampling method, the project team will invite students who satisfy the inclusion criteria to complete the induction workshops, to take an IELTS test (academic module), and to report their test results. Focus group interviews will also be conducted to solicit feedback on this initiative and their language learning experience. This implementation cycle with approximately 400 quotas (~10% of the total cohort) will be repeated in each academic year in the 2022–2025 triennium. It is expected that students’ awareness of the importance of English and their willingness to improve their proficiency will be enhanced through the process of engagement. By the end of each cycle, the project team would be able to obtain the language profiles of the sampled students. Related outcomes are not only in line with the general institutional goals of our University to uphold a high level of bilingual proficiency in Chinese and English among our students and to enhance graduates’ global competitiveness, but also contribute to the internal quality assurance processes of ELTU, which informs curriculum (re)development.
14.	Peer Tutoring Scheme: Collaborative Service Learning for Academic, Personal, and Professional Development	Since the inception of the new curriculum in 2012–2013, both local and mainland freshmen have been found deficient in their academic literacy necessary for successful tertiary education. This need was confirmed by an increasing demand for individualized support in academic writing and presentation skills through the Peer Tutoring Scheme (PTS), which was first launched in 2016. Peer tutoring, as an instructional strategy, has been found effective in offering alternative provisions to students in need (Topping, 1996). At CUHK, three delivery modes – face-to-face, Zoom, and online feedback sessions – are offered annually by over 50 trained peer tutors with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The scheme has been a great success with 98% of turn-up rate. The soaring number of peer tutors and tutees reflects the demand and worth of this initiative to both parties. In brief, this project continues to (1) provide personalized language support to CUHK undergraduates and postgraduates; (2) provide training for peer tutors in pedagogy and related skills areas; (3) offer a platform for the peer tutors to grow personally and professionally by sharing knowledge and experience with fellow students; and (4) contribute to internationalization-at-home as the peer tutors are from 20 different countries and regions.
15.	An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Enhancing L2 Research Writing	Writing research reports in English is highly challenging to undergraduate students. This is particularly true for those who often work with numbers, rather than words, in acquiring and expressing content knowledge in their disciplines. This project seeks to explore and lay the groundwork for the development of a self-access and automated writing evaluation (AWE) platform that provides writing analytics and feedback on target features of research writing to scaffold students’ writing and editing process. Readily available AWE systems mainly tackle some general lower order concerns in writing, such as grammar and mechanics, but not other crucial aspects, including but not limited to idea development, coherence and discipline-specific vocabulary. This project aims to fill this void by adopting a combination of machine learning, natural language processing (NLP) and genre analysis approaches to offer a comprehensive, discipline-/genre-specific and sustainable solution. During this exploratory phase of the project, a pilot study of existing approaches to AWE will be conducted and applied to the context of research writing at CUHK. This innovative approach to writing support caters for students’ specific needs and provides a solid foundation for further curriculum and materials development.
16.	Cantonese Peer Tutoring System	Yale-China Chinese Language Academy (CLA) is a unit that specialized in teaching Chinese as a second language (CSL). CLC, in collaboration with the Department of Linguistics, offers a Cantonese as a second language minor programme. CLC offers a series of credit-bearing Cantonese courses for international students, local and non-local Mandarin-speaking students, and exchange students. CLC also offers non-credit Cantonese courses for students since 2017 (TDLEG 2016-19, TDLEG 2019-22). A needs analysis (TDLEG 2016-19) conducted in 2018 indicated that students request learning supports, such as tutoring sessions and other learning aids, associated with the formal curriculum to assist their Chinese learning. A CSL tutorial system has been piloted (TDLEG 2016-19) providing support for CUHK students learning Cantonese and Putonghua. A Cantonese peer tutoring system was started in 2019 (TDLEG 2019-2022) with 20 CUHK Cantonese-speaking students trained as peer tutors and over 500 students learning Cantonese as a second language benefited. The Cantonese peer tutoring system received positive feedback from students, peer tutors, and course teachers. The Cantonese peer tutoring system has established collaboration with other CUHK units, e.g. Office of Students Affairs as well as student bodies, e.g. Mainland Undergraduate Association (香港中文大学内地本科生联合会). To be in line with the University’s vision which states the importance of “bilingual and multicultural” abilities and fosters internationalization within CUHK, this project aims at maintaining and expanding the tutoring system in the 2022-25 triennium for CUHK students learning Cantonese as a second language. 1 Half-time Junior Research Assistant and student helpers will be recruited in this project to work on a peer tutoring system for CUHK local, non-local students and international students learning Cantonese. The team will be led by the PI. This project will benefit all CUHK students.
17.	Non-credit-bearing Cantonese Language Courses to CUHK Students	Based on feedback from students and considering CUHK’s language policy, non-credit-bearing Cantonese courses for different groups of students are considered a good addition to credit-bearing language proficiency courses. The proposal here is the product of many discussions among key players in policy making (CU senior administration 2016-19), IASP, and the relevant language teaching unit (CLC). All courses listed in this proposal have gone through the normal procedure of course approval by the Senate Committee on Language Enhancement (SCLE) as well as the Faculty of Arts. Yale-China Chinese Language Academy (CLA), as part of the Faculty of Arts, offers language training in Cantonese and Putonghua to CUHK local and international students. To meet the changing needs of the students and with encouragement from the University, CLC in collaboration with the Department of Linguistics offers a Cantonese as a second language minor programme starting from 2022-2023. Since 2016, a series of non-credit-bearing Chinese as a second language courses is offered to all CUHK students to encourage learning Cantonese/Chinese as a second language and to enhance their Cantonese proficiency. These courses are well received and the majority of the students are motivated to register for credit-bearing courses offered by CLC. CLC is proposing to refine and continue offering a series of non-credit bearing Cantonese courses to help all CUHK students including undergraduates and postgraduates in adjusting to the Cantonese speaking environment and encouraging Cantonese/Chinese learning at CUHK, in Hong Kong and in the Greater Bay Area.
18.	Putonghua Tutorial System- Maintenance and Expansion	The Putonghua tutorial system at CLC was established in 2018 and has been running since then despite all of the challenges in the last few years. As Hong Kong does not have a designated Putonghua speaking population, students do not have many chances to practice what they learn in the classroom in Hong Kong. This program fills the gap by connecting international students studying Putonghua to native Putonghua-speaking students at CUHK through extracurricular activities and discussions. This benefits both students at CLC and students who are interested in cross-cultural communication or who are aspiring Chinese language teachers. Furthermore, authentic texts written for native Chinese speakers are too difficult for beginning students, especially those without any background in Chinese. This program fills the gap by providing guidance and support in reading and writing to students to bridge the classroom to the real world. As the feedback collected from students has been overwhelmingly positive, especially reporting strengthening their knowledge from lecture and citing the practice in real-life settings, it is essential to continue offering this program to students studying Putonghua at CLC. In addition to maintaining the existing arrangements, the program will also be expanded to meet more students’ expectations and needs.
19.	Enhancing Medical Cantonese Proficiency and Development of Medical Cantonese Proficiency Testing	Medical Cantonese Proficiency is required for delivering health care to the Hong Kong population who are predominately Cantonese speakers. There is currently no standardised testing in medical Cantonese proficiency or courses to help cater for learners’ needs in this area. Meanwhile, the medical and health care undergraduates come from a diverse range of language backgrounds and proficiencies. This project will enable 1) assessment of learners’ needs, 2) benchmarking of professional proficiency levels, 3) course development in enhancing medical Cantonese proficiency from novice to basic/ intermediate professional proficiency level, and 4) evaluation of the effectiveness of these courses in enhancing medical Cantonese proficiency. The outcomes of the project will result in: 1) Discourse analysis and pedagogical approach for enhancing learner’s medical Cantonese 2) Medical Cantonese enhancement courses for CU medicine students from novice to intermediate level. This project aims to develop a 3-credit Cantonese language course. This course is targeted at year-1/year-2 non-Cantonese-speaking medical students to enhance their Cantonese proficiency basic/ intermediate professional proficiency 3) Development of proficiency levels with real examples for use of medical Cantonese in Hong Kong. 4) Self-testing and Centre testing of Medical Cantonese Proficiency level The impact of the project will lead to sustainable courses with student and professional input to enhance communication and health care in Hong Kong. Ethical approval will be sought for discourse analysis.
20.	Learning Chinese Outside the Classroom	This project builds on the excellent outcomes of the 2016-19 and 2019-22 TDLEG projects and will continue to expand on what has already been achieved, with the full support of the Chinese Language Teaching Development Centre of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, maintaining high quality curriculum and better aligning with the restructuring of the Chinese language proficiency programme and the University Core Requirements (with approximately 5500-6000 students enrolled in University Chinese courses per year). 1. Expanding the subject coverage with language activities Plentiful language talks and hands-on workshops will continue to be held, aiming to provide ample extra-curricular learning opportunities for University Chinese (CHLT 1001 and CHLT 1002) students with varying learning needs. Nevertheless, the topics of the talks and workshops should be differentiated from the formal curriculum of University Chinese. Furthermore, students can select specific topics according to their personal interests and needs. Thus, the talks and workshops can extend the scope of the curriculum without jeopardizing the lesson time and the curriculum framework. 2. Promoting students’ self-learning abilities through digital learning resources Those digital learning resources supported by previous TDLEG have become an essential component of University Chinese courses, especially when the course includes a 10%-15% self-learning performance component, which is graded based on students' completion of the online learning materials and assessments. This project will continue to review, update, and revise existing materials while also leveraging resources to create new digital learning resources in response to students' learning needs. Consequently, students will be encouraged to gain language knowledge through self-learning, which frees up time for class discussions and allows teachers to recognize students' various learning needs and problems. 3. Increasing students’ exposure to Chinese language through non-formal education The “Literary CUHK” essay competition will continue to be held on an annual basis to foster the writing culture at CUHK. The project team will compile the previous years’ award-winning works in the hopes that teachers can use them as teaching resources and that these peer works will pique students' interests and stimulate greater literary creativity. 4. Staff Development Staff development activities on digital learning and Chinese language pedagogy will be organized for the teaching team by inviting experts within and outside CUHK. Senior colleagues will also establish a community of practice on topics like digital learning, creative pedagogies, and instructional assistance for newly employed and part-time teachers. This equips teachers with digital literacy and pedagogical knowledge, and the teaching team may then transfer gained abilities to VTL for effective teaching in unforeseen conditions.
21.	Development of Pedagogical Materials for Hispanic Culture Teaching	To enhance the teaching and the learning of Hispanic culture, this project aims at developing a self-directed learning set of online activities on Hispanic culture framed in Moodle learning platform for students of Spanish language at CUHK. These online activities supplement existing materials used during the regular three-unit courses to enrich the cultural components in the pedagogical materials of Spanish language teaching and learning. The targeted learners of these online activities, designed in line with the contents of the Spanish language courses offered by the department, are Spanish language learners with basic knowledge of Spanish. The courseware will consist of a set of pedagogical materials divided into 8 modules covering a variety of cultural components in the Hispanic world. These activities will be supported by audio visual materials with multimedia tasks and explicative videos in each unit. These pedagogical materials will help arose students’ interests, as well as consolidate their essential knowledge on Spanish language and culture. The ultimate objective is to promote learners’ engagement with pedagogical tools to synergize their study, to improve the teaching and learning efficiency, and to expand the culture interest and knowledge simultaneously. The pedagogical materials of this project also aims to fulfill the official guidelines for second language learning (CEFR, PCPI, etc.) in respect to cultural competence.
22.	Revamping the Assessment of HKSL III to VI based on the Guidelines of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)	Background · The Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) curriculum and its multimedia resources have been developing since 2008. A new set of expectations have been laid down by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), so our team has been redesigning the e-learning platform and developing a set of structured self-learning activities to support informal learning and to reach the expected outcomes as stipulated by CEFR under a few past and existing projects. The curriculum of HKSL I to IV have been revamped, and HKSL V to VI are to be revamped under another new project proposed. · Sign language is a language of the visual-gestural modality, so paper-and-pen assessment is not ideal. An archive of comprehension items has been developed, but our current assessment on comprehension relies on paper-and-pen translation tasks due to technical limitation. Virtual assessments allow dialogues, questions and answer choices to be presented in video or picture, so that students’ competence will be validly assessed. Once developed, the virtual assessment can be used in online mode, mixed-mode, and even face-to-face teaching in the long run. · We have revamped the assessment of HKSL I and II under a past project “Revamping the Assessment of HKSL I and II based on the Guidelines of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)”. The teachers and students have provided positive feedbacks for the revamping of HKSL I and II on formative and summative assessment. This proposed project will continue on revamping the assessment of HKSL III to VI. Objectives 1. Producing 32 sets of formative assessment on comprehension, each consisting of 5 signed question videos in question types such as multiple choice. 2. Developing an item bank by producing 24 sets of summative assessment on comprehension, each consisting of one dialogue or monologue and 5-10 signed question videos in question types such as multiple choice or simple picture drawing. How to achieve the goals The project team will: 1. Produce 160 question videos with answer choices in video or picture for formative assessment; and 2. Produce at least 120 question videos with answer choices in video or picture for summative assessment; and 3. Produce 24 dialogue or monologue videos for summative assessment.
23.	Revamping the Curriculum of HKSL V and VI based on the Guidelines of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)	Background · The Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) curriculum so far developed and the multimedia resources produced therein by the HKSL course instructors since 2008 have failed to satisfy the ever expanding HKSL programme under the Modern Languages section of The Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages. · The situation has become quite critical when a new set of expectations have been laid down by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), so our team has redesigned the e-learning platform and developed a set of structured self-learning activities to support informal learning and to reach the expected outcomes as stipulated by CEFR under two past projects “Revamping the Curriculum of HKSL I and II based on the Guidelines of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)” and “Revamping the Curriculum of HKSL III and IV based on the Guidelines of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)”. · Teachers and students provided positive feedback for the revamping of HKSL I to IV. The successful practice will be furthered for HKSL V and VI to support higher-level learning of the Hong Kong Sign Language, in which students’ signing skills and comprehension skills will be further developed. Objectives 1) Producing 32 video recordings in HKSL the contents of which include signed conversations, narratives, interviews, etc. with a diverse range of contents. These materials will be further processed to support the development of sign comprehension skills, which is claimed to be very challenging, especially to hearing learners 2) Developing text-based materials with pictures to supplement the present video-based materials designed to teach HKSL grammar and Deaf culture 3) Enhancing the interface of the e-learning platform to support students’ self-learning of HKSL How to achieve the goals · The project team will: i) Develop the content for 32 new video recordings for HKSL V and VI tailored for B2 level under the CEFR; and Recruit Deaf HKSL users from the community to take part in the production of the video materials in order to acquaint students with the various signing styles of HKSL users
24.	GermanChat: A German Chatbot for Enhanced Oral Language Practice	Language instruction often falls short in adequately addressing oral language skills, leaving students with limited opportunities to practice authentic conversations and develop fluency. To tackle this challenge, we propose the development of a German chatbot that serves as a simulated conversation partner and addresses the lack of immediate response in language learning. Leveraging generative AI, this chatbot will provide both text-based and voice-based interactions to cater to the needs of students. The primary goal of the chatbot is to facilitate oral practice and engagement by behaving like a real conversation partner. It will engage in dialogues on beginner-friendly topics, such as self-introductions, discussions about hometowns, and conversations about various everyday subjects. The chatbot will initiate conversations, respond to questions, ask relevant questions to keep the conversation flowing, and deepen discussions. In addition to promoting conversation, the chatbot will offer corrections to students' inputs, focusing on vocabulary, grammar, and effective communication. These corrections will be tailored to specific proficiency levels, such as A1 German in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). To aid comprehension, the chatbot will inquire whether students would like the corrections to be translated into their native language. The chatbot's benefits extend beyond oral practice. Students will have flexible access to the chatbot, allowing them to practice German at their own pace and convenience. They can engage in conversations without fear of making mistakes, boosting their confidence and encouraging active participation. Furthermore, the chatbot can be integrated into language instruction by assigning oral conversation tasks as homework. By offering immediate feedback, highlighting mistakes, and providing level-appropriate suggestions for improvement, the chatbot will enhance students' language skills. It will create a supportive learning environment, facilitating self-paced learning and helping students gain confidence in their German language abilities. KEEP as partner: KEEP is an e-learning platform that provides online courses to over 150,000k users globally. KEEP works closely with educators in the university to integrate the latest technologies into education and provide immersive learning experiences for students. For more details, refer to https://keep.edu.hk.
25.	Internationalization, Collaboration, and Leadership- Enhancing Students’ Cantonese and Putonghua Learning Experiences with a Focus on Written Chinese and Peer-to- Peer Interactions	Students taking language courses often learn how to communicate through speaking. While this is an essential skill, written communication is becoming more and more important in an increasingly digital age. This project aims to create supplementary materials for students to not only strengthen their basic reading skills, but also to respond to students’ desire to learn more about Chinese communities overseas. Furthermore, micro-modules introducing Chinese characters that are primarily written on signs and forms, but not usually spoken, to students learning Cantonese and Putonghua will be of significant help for their reading needs in Hong Kong. On top of materials that will enhance students’ Chinese language skills, this project also aims to pilot experiential learning by providing opportunities for senior students to lead activities for junior students. This will diversify the input received by junior students while at the same time allowing senior students to solidify their own language skills by teaching others. As a culminative experience, students will be encouraged to organize purpose-driven outings and events together to put their newly acquired knowledge of written Chinese to use. Doing so will help students bond with their peers while using Chinese, leading to enriched learning experiences.
26.	Updating Elementary Putonghua Textbooks for International Students at CUHK	The University Putonghua Programme at CLC is conducting a curriculum review and has scheduled new textbooks to be released in phases to streamline the new Putonghua as a second language minor program, jointly launched with the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages. Besides updating content, this project will add an essential component to the curriculum review: localizing the context of the new textbooks. Localized textbooks can help bridge the classroom to the real world, stimulating students’ interest and motivation. Currently, most Mandarin Chinese textbooks for international students used in Hong Kong are based on the mainland or are unclear in terms of the context, making it difficult for students to use the content to discuss their daily lives in Hong Kong. This project will produce new textbooks to fill the existing gap. The new textbooks will also cover content tested in the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK), a national-level standardized test for non-native learners of Chinese. With the HSK and Hong Kong contexts included, the new textbooks will be unique and a valuable addition to the field of teaching Chinese as a second language.
27.	Enhancing Students' Performance in Putonghua Teacher Language Proficiency Assessment through Language Evaluation and Teacher Feedback	The target audience for this project comprises students enrolled in the co-terminal double degree CLED Program, which is offered by the Faculty of Education at CUHK. These students aspire to become Chinese language teachers and are required to undergo the Putonghua Proficiency Test (PSC) and the Hong Kong Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (Putonghua) before graduating. The Putonghua immersion program is a significant element of the CLED Program and is designed to prepare students for the Putonghua Proficiency Test (PSC), organized by the National Language Commission. However, the current curriculum of the CLED program lacks specific training sessions addressing the Hong Kong Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (Putonghua). The outcomes of this assessment determine whether students are eligible to teach Putonghua language courses in primary and secondary schools, leading to challenges in exam preparation for the students. To bridge this existing gap, I intend to leverage the Padlet teaching platform to streamline the submission process for students' pronunciation exercise records. These records will undergo comprehensive evaluation by professional assessors, who will offer constructive feedback and valuable suggestions, thereby assisting students in their exam preparation. The benchmarks for the Putonghua Language Proficiency Assessment incorporated in the project align with the Language Proficiency Assessment (Putonghua) conducted by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA). Although the Language Proficiency Assessment comprises four components, this project will distinctly concentrate on enhancing oral presentation skills.
28.	Enriching the self-learning resources of “CHLT 1104 Elementary Self-learning Chinese” for international students	"CHLT 1104 Self-learning Elementary Chinese" is a language course collaboratively launched by the Department of Chinese Language and Literature (CHLL) and the Independent Learning Centre (ILC), which targets international students without prior Chinese training. The curriculum, encompasses "Chinese Characters", "Cantonese", and "Mandarin", with an online self-learning platform for booklist and reference links access. Each semester, the course lecturer will host a seminar for each topic to assist students in mastering basic Chinese knowledge. Students are encouraged to learn actively by following the guidelines from the teacher, and using self-learning materials (printed or online) recommended in the seminars or introduced by another online platform “Online Platform for Successful Chinese Learning” The course maintains steady enrollment (244 students in 2023/24), with a predicted increase following the resumption of international exchanges. After a thorough review of the course content, CHLL and ILC propose several areas for improvement: 1.Integrate "Introduction to Chinese Grammar" into the curriculum, currently absent but stipulated in the course description from CUSIS. The new module will introduce Chinese grammar mainly through a comparison with English grammar. Written Content, short videos and recommend resources (printed or online) will be prepared. An online platform “中文語法學習網” “Online Learning Platform for University Chinese Grammar in Use” ( https://www.ilc.cuhk.edu.hk/Chinese/ChineseGrammar/index.aspx) funded by TDG 2012-2015 will be used as the main reference for the development of this module. 2.Update the existing online platform (https://www.ilc.cuhk.edu.hk/Chinese/SLEC/) to make it more extensive and effective for the students to conduct independent learning (*the online platform can be accessed with OnePass). New components, such as self-learning content, reflective questions, interactive exercises and videos will be added to supplement the existing reference materials and online resource links; 3. Cater to diverse student proficiency levels by introducing an advanced “Introduction to Chinese Literature and Culture” unit, offering students with higher aptitude and motivation a more challenging learning opportunity, in response to certain students’ opinion that the current teaching units are too basic to meet their learning needs. The content of the new module will encompass an exploration of the primary genres of Chinese Literature, including poetry, lyrics, novels and prose. It will also briefly introduce the characteristics of Hong Kong Literature. Due to the fact that this teaching unit is not included in the course description from CUSIS, the course lecturer will not be conducting any seminars on this particular unit. Several introductory videos will be provided, alongside online notes, exercises, related reference resources and links. We believe that these adjustments will enhance the quality of the course and continue to provide high-quality self-learning resources for overseas students coming to Hong Kong. To facilitate this project, teachers from CHLL and ILC will draft the teaching content, with junior research staff assisting in data collection and technical tasks. Past students of CHLT 1104 will also be invited to contribute to the development of teaching materials, ensuring the content meets the specific needs of international students.