Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1998

Pub l ic Lectures Public lectures a nd s ymp o s i ums are frequently organized to investigate language curricula i n schools and universities, professional language, a nd mu l t i - me d ia teaching. These functions are o p en to the participation of scholars, teachers, and the public a nd are expected to heighten the public's awareness of various language issues. Prof. Gillian Brown, Professor of English as an International Language at the University of Cambridge, delivered three lectures in March 1997 in her capacity as Distinguished Visiting Scholar to United College: 'English as an International Language; What Does It Mean?', 'Developments in Listening Comprehension in the Last 30 Years', and 'Interpretation and Context'. Prof. John M. Swales, father of English for Academic Purposes, delivered a Wei Lun Lecture on 'Language, Science, and Scholarship' in September 1997. With the launch of the T.S. Wang Visiting Professor Lecture in Language Education in 1997, Prof. Samuel Cheung Hung-nin from the Department of East-Asian Languages at the University of California at Berkeley was invited to deliver a lecture in May 1997 to explore the development of Chinese language education in Hong Kong from a 'language self-awareness' approach. Prof. Liu Tsun-yan, emeritus professor at the Australian National Unviersity, spoke on Teaching of Chinese in Secondary Education in Hong Kong' in September 1998 in his capacity as T.S. Wang Visiting Lecturer in Language Education. Research Projects Teaching staff of the Un i v e r s i ty are also actively engaged i n l a n g u a ge research. Projects w h i c h h a ve r e c e i v ed s u p p o r t f r o m t he Research G r a n ts C o u n c i l a n d the Language Education F u n d i n recent years include: • The A c q u i s i t i on of Focus Particles i n Cantonese • The D e v e l o pme nt a nd Psychometric E v a l u a t i on of a Na t i o n al Standardized P u t o n g h ua Test • Phonological Processing a nd Its I mp o r t a n ce Relative to Visual Processing for Reading Chinese a nd English • D e v e l o p m e nt of P h o n o l o g i c al A w a r e n e ss a n d Its Relation to English Reading a nd Spelling Competence i n P r i ma ry School C h i l d r en • To Examine the Effectiveness of U s i ng P u t o n g h ua as a M e d i u m of Instruction i n Chinese Language Teaching Re s e a r ch F i n d i n gs are e x p e c t ed to c o n t r i b u te significantly to the quality of language education i n H o n g Kong. Conc l us i on Since its inception, The Chinese University has adopted b i l i n g u a l i s m and b i c u l t u r a l i s m as the basis of its teaching and naturally language education has been an indispensable part of its curriculum. With new social and economic developments post-1997, the need to produce university graduates fluent in English, Cantonese, and putonghua has become even more apparent. The University's effortsat improving the language and communicative skills of its own students and promoting language education outside its gates will no doubt provide the talent much needed by the HKSAR to confront the challenges of the new century. • Chinese University Bulletin Autumn • Winter 1998 14