SCHOOL OF ENGLISH

Researcher : Ashcroft WD

List of Research Outputs

 

Ashcroft W.D., A Fringe of Leaves: The Edge of the Sacred, Lemuria. Ajmer, India, Dayanand College, 2007, 1: 1: 5-18.

 

Ashcroft W.D., Critical Utopias, US Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies. 2006.

 

Ashcroft W.D., Forcing Newness into the World: Language, Place and Nature, Ariel . Calgary, University of Calgary, 2007, 36: 1&2: 93-110.

 

Ashcroft W.D., Foreword, In: Murari Prasad, Arundhati Roy: Critical Perspectives. Delhi, Pencraft International, 2006.

 

Ashcroft W.D., Global Disaffections, In: Walter Gobel and Saskia Schabo, Postcolonial Dis-affections . Berlin, Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2007, 9-23.

 

Ashcroft W.D., Language and Cross-cultural Politics, Sixth INTEC, School of Language and Linguistics International Conference. Selangor, 2007.

 

Ashcroft W.D., Modernity, Globalization and the Post-Colonial, Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. Calcutta, Univ. of Calcutta, 2006, 3: 65-74.

 

Ashcroft W.D., Post-Colonial Globalization, In: GJV Prasad, Muse India http://www.museindia.com/showcon.asp?id=. New Delhi, Muse India, 2006, 8 Jul-Aug 2006: 1-16.

 

Ashcroft W.D., Post-Colonial Transformation and Global Culture, Australian Studies . Burdwan, Burdwan University, India, 2007, 2: 1-13.

 

Ashcroft W.D., Representation And Resistance: Edward Said (1938-2003), Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies . Statesboro. GA, Georgia Southern University, 2006, 11, no.s 1 and 2: 30-42.

 

Ashcroft W.D., The Future of English, Centenary Seminar, Re-inventing English Studies in the Twenty-First Century. Calcutta, University of Calcutta, 2007.

 

Ashcroft W.D., The Utopian Turn, Fourth International Conference on Literary Criticism . Cairo, Ain Shams University, 2006.

 

Ashcroft W.D., “Modernity, Globalization and the Post-Colonial” , Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. Calcutta, Scottish College, 2006, 3: 65-74.

 

Ashcroft W.D., “Post-colonial Horizons” , In: Ranjan Ghosh, (In)Fusion Approach: Theory, Contestation, Limits – (In)fusionising a Few Indian English Novels . Lanham, MD., University of America Press, 2006, 73-84.

 

Researcher : Bolton KR

Project Title:

The study of English in Hong Kong: the international corpus of English project in Hong Kong (HK-ICE)

Investigator(s):

Bolton KR, Nelson GA, Luke KK

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CERG)

Start Date:

07/2002

 

Abstract:

The project attempts to advance the Hong Kong component of the global International Corpus of English (ICE) Project which is a highly prestigious and productive international research project on the English language. The existence of this database will facilitate comparative studies of Hong Kong English, UK and US English, as well as studies of Asian Englishes.

 

Researcher : Francis EJ

List of Research Outputs

 

Francis E.J. and Matthews S.J., Categoriality and object extraction in Cantonese serial verb constructions, Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. 2006, 24: 751-801.

 

Researcher : Gan WCH

Project Title:

The pursuit of privacy: modernity and femininity in early twentieth century British women's writing

Investigator(s):

Gan WCH

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CERG)

Start Date:

01/2007

 

Abstract:

This project is concerned with women's desire for privacy and by extension the desire to be modern as negotiated through texts written by women in early twentieth century Britain. Examining a range of modernist and non-modernist texts, I intend to study the female pursuit and appropriation of privacy and the ways this was perceived to be modern. (1) To explore the emancipatory and progressive potential of spatial privacy for women. (2) To examine the discourses of British women writers on the subject of privacy: Are there female forms of privacy? What are the responses of women to a lack of privacy? (3) To study the implications of this desire for privacy on women's relations to modernity and femininity.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Gan W.C.H., 'Leisure in the Domestic Novel between the Wars', Women: A Cultural Review. London, Routledge, 2006, 17, no. 2: 202-219.

 

Gan W.C.H., 'The Hong Kong local on film: re-imagining the global', Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media (online journal). 2007, 49.

 

Researcher : Heim O

Project Title:

Local and global currents in recent Maori literature in English

Investigator(s):

Heim O

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

11/2004

Completion Date:

10/2006

 

Abstract:

To investigate the development of Anglophone literature by indigenous Maori in New Zealand over the last ten years, with special attention to the relationship between local and international currents of reception and response; to examine and assess processes of mediation between cultural traditions and technologies of representation as they shape, and are shaped by, Maori literature in English; to publish findings in two substantial adn two shorter scholarly articles.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Heim O., Posterity and the Rope of Man: The interplay of the local and the global in Witi Ihimaera's revisions, 'Forging the Local and the Global', Annual Combined Conference: AUETSA, SAVAL and SAACLALS. Stellenbosch, African Sun Media, 2006, 137-143.

 

Researcher : Ho EYL

Project Title:

Theories of the novel in Britain

Investigator(s):

Ho EYL

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Louis Cha Fund

Start Date:

01/2000

 

Abstract:

(1) The theory of the novel in Britain is often neglected by both Chinese and Western scholars. The dialogue on the novel between the authors themselves, and between authors and critics in 20th century Britain is the object of inquiry of this project. (2) There is no book in Chinese on the history of fictional theory in Britain. This study seeks to fill a large gap by providing an unprecedented perspective on the evolution and current state of theoretical work on the novel in Britain.

 

Project Title:

Hong Kong anglophone literature

Investigator(s):

Ho EYL

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

11/2004

Completion Date:

10/2006

 

Abstract:

The publication of either an extended section of a book-length study on Hong Kong Anglophone literary culture or its equivalent (2-3 articles).

 

Project Title:

A critical study of anglophone Hong Kong literature

Investigator(s):

Ho EYL

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CERG)

Start Date:

01/2007

 

Abstract:

(1) Develop a database on published anglophone Hong Kong Literature. (2) Update referencing of Key theoretical material. (3) Develop and refine conceptual questions. (4) Select and organize texts from the database for critical analyses. (5) Develop draft plan for critical book. (6) Write draft chapters of critical book. (7) Prepare book proposal and draft chapters for submission to publishers.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Ho E.Y.L., China Upriver: Three Colonial Journeys between Hong Kong and Canton, 1907-11, In: Douglas Kerr, Julia Kuehn, A Century of Travels in China: Critical Essays on Travel Writing from the 1840s to the 1940s. Hong Kong, HKU Press, 2007, 119-132.

 

Ho E.Y.L., Imperial Globalization and Colonial Transactions: "African Lugard" and the University of Hong Kong, In: Q.S. Tong, Wang Shouren, Douglas Kerr, Critical Zone 2: A Forum of Chinese and Western Knowledge. Hong Kong, HKU Press, 2006, 2: 107-146.

 

Researcher : Hung YYR

List of Research Outputs

 

Tong Q.S. and Hung Y.Y.R., "'To Be Worthy of the Suffering and Survival': Chinese Memoirs and the Politics of Sympathy", Life Writing. London, Routledge, 2007, vol. 4, no. 1: 59 – 79.

 

Researcher : Hutton CM

Project Title:

Race: imagining human diversity 1750-1945

Investigator(s):

Hutton CM

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

11/2005

 

Abstract:

This proposal is for a single authored book on the history of racial theorizing in the West, focusing on Britain, France, Germany and the United States. It is is intended to serve as an intellectual guide to those who wish to orient themselves in the complex history of racial theorizing, and would relate the history of racial theorizing to key sociopolitical currents both in Europe and in postcolonial nation states. There is a massive literature on issues of race in sociology, literary theory, ethnic studies, history, anthropology and many other disciplines, but there is no a concise work of this kind to consult.This work would complement rather than compete with the vast number of post-WWII political, sociological and literary works on race, in particular dealing with race politics in the United States, and in former European colonies. It would not overlap significantly with introductory works on postcolonial theory, critical race theory etc., as it focuses specifically on the history of racial theorizing from 1750 to 1945. The book seeks to map out the overall intellectual area, its recurrent preconceptions and ongoing debates, and highlight continuities and discontinuities. These general topics include: whether human diversity should be seen as a blessing or a curse, how this diversity originated and is defined and maintained; whether there is an overall pattern to change (progress in evolution versus racial decline); whether there is a determinative relationship between race and culture. The organization would be thematic, in addition to offering an historical overview. Each chapter/section would aim to give a concise insight into the fundamental terms of the debate, and thus enable students to make connections between the history of these ideas and their contemporary impact and relevance. A guide to further reading and a concise glossary of key terms would also be of value to students. Each chapter/section would be as concise as possible, with the book no more than 80,000 words in length.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Hutton C.M., Ordinary Meaning, Change and the Law , 6th International Roundtable for the Semiotics of Law, Wollongong, Australia. 2007.

 

Hutton C.M., Writing And Speech In Western Views Of The Chinese Language, In: Q.S. Tong, Wang Shouren, Douglas Kerr, Critical Zone; A Forum Of Chinese And Western Knowledge. Hong Kong/Nanjing, Hong Kong University Press/Nanjing University Press, 2006, 2: 83-105.

 

Researcher : Kang MA

Project Title:

Language and identity in Diaspora: Koreans in Hong Kong

Investigator(s):

Kang MA

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

11/2004

Completion Date:

10/2006

 

Abstract:

To examine how the relationship between language and identity plays out among speakers who may not see themselves simply as Koreans living abroad while retaining their own language and culture.

 

Project Title:

English as a Lingua Franca in Hong Kong: A Sociolinguistic Study of Prenatal Genetic Counseling

Investigator(s):

Kang MA, Zayts OA, Tang MHY

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research

Start Date:

03/2007

 

Abstract:

Different aspects of doctor-patient communication have been widely studied by both medical professionals and linguists. Researchers in medical communication have pursued various objectives, such as the study of the interactional patterns of doctor-patient talk, power and authority in the doctor-patient relationship, and socio-cultural aspects of doctor-patient communication. The research has been based on data drawn from different cultures, although the majority of work has been conducted using data drawn from native English communication. Significantly less research has been carried out in the area of English as a Lingua Franca in a medical setting, and on medical communication in an Asian context. English as a lingua franca refers to the English language used by non-native speakers on a regular basis as a means of international communication. It incorporates some features of standard English that are essential for successful communication and also some non-standard features that make communication easier for non-native speakers. Current research in communication between non-native speakers mainly focuses on developing language skills of medical personnel, non-standard features of communication and miscommunications that occurred due to the lower English language proficiency of speakers (Maher, 1990; Firth, 1996). The main objective of this research is to analyze the regional variety of English as a Lingua Franca in Hong Kong with a particular emphasis on medical communication, using established conversation analytic techniques.The non-standard forms of English which are used for international communication in Hong Kong have also been very widely studied (Bolton & Luke, 1999; 2002; 2003; Kirkpatrick, 2002; Moody, 1997; Hung, 2000; Bruce, 1996; Chor-shing Li, 1994), but the topic of medical communication has not been paid much attention. Despite similarities of usage in different contexts, we believe there will be some differences in the medical usage of English as a Lingua Franca, which will include discussing particular medical subject matters, using medical and paramedical terminology, and employing specific syntactic structures (e.g. different types of questions in the history-taking part of the consultation). This study will allow us to identify the specific features of English as a Lingua Franca in the medical setting in Hong Kong, and to make conclusions about which linguistic and interactional features help enhance medical communication or lead to break-downs in communication.Following Sarangi, et. al (1994) we look at the medical consultations from the "beyond miscommunications" perspective. Despite sometimes non-standard usage of English, medical professionals manage to attend to medical and patient concerns in the consultations. In this research we suggest that non-standard features of communication should be analyzed in close correlation to the social, cultural and communicative contexts. English as a Lingua Franca incorporates only the features that are necessary for effective communication, both standard and non-standard, and it involves a different way of interacting compared to language patterns of native speakers (Deterding & Kirkpatrick, 2006). One of the main objectives of the proposed research is to identify and distinguish the non-standard features of interaction that lead to a break-down in communication from those that do not impede, but rather enhance communication. We will analyze the following aspects of medical communcation in more detail: a) The subject matter of the consultation and the usage of medical terminology.The prenatal genetic screening which is the focus of analysis is "loaded" with very specific medical vocabulary, such as 'CVS' or 'amniocentesis'. The medical provider in the consultations introduces these terms to the patient. We will examine whether a full understanding of these and other medical terms is required in order to achieve the objectives of the consultation and whether general understanding is impeded by their usage. b) Questions and statements in medical communication.Questions comprise a large part of the prenatal genetic consultations. We will look at who is asking the questions (the medical provider, the patient, or the partner) and what types of questions are being asked (grammatical types and semantic types); we will focus especially on the pragmatic functions of "ungrammatical" (from the standard English perspective) questions. We will also analyze statements when they are used in the function of questions, i.e. to elicit some information or reaction from the patient. c) Negotiating the pragmatic aspects of the interaction, such as procedural and cultural expectations. In the circumstances where the patients come from various cultural backgrounds and have various language proficiencies, the medical providers have to adjust their language and interactional techniques accordingly in order to pursue the medical objectives of the consultation. We will look at this pragmatic "accommodation" from the viewpoint of meeting medical and patient concerns in the consultatations. The data for the study will be obtained from the Prenatal Diagnostics and Counselling Department of Tsan Yuk Hospital, Univeristy of Hong Kong. It is planned that 20 non-native English speaking patients will be recruited over the period of one year. The medical providers in the hospital are all bilingual Chinese - English speakers. We will focus on women over 35 year old who are referred for Down Syndrome screening because of their advanced maternal age. During the consultation the women are introduced to genetic screening tests for Down Syndrome and other genetic abnormalities. They are offered a choice of three options: invasive tests that pose a potential risk of miscarriage, non-invasive tests that are safe to the fetus, and a no test option. In the circumstances when one of the options bears a potential risk, efficient communication becomes even more important. It is the ethical responsibilty of the medical provider to ensure that the patient has completely understood all the procedural details of the tests, their accuracy, and the potential complications. The patient is expected to make an informed decision by the end of the consultation. It is hoped that the proposed research on English as a Lingua Franca in genetic conseling in Hong Kong will lead to a clearer understanding of genetic counseling in the territory, enhancing medical communication in general, improving patient satisfaction with medical services, and leading to more success in achieving medical and patient objectives in the consultation.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Kang M.A., Review of Korean Language in Culture and Society, by Ho-min Sohn., Journal of Sociolinguistics. Blackwell Publishing, 2007, 11 (1): 102-106.

 

Kang M.A., Review of Language and Identity: National, Ethnic, Religious, by John E. Joseph. , Discourse & Society . Sage Publications, 2007, 18 (2): 232-233.

 

Researcher : Kerr DWF

Project Title:

Conan Doyle and modernity

Investigator(s):

Kerr DWF

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CERG)

Start Date:

01/2007

 

Abstract:

To reseach and write a monograph on the topic of Conan Doyle and Modernity

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Kerr D.W.F., "Conrad's Typhoon and the History of China", Invited lecture, Chinese University of Hong Kong (2006), 2006.

 

Kerr D.W.F., 'Agnes Smedley: The Fellow-Traveler's Tales', In: eds. Douglas Kerr and Julia Kuehn, A Century of Travels in China: Critical Essays on Travel Writing from the 1840s to the 1940s. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2007, 163-76.

 

Kerr D.W.F., 'Conan Doyle and Pugilism', Victorian Beginnings - AVSA 2007 Conference. University of Western Australia, Perth, 2007.

 

Kerr D.W.F. and Kuehn J.C., 'Introduction' , In: Douglas Kerr and Julia Kuehn, A Century of Travels in China: Critical Essays on Travel Writing from the 1840s to the 1940s. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2007, 1-11.

 

Kerr D.W.F., 'Stealing Victory?: Conrad and Buchan', 32nd Annual Conference of the Joseph Conrad Society. London, 2006.

 

Kerr D.W.F., 'You shixue dao xiucixue zaizhouhuilai: wenxue yu huayu' ('Poetics to Rhetoric and back: literature and discourse'), Waiguo Wenxue [Foreign Literature]. Beijing, Beijing Foreign Languages University, 2006, no. 4: 28-32.

 

Kerr D.W.F. and Kuehn J.C., In: Douglas Kerr and Julia Kuehn, A Century of Travels in China: Critical Essays on Travel Writing from the 1840s to the 1940s. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2007.

 

Tong Q.S., Wang S.R. and Kerr D.W.F., 'Introduction', In: eds. Q.S. Tong, Wang Shouren and Douglas Kerr, Critical Zone 2: A Forum for Chinese and Western Knowledge. Hong Kong and Nanjing, HKU Press and Nanjing University Press, 2006, 1-8.

 

Tong Q.S., Wang S.R. and Kerr D.W.F., In: eds. Q.S. Tong, Wang Shouren and Douglas Kerr, Critical Zone 2: A Forum for Chinese and Western Knowledge. Hong Kong and Nanjing, HKU Press and Nanjing University Press, 2006, 307 pp.

 

Tong Q.S., Wang S.R. and Kerr D.W.F., Introduction to Critical Zone (2), In: QS Tong, Wang Shouren, and D. Kerr, Critical Zone (2). Hong Kong and Nanjing, HKU Press & Nanjing UP, 2006, 1-8.

 

Researcher : Kuehn JC

Project Title:

A Century of Travels in China: A Collection of Critical Essays on Travel Writing from the 1840s to the 1940s

Investigator(s):

Kuehn JC, Kerr DWF

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Research Mentorship Programme

Start Date:

09/2005

 

Abstract:

This project in travel writing studies represents an important initiative to extend the map of travel writing studies to China. We propose to bring together a number of critical essays on English-language travel writing about China between the First Opium War and the founding of the People's Republic. In a total of between twelve and fourteen essay contributions, international scholars will analyse a representative selection of the fictional and non-fictional writings of scientists, merchants, diplomats, missionaries, professional writers of both sexes, and simple travellers in China. The project brings both well-known and neglected travel writers to the fore, and documents their impressions of Chinese cities, landscapes, flora and fauna, customs, people and the work of Europeans abroad, with the overall aim to provide a better understanding and a more comprehensive picture of the evolving image of China. A second aim is to provide innovative critical approaches to travel writing. The volume reviews current theoretical approaches to the travel genre and, it is hoped, opens up new avenues. This project will also lay the foundation work for a second, complementary volume on Chinese travellers in the West, which is currently in its planning phase.

 

Project Title:

Exoticism in the Popular Anglo-Indian Women's Novel, 1880-1920

Investigator(s):

Kuehn JC

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

09/2006

 

Abstract:

This project in literary scholarship is an important attempt to reconsider the relationship between 'the West' and 'the East', using the framework of the exotic to understand the plots, motifs, and characters in popular Anglo-Indian women's romances. The texts examined are primarily popular works of fiction, published in the period between 1880 and 1920, many of which have not been discussed before. The objective of this research project is to contribute a new reading of popular late-Victorian novels set 'elsewhere', which would conventionally be analysed either through the frameworks of colonial discourse analysis or through the popular paradigm. Both approaches have merits but quickly close down discussion as they preempt the ideological nature of the discussed texts, on the one hand, or their literary inferiority, on the other. The framework of the exotic - traced through historical and theoretical texts, such as various psychoanalytical theoretical texts on 'desire' and particlarly texts on the exotic, like Victor Segalen's 1907 study 'On Exoticism' - is an original and productive way of opening up a discussion of these neglected texts.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Kerr D.W.F. and Kuehn J.C., 'Introduction' , In: Douglas Kerr and Julia Kuehn, A Century of Travels in China: Critical Essays on Travel Writing from the 1840s to the 1940s. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2007, 1-11.

 

Kerr D.W.F. and Kuehn J.C., In: Douglas Kerr and Julia Kuehn, A Century of Travels in China: Critical Essays on Travel Writing from the 1840s to the 1940s. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2007.

 

Kuehn J.C., "The Exotic Daniel Deronda", In: convened by the University of Western Australia, Perth, 'Victorian Beginnings: Australasian Victorian Studies Association Annual Conference 2007'. 2007.

 

Kuehn J.C., 'Constituting Exoticism: A Case Study of George Eliot's Daniel Deronda', Lecture Series, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 2007.

 

Kuehn J.C., 'Desiring Otherness: Exoticism and Romance in George Eliot's Daniel Deronda', School of English, The University of Hong Kong. 2007.

 

Kuehn J.C., 'Encounters with Otherness: Female Travelers in China, 1880-1920', In: Douglas Kerr and Julia Kuehn, A Century of Travels in China: Critical Essays on Travel Writing from the 1840s to the 1940s. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2007, 75-89.

 

Kuehn J.C., Review: 'History, Theory, Text: Historians and the Linguistic Turn', by Elizabeth A. Clark (2004), Transparant . 2006, 17:3: 34.

 

Researcher : Luke KK

Project Title:

Linguistic form compression: an investigation of second-order encoding in language

Investigator(s):

Luke KK, Bodomo AB, Lee WS, Perry C, Nancarrow OT

Department:

Linguistics

Source(s) of Funding:

Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CERG)

Start Date:

09/2003

 

Abstract:

To study: (1) for any linguistic expression, how long is too long, and how should length be measured? (2) What are the motivations (both internal and external to language) for linguistic form compression? (3) What kinds of compression methods are available and what is their distribution across languages and language types? Languages from which data will be collected and analysed include Chinese, Dagaare, English, French, German, Hausa, Japanese, Norwegian, Russian, Swahili, Twi, and others.

 

Project Title:

Automatic annotation technologies for Cantonese corpus

Investigator(s):

Luke KK, Fu G

Department:

Linguistics

Source(s) of Funding:

Seed Funding Programme for Applied Research

Start Date:

10/2003

 

Abstract:

To build a large-scale annotated Cantonese corpus and develop relative automatic annotation technologies to support Cantonese studies and applications.

 

Project Title:

'Elastic Sentences': towards a typology of turn continuations in conversation

Investigator(s):

Luke KK, Flynn C, Zhang W

Department:

Linguistics

Source(s) of Funding:

Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CERG)

Start Date:

01/2005

 

Abstract:

To specify the inter-relationships among prosody, syntax, and pragmatics in the production and comprehension of turn continuations in Chinese conversations, and to test, through comparison with other languages, the validity of Couper-Kuhlen, Ono and Vorreiter's cross-linguistic typology of turn continuations.

 

Project Title:

Doctor-Patient Interaction in Hong Kong: Linguistic and Conversational Perspectives

Investigator(s):

Luke KK, Flynn C, Zhang W, Lam TP

Department:

Linguistics

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

12/2005

 

Abstract:

The purpose of the proposed research is to achieve a better understanding of factors that may enhance or otherwise reduce the effectiveness of communication between doctors and patients during medical consultations in Hong Kong. Doctor-patient interaction is a hot topic of research in the US, the UK and Europe in recent years, but has not received very much attention locally. As a pilot study, the proposed project will focus on one particular primary care clinic in Hong Kong, namely the Apleichau clinic, where one of the co-investigators works. The data collected from this clinic will be closely analysed using proven techniques commonly employed in Linguistics and Conversation Analysis. The outcome of the research should contribute towards the enhancement of doctor-patient interaction in Hong Kong.

 

Researcher : Matthews SJ

Project Title:

Parsing principles and constituent order in Cantonese

Investigator(s):

Matthews SJ, Francis EJ, Perry C

Department:

Linguistics

Source(s) of Funding:

Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CERG)

Start Date:

01/2005

 

Abstract:

To investigate some typologically unusual word order properties of Cantonese from the perspective of the 'performance' theory of Hawkins (1994) and related work.

 

Project Title:

Towards a Grammar of Chinese Pidgin English

Investigator(s):

Matthews SJ, Smith GPS

Department:

Linguistics

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

09/2005

 

Abstract:

The project seeks to develop a gramatical sketch of the grammatical structure of Chinese Pidgin English (CPE). In particular the work will evaluate the role of Cantonese as substrate language. Grammatical issues to be addressed include: 1. Use of personal pronouns (my wanchee vs. me wanchee vs. I wanchee) 2. Presence vs absence of wh-movement (you pay me what offer vs. you pay me what offer)3. Placement of prepositional phrases and time adverbials (we tomorrow makee move)4. Null subjects and objects (must likey or no likey)5. Use of have/hab as an auxiliary (have bring rice this voyage?)The work also aims to provide analyses of the grammatical functions of key words such as 'long' as a comitative preposition (do littee pidgeon long you) and 'make' as a 'dummy' or light verb (I makee mendee).These usages do not suggest Cantonese influence, but have typological and possibly historical parallels in other contact languages of the Pacific region such as Tok Pisin which have been extensively studied by the co-investigators. These parallels will be addressed with particular attention to the respective roles of historical contacts between contact languages and typological factors. The findings will be published in a book on the history and structure of Chinese Pidgin English to be co-edited by the investigators.

 

Researcher : Noel D

Project Title:

The semantics of syntax: corpus investigations of clausal complement constructions

Investigator(s):

Noel D

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research

Start Date:

01/2007

 

Abstract:

1. Aim 1.1. The problem After a few decades of syntax with as little meaning as possible in the third quarter of the 20th century, the view is gaining ground that literally everything in syntax is meaningful and that the linguist’s task is to elucidate the meaning of form within a — so-called “functional”, as opposed to “formal” — theoretical model that coherently links up syntax and semantics. Models like Cognitive Grammar and Construction Grammar have acquired a fair amount of respectability and both models are amassing a growing flock of followers. Another very popular paradigm in which the relation between syntax and semantics is of central importance is grammaticalisation theory. This drastic change of perspective — from syntax without semantics to no syntax without semantics — did not entail an equally drastic change in the way linguists argue their cases and did not therefore make linguistics much more of an empirical science than it used to be. Meanings are posited, and supported with argumentative evidence, but rarely proven empirically. The literature on the dative alternation is a case in point. There it is often claimed that nominal complements present their referents as somehow more “central”, or more “prominent”, than prepositional complements (Langacker 1986, Goldberg 1995, Pinker 1989, Dik 1997, Van Valin & LaPolla 1997, etc.). What exactly is meant by “prominence” usually remains unclear. The literature on the topic is usually also characterised by a type of argumentation one could qualify as unempirical: typically, only invented examples are used, together with untested grammaticality judgements. In the area of grammaticalisation theory, as well, the semantic changes that go together with morphosyntactic changes are not always proven in a meticulous fashion. Though cognitive linguistics has recently seen a sharp increase in the use of experiments, sadly most linguists possess neither the training nor the infrastructure to set up and carry out experiments that would pass muster in experimental psychology departments. Other sources will therefore have to be tapped to provide claims about the semantic import of syntactic forms with a sound empirical basis. 1.2. Two ways out Though large computerized monolingual corpora of texts are currently widely available, their huge potential for semantic research remains underexploited. True, corpora first and foremost lend themselves to observing (and counting) forms (they do not automatically reveal the meanings of these forms), but they can nevertheless increase the empiricalness of semantic research in at least two ways. First, they can ensure that claims about meanings are based on data that are more real, less selective, and less open to suggestion than are decontextualized intuition-based data. A sufficiently large corpus of English texts, for instance, makes it possible to refute the claim, persistent in English linguistics, that perception verbs turn into cognition verbs when combined with an accusative and infinitive or a finite complement (see Noël 2003a and 2004). Second, corpora can serve as a source of inspiration for the translation of semantic claims into observational terms, i.e. in terms of possible and impossible form combinations. Painstakingly counted and statistically processed form combinations can subsequently help to support or refute semantic claims. Noël (2001), for instance, has argued that the fact that passive cognition and utterance verbs are less restricted in the kinds of infinitive they combine with than the corresponding active forms can be construed as evidence that the most frequently used of these matrix verbs (e.g. be said to, be, be thought to, be found to, be believed to) are turning into (i.e. are grammaticalising into) some sort of epistemic auxiliaries. A second type of corpus, the translation corpus, i.e. a bi- or multilingual collection of source texts and their translations, can actually make meanings visible, since translators, through the linguistic choices they make, inadvertently supply evidence of the meanings of the forms they are receiving and producing. Noël (2003b), for instance, provides further evidence for the auxiliariness of forms like be said to, be thought to, be considered to, be found to, be believed to and be reported to using an English-French translation corpus, in which these (erstwhile) passive matrices often remain untranslated and regularly correspond with a “conditionnel” or with epistemic adverbs like apparemment, prétendument en supposément. 2. Objectives The overall aim of the project is to arrive at empirically justified statements about the meaning of English constructions. To narrow down the scope of the investigation, the area of grammar focused upon will be that of sentential complementation, an area about which one leading advocate of the meaning in grammar doctrine has said that it “constitutes one of the greatest challenges to a theory of syntax based on semantic foundations” (Wierzbicka 1988: 23). The semantics of English sentential complementation is a well-covered area, but not one that has been adequately dealt with from an empirical point of view. The project will start off from earlier research of the PI on the finite complement and ACI/NCI patterns entered into by utterance, cognition and perception verbs, or so-called PCU verbs (e.g. Noël 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003a). A few very specific questions this past research has raised are the following: 1. How does the construction, which has so far been left out of the picture in the PI’s previous research, relate to those that were considered? 2. Do to-infinitives really turn perception verbs into cognition verbs, as is often claimed, or is there another explanation for the choice between a bare and a to-infinitive after perception verbs? 3. Can a large(r) historical corpus corroborate and expand on the hypotheses formed on the basis of a much smaller corpus with relation to the grammaticalization of the construction (reported on in Noël 2003c)? 4. Deontic modal meanings normally give rise to epistemic meanings, not the reverse, but in the case of and the latter did take place. How did this happen? 5. What can the grammaticalization of “passive” patterns like and teach us about the role of analogy in linguistic change?

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Noel D., Diachronic construction grammar vs. grammaticalization theory, HKU School of English Seminar Series. 2006.

 

Noel D., Documenting the entrenchment of the (non-)committing BE SAID TO construction in Late Modern English, International conference "The notion of commitment in linguistics". University of Antwerp, Belgium, 11-13 January. 2007.

 

Noel D., Does diachronic construction grammar equal grammaticalization theory?, 2nd International Conference of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association. University of Munich, Germany, 5-7 October. 2006.

 

Noel D., The meaning of grammar: corpus investigations of clausal complement constructions., HKU Faculty of Arts CERG Brainstorming Workshop. 2006.

 

Researcher : Richards PK

Project Title:

Distancing English and Speech and Declaration

Investigator(s):

Richards PK

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

11/2005

 

Abstract:

*Objectives 1 The objective of this proposal is twofold: first, to complete the research necessary for a book entitled Distancing English and, second, to secure a transition of hard-to-retrieve and emerging materials that have come from this research toward a second book project, tentatively entitled Speech and Declaration. 2 The first part of this proposal, completion of Distancing English, is imminent and requires immediate access to a range of primary and secondary sources both here and in the United States. Distancing English contributes to fields of research pertaining to settler regions, regionalism, postcolonialism, drama, and poetry. The book is in its final stages of editing; cross-checking references, handling rare manuscripts, preparing notes and indices, reequesting final materials overseas, and correspondences with specialists are all in process, heading toward the final stages of placement and production. 3 The second part of this proposal, examining formative speeches in relation to written and spoken language, suggests an equally important stage in the research of the field that underwrites Distancing English. The purpose of this proposal is to make possible the research necessary to make accurate transitions to a second book project that will look widely—through literature, folklore, and linguistics—at precise and archival pivots between spoken and written language. These pivots, at the nodes of these interdisiplinary fields, will help to identify regional decisions, often expressed in speeches and declarations, that are formative in shaping larger understandings of how lyric (including drama) and narrative evolve in relation to historical, political, and social foundations of written or oral genre. Joseph Conrad writes "that the purpose of the work of fiction is to appeal to the lingering after-effects in the reader’s mind as differing from, say, the purpose of oratory or philosophy which respetively leave people in a fighting or thoughtful mood." How does this stated distinction between fiction and oratory hold up or break down in cultures in which written fiction serves oral purposes of speech and declaration, otherwise passed by? How does the potential absence of such a distinction, in turn, render new idiom to language and genre, and in turn, imperialism and foundational blocks of speech? The combination of studies in my proposal aims to look with new vision at the significance of historical origins of the crossroads of “speech” (oral) and “speeches” (oral and written) in the development of recognizable and often so-far unrecognizable patterns of written genre, non-liteary documentation and literature that persists politically and socially in serving oral needs. This is still a relatively young field in relation to the cross-referencing of genre and discipline required to do accurate and sustaining research. My work across disciplines will help to expand the fields and look at questions of temporality, aurality, and orality in literature and language.

 

Project Title:

New Approaches to the Choral and Cross-Cultural Studies

Investigator(s):

Richards PK

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

11/2006

 

Abstract:

Objectives The objective of this proposal is to gather and complete the research necessary for phase III of my second book, a research project on oral and choral approaches in written texts. The ultimate cross-cultural focus of this research begins with theoretical inquiries into translation from written to oral, and especially choral, discourse. Much research has already been done on transcriptions and transmissions of oral to written texts. Research that focuses on oral practices in written texts, however, is just beginning. At the MLA, for example, a new subgroup on auditory practices was developed in the direction of understanding better aural/oral modes in written texts. My research focuses on a traditionally embedded oral pretext, the chorus, in both drama and lyric, along with new approaches to understanding this less-well documented phenomenon as it migrates into cross-cultural texts and discourse. What W. R. Johnson calls the choral situation, “we and world,” demands new hearing when every “I” is a speaker who, as Sharon Cameron explain, “says ‘I’ and yet is pluralistic; at the same time, “I” of a modern chorus demands survival inside verbal paradox, relative to visual representation. When acts of writing reposition such traditions of “I” and “we” as closer on the page than they are on a visual stage, questions of displacement, translation, and cross-cultural studies move to the foreground. Phase I of my research looked at the history of oral and choral modes, beginning with medieval interludes, liturgical plays, folk drama, and pagan crossovers. I then focused on the period from approximately 1400-1550, a period of evolving experimental and vernacular lyric. This research questioned static assumptions of adaptations of the choral from its longstanding connection to tragic paradigms. I am particularly interested in the question of direct address in this period, the breakdown of allegory, the fall of lyric drama, and the rise of what has been called “segmentability” of language after the invention of printing in 1476. Charles of Orleans, Thomas Hoccleve, and James I are important in this period. Phase II carried out research involving the relatively unexplored ground between speeches and declaration, following lines of development from the dance of the chorus to its book-conscious evocations after 1476. Ideas of analogy, crucial to medieval allegory, of course erode; what is less clear is how that erosion, and the transformation of choral paradigms, affected acts and pacts of speech-making, including declarations. This phase, therefore, included theories and applications of translation, including texts by John Dryden (on translating Ovid), Walter Benjamin, Paul Valéry, George Steiner, Roman Jakobson, Willis Barnstone, Harold Bloom, D.S. Carne-Ross, and C. R. Mac Intyre. Phase III Phase III will now focus on theoretical and discursive links between choral history and translation, connections crucial to contemporary understandings of cross-cultural currents, including those in Hong Kong, Asian-American, and African-American texts. Reception, a key feature of oral and aural performance, is especially important for revisiting written and outdated pronominal classifications, underlying speech acts of self-identification in cross-cultural studies and a politics of inclusion/exclusion. How is this transformation realized in cross-cultural contexts? How do the unobserved conflicts in choral situations relate to acts of translation from one discourse to another? How, for instance, can speed in discourse work to transform production and reception? As genre studies have faded, so have cross-cultural studies been on the rise. This research will look at the underpinnings of diction that allow both to carry forward in new ways. Therefore, this phase of my research will also look at intersections of choral discourse with “inter-translations” of cross-genre forms, such as verse drama or lyric biography.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Richards P.K., "Rita Dove, Preoccupation, and the Inexpressible", HKU Seminar Series. 2007.

 

Richards P.K., "Temporary Dusk", The Fiddlehead. 2007, No. 231: 85.

 

Richards P.K., "The Written and the Oral in 'Homage to Mistress Bradstreet'", In: Philip Coleman, Philip McGowan , 'After thirty Falls': New Essays on John Berryman. Rodopi Press, 2007.

 

Richards P.K., Finalist, Blue Light Poetry Prize, In: Diane Frank, Blue Light Press. 2006.

 

Richards P.K., Rita Dove and Lyric Biography, Salzburg Fellow, Sesion 434. 2006.

 

Richards P.K., Yuan Yang: A Journal of Hong Kong and International Writing, 2006, VII.

 

Researcher : Rowe C

Project Title:

Sociolinguistic variation in Tyneside English dialect semanteme [DO]

Investigator(s):

Rowe C, Wolf HH

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

09/2005

 

Abstract:

The purpose of the project is to pinpoint the exact sociolinguistic distribution of the semanteme DO in Tyneside English. The foundation of this work has been laid out in research on the distribution of the semantic unit DO + NOT (Rowe 2004, 2005), because of its unique structure and status in Tyneside English, taking as it does the anomalous form . I was able to search two Tyneside English corpora more easily for this item because the negation particle made its identification unambiguous for the original transcriptionist. The semanteme DO, which often appears in the phonetic form [di], on the other hand, is present on a vocalic continuum (i.e., it is non-lexicalised), making its positive identification more problematic; thus its every instance must be located in the corpus manually, or a digital signal must be searched and mapped onto the orthographic form. The second objective is to identify and assess the distribution of the entire semantic field DO +/-NOT across the full sociolinguistic spectrum. Because several variants must be mapped for (age, gender, social class, and in some cases, voting behavior) in relation to the semantic unit, a statistical tool (M)ANOVA must be employed. This will help us to obtain the profiles of the range of users of the semanteme DO +/-NOT under study here.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Rowe C., Accommodation in an email sibling code. , Sociolinguistics Symposium 16, July 6-8, 2006. Limerick, Ireland. . 2006.

 

Rowe C., Ye divn’t gan tiv a college ti di that, man! A study of do (and to) in Tyneside English. , In: Phil Carr, Patrick Honeybone, guest eds.; Nigel Love, primary editor., Language Sciences . 2007, 29: 360-371.

 

Rowe C., The sociolinguistic distribution of lexical shibboleths in an English northeast variety: The status of DO+/- NOT in Tyneside English., ICLaVE. (International Conference on Language Variation in Europe). Nicosia, Cyprus. 17-19 June 2007.. 2007.

 

Researcher : Schnurr S

Project Title:

Leadership Communication in Hong Kong

Investigator(s):

Schnurr S

Department:

Arts Faculty

Source(s) of Funding:

Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research

Start Date:

05/2007

 

Abstract:

The aim of the proposed research is to identify the communication strategies used by effective leaders in an organization in Hong Kong. Recent research in leadership and organizational sciences has identified communication as a crucial aspect in leadership performance (Bennis & Thomas 2002, Dwyer 1993, O'Connor 1997, Smith & Savoian 1991). However, to date only a few empirical studies have investigated the ways in which leaders actually make use of this important leadership tool (e.g. Holmes 2000, Marra et al 2006, Ford 2006, Schnurr 2005, Schnurr et al fc). Moreover, although Hong Kong workplaces clearly constitute a prime site for investigating the complexities of cross-cultural communication involving a wide range of participants from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, only a small number of empirical studies have conducted research in this context (e.g. Bilbow 1997, Chan 2005, Kong 1998). The proposed research project aims at addressing these shortcomings by examining the communicative behaviors of a number of leaders in a Hong Kong organization. In particular, it will focus on the ways in which leaders meet the challenges of communicating effectively with their subordinates in ways that take into consideration interlocutors’ (cultural and linguistic) norms as well as their organization’s expectations and goals. This project will thus explore the following (at this stage rather exploratory) research questions: 1. Which communicative strategies do leaders in a Hong Kong organization employ when interacting with their colleagues and subordinates? 2. To what extent is the leaders’ communicative performance influenced by their subordinates’ (linguistic and cultural) profiles? 3. Are expectations about what constitute adequate ways of doing leadership in a Hong Kong context reflected in the communicative performance of the leaders? And how do leaders deal with potentially opposing expectations? 4. What implications do the findings of this research have for practitioners (ie leaders in Hong Kong workplaces)? The proposed research builds on an internationally recognized conceptual framework (Stubbe 1998), which has been widely used by researchers investigating various aspects of workplace communication (e.g. Holmes & Stubbe 2003, Holmes 2006, Holmes & Schnurr 2006, Schnurr, Holmes & Marra fc, Schnurr & Holmes fc, Vine 2004). This framework was also used by the PI in her PhD research, in which she investigated effective communicative behaviors of leaders in New Zealand workplaces.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Schnurr S., Marra M. and Holmes J., Being (im)polite in New Zealand workplaces: Maori and Pakeha leaders, Journal of Pragmatics. 2007, 39: 712-729.

 

Schnurr S., Marra M. and Holmes J., Being (im)polite in New Zealand workplaces: Māori and Pākehā leaders. , In: Spencer-Oatey & Ruhi, Journal of Pragmatics. 2007, 39: 712-729.

 

Schnurr S., Marra M. and Holmes J., Impoliteness as a means of contesting and challenging power relations in the workplace, 2nd International Symposium on Politeness, University of Huddersfield (UK). 2006.

 

Schnurr S., Overcoming communication challenges in the workplace – A little humour may help, 7th Asia-Pacific Conference of the Association of Business Communication (ABC), City University of Hong Kong (HK).. 2007.

 

Researcher : Smethurst P

Project Title:

Excursions: critical approaches to travel writing

Investigator(s):

Smethurst P

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Low Budget High Impact Programme

Start Date:

11/2001

 

Abstract:

To promote the study of European travel writing by applying to it a range of contemporary theories of literature and culture.

 

Researcher : Tay E

List of Research Outputs

 

Tay E., “Jogging Before Dawn”, “My Other”, “Willow”, “After a Class Reunion”, “Hokkien”, “Reading Wordsworth”, In: Joneve McCormick and Shimanta Bhattacharyya, World's Strand: An International Anthology of Poetry. Mandelbachtal/Cambridge, Edition Cicero, 2006, 319-325.

 

Researcher : Tong QS

Project Title:

China in the British mass media in the late 18th and early 19th centuries

Investigator(s):

Tong QS

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Small Project Funding

Start Date:

11/2004

 

Abstract:

To investigate the English idea of China formulated and articulated in popular British newspapers and magazines in the 18th and 19th centuries; to examine British popular representations of China and the social conditions that have informed such representations; to bring out at least one substantial and lengthy piece of scholarly and critical writing on the topic.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Tong Q.S. and Hung Y.Y.R., "'To Be Worthy of the Suffering and Survival': Chinese Memoirs and the Politics of Sympathy", Life Writing. London, Routledge, 2007, vol. 4, no. 1: 59 – 79.

 

Tong Q.S., Wang S.R. and Kerr D.W.F., 'Introduction', In: eds. Q.S. Tong, Wang Shouren and Douglas Kerr, Critical Zone 2: A Forum for Chinese and Western Knowledge. Hong Kong and Nanjing, HKU Press and Nanjing University Press, 2006, 1-8.

 

Tong Q.S., Wang S.R. and Kerr D.W.F., In: eds. Q.S. Tong, Wang Shouren and Douglas Kerr, Critical Zone 2: A Forum for Chinese and Western Knowledge. Hong Kong and Nanjing, HKU Press and Nanjing University Press, 2006, 307 pp.

 

Tong Q.S., Wang S.R. and Kerr D.W.F., Introduction to Critical Zone (2), In: QS Tong, Wang Shouren, and D. Kerr, Critical Zone (2). Hong Kong and Nanjing, HKU Press & Nanjing UP, 2006, 1-8.

 

Tong Q.S., The End of Aesthetics and the Limits of Liberalism, In: Kang-i Sun Chang and Meng Hua, Tradition and Modernity: Comparative Perspectives. Beijing, Peking University Press, 2007.

 

Tong Q.S., “Traveling Imperialism: Lord Elgin’s Missions to China and the Limits of Victorian Liberalism”, In: Douglas Kerr and Julia Kuehn, A Century of Travels in China: Critical Essays on Travel Writing from the 1840s to the 1940s. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2007, 39 -51, 185 – 188.

 

Wang S.R. and Tong Q.S., Memory, Understanding, Imagination, and Knowledge: The American Postmodern Realist Novel, 回忆、理解、想象、知识：论美国后现代现实主义小说, Foreign Literature Review. 《外国文学评论》, Beijing, Chinese Academy of Social Science, 2007, 48 – 59.

 

Zhou Y.Z. and Tong Q.S., 全球化语境中的中国现代文学批评 (Modern Chinese criticism in the context of globalization), 全球化语境中的中国现代文学批评, In: ed. Song Geng, in 《全球化与“中国性”：当代文化的后殖民解读》(Globalization and “Chineseness”: a postcolonial reading of contemporary culture). Hong Kong, HKU Press, 2006, 85 – 99.

 

Researcher : Wolf HH

Project Title:

Cognitive nd corpus-based cultural approaches to world Englishes

Investigator(s):

 

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Other Funding Scheme

Start Date:

06/2003

 

Abstract:

To investigate varieties of English with novel methodologies from cognitive and corpus linguistics.

 

Project Title:

Compiling an exclusive dictionary of West African English

Investigator(s):

 

Department:

School of English

Source(s) of Funding:

Other Funding Scheme

Start Date:

07/2003

 

Abstract:

To compile the first exclusive dictionary of English in West Africa, both on the regional and the national level.

 

List of Research Outputs

 

Peter L. and Wolf H.H., A comparison of the varieties of West African Pidgin English, World Englishes. Blackwell, 2007, 26: 3-21.

 

Polzenhagen F. and Wolf H.H., Culture-specific Conceptualisations Of Corruption In African English, In: Farzad Sharifian and Gary B. Palmer, Applied Cultural Linguistics. (Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research 7). Amsterdam/Philadephia, John Benjamins, 2007, 125-168.

 

Wolf H.H., Dirven R., Chen R., Yu N. and Smieja B., Cognitive Linguistics Bibliography (CogBib) - updated version, Berlin / New York, Mouton de Gruyter, 2007, 7000.

 

Wolf H.H. and Polzenhagen F., Fixed Expressions As Manifestations Of Cultural Conceptualizations: Examples From African Varieties Of English, In: Paul Skandera, Phraseology and Culture in English. (Topics in English Linguistics 54). Berlin / New York, Mouton de Gruyter, 2007, 399-435.

 

Wolf H.H. and Polzenhagen F., Intercultural Communication In English: Arguments For A Cognitive Approach To Intercultural Pragmatics, Intercultural Pragmatics. New York / Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter, 2006, 3-3: 285-321.

 

Wolf H.H., Religion And Traditional Belief In West African English: A Linguistic Analysis , In: Tope Omoniyi and Joshua A. Fishman , Explorations in the Sociology of Language and Religion. (Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 20). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, John Benjamins, 2006, 42-59.



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