Educational qualifications and professional accreditation

BA in Linguistics (HK), MA in Linguistics (HK), MSc in Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching (Oxon), PhD in Applied Linguistics (Lancaster), CertTESOL (Columbia), Sententia Gamification Surveyor Certification (Level I), Certificate of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (HK), Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE, UK)

Teaching Awards

• Nominee – Thetos Distinguished Teaching Award, HKUST
• Nominee – Michael G. Gale Medal for Distinguished Teaching, HKUST
• Honorable Mention – School of Humanities and Social Science Teaching Award, HKUST
• Award Recipient – CLE Teaching Award, HKUST

Nick Wong is an applied linguist and an experienced English for Specific Purposes (ESP) practitioner. He specializes in teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP), Business English, and English for medical professionals. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and a Fellow of the Lancaster University China Centre.

Nick Wong's academic career began in 2008 when he started working as a demonstrator at the Department of Linguistics at the University of Hong Kong, where he taught undergraduate courses in General Linguistics, including Cantonese Linguistics, Phonetics, and Languages of the World. After that, he joined Tung Wah College in 2010, where he served as the English curriculum leader of the associate degree programme and led courses in Developing English Language Skills (QF Level 4: common core English course for all year-one students, with over 1000 students enrolling every academic year), Business Communication in English (QF Level 5), and Critical Thinking in English (QF Level 5). Currently, he is the course lead for RMBI4980, and RMBI4990, where he specializes in teaching academic research writing and project planning.

Nick has held various internal and external appointments throughout his academic career. From 2018 to 2020, he was the Residential Fellow at the Dean of Students' Office at HKUST. Additionally, Nick served as an External Examiner at Caritas Institute of Higher Education and Caritas Bianchi College of Careers in 2019-2020. Nick has also served on various committees at Tung Wah College, including as a member of the Programme Committee for BHS in Nursing from 2013-2016, and as a member of the Programme Planning Committee for BSSc in Management and Operations of Non-profit Organisation in 2013. He was also the Project Coordinator of Tung Wah College's "English Smart" Project in collaboration with the British Council in 2013 and an Internal Panel Member of Internal Validation Panel for Bachelor of Professional Accountancy at Tung Wah College. Furthermore, Nick served as the Teaching Representative of all external accreditation and validation exercises at Tung Wah College from 2011-2016.

As the principal investigator, he is currently working on a large-scale research and development project to develop an AI-assisted VR English-speaking programme for secondary and tertiary students ($30,365,700). It includes a multi-platform automated speaking assessment which are currently in use for over 45 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Over the past decade, he has also secured different grants for research and teaching innovation projects. In particular, as the principal investigator, his funded research project on Kongish has developed a new trend of Kongish research in Hong Kong.

He and his team have also been interviewed for the AI-VR English project and the Kongish project in various local and international media:

AI-VR English project

AI-powered English learning system from HKUST [Video]. (2025, January 18). TVB Pearl. YouTube. https://youtu.be/_KmpuZHRW-E?si=pdnxQ-YrnUnGUK5R

科大開發AI英語評估及學習系統 供全港中學生免費使用 [HKUST develops AI English assessment and learning system available for free use by all Hong Kong secondary students]. (2025, January 21). HK01. https://www.hk01.com/article/1095819?utm_source=01articlecopy&utm_medium=referral

科大開發AI英語評估學習系統 免費予全港中學生使用 [HKUST develops AI English assessment learning system free for all Hong Kong secondary students]. (2025, January 18). Wenweipo. https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/realtime/article/20170723/56990293

科大研AI學英語系統 中學生免費用 [HKUST develops AI English learning system free for secondary students]. (2025, January 19). Oriental Daily. https://orientaldaily.on.cc/content/news/odn-20250119-0119_00176_207/

Kongish Project

80後搞專頁教講Kongish 2個月3萬likes [Post-80s create page to teach Kongish, 30,000 likes in 2 months]. (2015, November 2). Next Magazine. 

Do you speak Kongish ar? (2015, December 14). Varsity (Lifestyle). 

Hongkongers mix English and Cantonese into new language, Kongish. (2016, January 21). South China Morning Post (Lifestyle feature). http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1903452/hongkongers-mix-english-and-cantonese-new-language-kongish

Laugh L Die Me! Kongish Daily. (2016, January 21). 100Most (100毛). https://www.facebook.com/KongishDaily/photos/pb.601711619970760.-2207520000.1460221028./664408657034389/?type=3&theater

「What 7 you say」你識唔識？實測港人Kongish程度 [“What 7 you say” Do you know? Testing Hong Kong people's Kongish level]. (2017, July 23). Apple Daily. 

有話說﹕借港式英語學英文？ [Something to say: Learning English through Hong Kong-style English?]. (2015, August 18). Mingpao (Lifestyle). 

港式英文未必錯 科大研究助教學 [Hong Kong-style English may not be wrong: HKUST research aids teaching]. (2016, February 26). Wenweipo (Education). http://paper.wenweipo.com/2016/02/26/ED1602260013.htm

港式英語－Kongish, who say no good? 聽聽講師怎樣說 [Hong Kong-style English - Kongish, who say no good? Listen to what the lecturer says]. (2015, October 2). Metro Pop. 

粵拼專家笑談「港女拼音」 [Cantonese pinyin expert humorously discusses "Hong Kong girl pinyin"]. (2019, August 22). Singtao Daily.

茶餐廳菜單神級英譯 想知瀨尿牛丸點樣譯？ [Cha chaan teng menu god-level English translations: Want to know how "pissing beef balls" is translated?]. (2017, January 14). HK01. https://www.hk01.com/%E7%A4%BE%E5%8D%80%E5%B0%88%E9%A1%8C/65457/%E8%8C%B6%E9%A4%90%E5%BB%B3%E8%8F%9C%E5%96%AE%E7%A5%9E%E7%B4%9A%E8%8B%B1%E8%AD%AF-%E6%83%B3%E7%9F%A5%E7%80%A8%E5%B0%BF%E7%89%9B%E4%B8%B8%E9%BB%9E%E6%A8%A3%E8%AD%AF

萬六like港語日報 撐Goodest本土英文 [16,000 likes for Kongish Daily, supporting the goodest local English]. (2015, August 9). Apple Daily (Lifestyle).