Educational qualifications and professional accreditation
BA in Linguistics (HK), MA in Linguistics (HK), 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 – 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 linguistics researcher and an experienced English for Specific Purposes (ESP) practitioner. He is specialized 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).
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). 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 Kongish project in various local and international media:
粵拼專家笑談「港女拼音」. Singtao Daily, 22 August 2019.
“「What 7 you say」你識唔識？實測港人Kongish程度” Apple Daily, 23 July 2017.
https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/realtime/article/20170723/56990293
“茶餐廳菜單神級英譯 想知瀨尿牛丸點樣譯？”. HK01, 14 January 2017.
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
“港式英文未必錯 科大研究助教學”. Wenweipo (Education), 26 February 2016.
http://paper.wenweipo.com/2016/02/26/ED1602260013.htm
‘Hongkongers mix English and Cantonese into new language, Kongish’. South China Morning Post (Lifestyle feature), 21 January 2016.
http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1903452/hongkongers-mix-english-and-cantonese-new-language-kongish
“Laugh L Die Me! Kongish Daily”. 100Most (100毛), 21 January 2016.
https://www.facebook.com/KongishDaily/photos/pb.601711619970760.-2207520000.1460221028./664408657034389/?type=3&theater
“Do you speak Kongish ar?”. Varsity (Lifestyle), 14 December, 2015.
http://varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk/index.php/2015/12/kongish-hong-kong-english-redefine-identify/
“80後搞專頁教講Kongish 2個月3萬likes”. Next Magazine, 2 November, 2015.
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/nextmag/art/20151102/19353808
“港式英語－Kongish, who say no good? 聽聽講師怎樣說”. Metro Pop, 2 October, 2015.
http://www.popd.hk/%E6%B8%AF%E5%BC%8F%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E3%80%80kongish-who-say-no-good-%E8%81%BD%E8%81%BD%E6%95%99%E6%8E%88%E6%80%8E%E6%A8%A3%E8%AA%AA/
“有話說﹕借港式英語學英文？”. Mingpao (lifestyle), 18 August 2015.
https://www.e123.hk/ElderlyPro/details/420960/74
“萬六like港語日報 撐Goodest本土英文”. Apple Daily (lifestyle), 9 August, 2015.
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/supplement/special/art/20150809/19248500?_ga=1.51147306.2057797378.1439030458
Professional Interests
Multilingualism
Sociolinguistics
Translanguaging
Technology Enhanced Education
Scholarship
2023
Scholarship Talk
Kongish of adolescence
Nick Wong
English Society, A.A.H.K.U., The University of Hong Kong
2022
Conference Presentation
How Kongish was creatively and subversively used in the Anti-Extradition Bill movement
NIck Wong
Sociolinguistics Symposium 24
2022
Scholarship Talk
The creativity beyond Cantonese and English – Kongish as a translanguaging practice
Nick Wong
Department of English Language Education, Education University of Hong Kong
2021
Scholarship Talk
Hi Ching: Do you speak Chinglish or Kongish?
Nick Wong
Department of English Language Education, Education University of Hong Kong
Seminar 3: Hi Ching: Do you speak Chinglish or Kongish?
Speaker: Nick WONG, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
“Even ah Ma dou know”, English has been an important second language in Hong Kong for over two centuries and influenced the way Hongkongers express their thoughts through different language practices. Foreigners may be very surprised to know that it is almost impossible and challenging for many Hongkongers not to speak any English word in their daily conversation, and this indicates that how English has played an important part in Hongkongers’ life. From Chinese Pidgin English to Kongish, English has been integrating cleverly to suit different economical and social functions in Hong Kong. The lecture will first introduce these hybrid practices of Chinese and English in Hong Kong from a chronological perspective, followed by a discussion on some creative usages of Kongish, other than the famous line “What 7 he say”.
2021
Scholarship Talk
Keynote Panel: Cantonese and the world (Oxford Hong Kong Forum 2021)
Nick Wong
Oxford University Hong Kong Scholars Association
Due to the socio-political turmoil in recent years, more attention has been paid to the notion of local Hong Kong culture. With nearly 90% of the people considering it as their native language, Cantonese is the dominant language spoken in Hong Kong, though it has long been regarded as merely a spoken language. Whether or not to designate Cantonese as a Chinese variant also attracts controversies from different perspectives, including the examination of linguistic and political definitions.
The panel will discuss the following: speakers’ perspective on Cantonese as a written language, difficulties and methods on promoting Cantonese to foreigners, Cantonese's preservation amid the growing Mandarin use in Hong Kong schools, the position of Cantonese under the bigger context of Chinese language, as well as insights and advice for current Cantonese enthusiasts within and beyond academia.
2021
Conference Presentation
Reflection on the variety approaches to Kongish
Pedro Lok, Nick Wong
Sociolinguistics Symposium 23, HKSAR
2020
Working Paper - Peer Reviewed
Kongish Daily: researching translanguaging creativity and subversiveness
Li Wei, Alfred Tsang, Nick Wong, Pedro Lok
International Journal of Multilingualism, Volume 17, Issue 3: Multilingual literacy practices - global perspectives on visuality, materiality and creativity
2018
Scholarship Talk
讀書座談會:《Kongish 港式英文︰Old News is Still Exciting!》
WONG, Nick
HKUST Library Book Talk
2018
Conference Presentation
Reconceptualising Kongish as a digital translanguaging practice: An examination of the practical use of Kongish
WONG, Nick
Sociolinguistics Symposium 22. Auckland, New Zealand
2018
Conference Presentation
From practice to convention: how Kongish is creatively written by Hong Kong Cantonese-English bilinguals
WONG, Nick
Sociolinguistics Symposium 22. Auckland, New Zealand
2017
Conference Presentation
“Hong Kong is China, so Kongish is Chinglish?” Repositioning Kongish as a hybridised variety of Hong Kong English
WONG, Nick
The 11th International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB11). Ireland
2017
Conference Presentation
"Like our page, you have say.” Documentation of Hong Kong English through an online news page
WONG, Nick
2nd International Conference on Documentary Linguistics – Asian Perspectives: Transformations and sustainability
2017
Seminar
Kongish and Kongish Daily: Past, Present and Future
WONG, Nick
Invited Research Seminar Series in the Chinese University of Hong Kong
2017
Working Paper - Peer Reviewed
Kongish Daily: Laugh L Die. Old News is Still Exciting, and Perhaps Educational
Nick Wong, Alfred Tsang, Pedro Lok
Xiao Ming Wen Chuang
2017
Conference Presentation
Hi Facebook user, are you speaking Kongish, Chinglish or Hong Kong English? The use of social-media sites as a data collection strategy for any specific variety
WONG, Nick
The 11th International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB11). Ireland
2016
Scholarship Talk
Kongish Daily and Hong Kong English: A Preliminary Study of an Emerging Variety of English.
WONG, Nick
Public Lecture in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR
2016
Conference Presentation
The emergence of an overnight success of the "Kongish" identity: how the basilectal Hong Kong English becomes prominently preferred as a discernible trend on Facebook
WONG, Nick
Sociolinguistics Symposium 21. Murcia, Spain
2016
Scholarship Talk
Positioning Kongish in Hong Kong English: A case study of Kongish Daily
WONG, Nick
Invited Presentation inthe 6th Conference of the Hong Kong Association for Applied Linguistics, Hong Kong SAR
2016
Scholarship Talk
“Laugh L Die Me, Ho Laugh than Laughing Gor”: Kongish as a Communication Medium in Hong Kong
WONG, Nick
Public Lecture in the University of Macau, Macao SAR
2015
Conference Presentation
"Repeating the same mistake" - A corpus study on learner's English in Hong Kong
WONG, Nick
The International Conference on Corpus Linguistics and Technology Advancement (CoLTA), HKIED, Hong Kong SAR
2015
Working Paper - Peer Reviewed
Learning experience of Chinese nursing students in an online clinical English course: Qualitative study
Anson C.Y. Tang, Nick Wong, Thomas K.S. Wong
Nurse Education Today, Volume 35, Issue 2
2014
Conference Presentation
How written Cantonese is written in the multilingual Hong Kong
WONG, Nick
Sociolinguistics Symposium 20. Jyväskylä, Finland.
2014
Conference Presentation
A corpus-based qualitative analysis on the effectiveness for Hong Kong nursing students learning nursing English online - A case study on an online nursing English course
WONG, Nick
2014 Hwa Kang International Conference on English Language & Literature. Taipei, Taiwan
2014
Scholarship Talk
How written Cantonese in Hong Kong is written with high creativity
WONG, Nick
Guest Lecture in the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
2013
Conference Presentation
Pidgin or English? From Pidgin thinking to English writing: Teaching and learning Chinese Pidgin English in Shanghai
WONG, Nick
Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics Summer Conference 2013. Lisbon, Portugal
2013
Conference Presentation
A contrastive study of orthographic variations in Cantonese and English - A case study of Hong Kong Golden Forum
WONG, Nick
8th International Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics and Language Teaching. Lancaster, United Kingdom
2013
Conference Presentation
“Pidgin thinking, English writing” Language contact between Chinese Pidgin English and Late Modern English: A case study of a Chinese Pidgin English booklet published in Shanghai: Notes for English.
WONG, Nick
The 9th International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB9). Singapore