Rolian acquired her MA in Applied Linguistics at the University of Hong Kong and achieved an overall distinction. Her dissertation, entitled “Discursive Leadership of Anson Chan and Carrie Lam: How do the most “Powerful” Hong Kong Women in Politics Take their Stances?”, was awarded a distinction and published at the HKU Scholars Hub. Her research interests include discourse analysis, Systemic Functional Linguistics and pedagogies in EAP/ESP, discursive leadership, and gender and language.
Prior to joining CLE, Rolian taught workplace English and EAP/ESP courses at post-secondary institutions. At CLE, she teaches LANG1402, LABU2060 and HUMA1000A. She is dedicated to facilitating students’ learning and academic literacy development, as well as enhancing their professional communicative competence.
Teaching aside, Rolian is a French culinary arts enthusiast who obtained the professional Disciples Escoffier Diploma in French Cuisine. She is also a modern calligraphy lover and certified florist specialising in the arts of preserved flowers.
Professional Interests
- Discourse analysis
- Gender and Language
- Leadership discourse
- Stancetaking in discourse
- Systemic Functional Linguistics
- Pedagogies in EAP/ESP
Scholarship
2023
Journal Publication
A comparative study of gender representation in junior high school EFL textbooks of Hong Kong and Japan
Yim, Dexter; Lee, Chun Man Rolian
Source: Journal of Language Teaching, v. 3, (10), November 2023, p. 21-39
DOI: 10.54475/jlt.2023.027
DOI: 10.54475/jlt.2023.027
This study aims to investigate the representation of gender and the presence of male dominance in spoken discourse in two selected English Language textbooks for junior high school year one students: Longman English EDGE (2nd Edition) 1A and 1B in Hong Kong, and New Horizon: English Course Book 1 in Japan, respectively. This research employs both qualitative and quantitative analyses to examine the content of dialogues in each unit. Key areas of analysis include the number of domestic and occupational roles assigned to male, female, and gender-neutral characters, the range of activities undertaken by these characters, the character initiating conversations, the occurrence of males, females and gender-neutral characters in dialogues, and the number of spoken words and turns by them. The findings indicated an improvement in gender equality in both textbooks in various aspects, compared with other earlier textbooks which were examined by other researchers (Lee & Collins, 2008, 2010; Lee, 2018). In terms of role allocation and activities, a relatively balanced representation of male and female characters was observed. Female characters demonstrated a higher frequency of initiating conversations and taking turns. The average number of words spoken per turn by male and female characters was similar in the LE1A and LE1B textbooks, but male characters still spoke more per turn in NH1 textbook despite female characters taking more turns. Moreover, LE1A and LE1B employed gender-neutral names to mitigate gender stereotypes but gender-neutral names were not utilized in the Japanese textbook, despite the author’s effort to achieve gender equality. Considering these findings, this study reveals that male characters were underrepresented in the textbooks in Hong Kong and suggests that it is crucial to enhance gender awareness among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, provide explicit gender-sensitive instruction, and establish specific guidelines by educational authorities to assist textbook authors in creating gender-inclusive educational materials.