Faculty Publications and Conference Presentations

The Learning League project aims to study the improvement of language self-efficacy among English as a foreign language (EFL) university students in Hong Kong after delivery English language classes to secondary school students in a 12-week programme. The project adopts a blended learning approach, utilizing the learning-by-teaching pedagogy and gamification to enhance students' motivation and English speaking skills. 13 university students were recruited as student tutors. They received teaching training before teaching English to 63 secondary school students. English speaking-related weekly tasks and selected materials were provided to the student tutors to complete and read before they taught. The language self-efficacy of university students were measured using language self-efficacy scale (Wong, 2005). The programme evaluation showed positive results for the university students' English speaking skills and language self-efficacy. © 2023 International Conference on Higher Education Advances. All rights reserved.

The present project aims to break the physical limitation of job interview practices for students in LABU2060 Effective Communication in Business, the last required CLE course of the Business School’s program at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The pandemic has intensified the need for incorporating emerging technologies, e.g., virtual reality (VR), in Higher Education. A VR job interview mobile application was implemented in LABU2060 in 2022. Surveys, field observations and focus group interviews were conducted within HKUST. It was found most students were satisfied with the usability and their learning experience gained through using the application in the 2D mode. Students participated in the field tests, utilizing the application in the VR mode (N=17). The findings revealed that the VR job interview application successfully helped students practice and prepare for their job interviews. Students preferred the VR mode to the 2D mode thanks to the immersiveness and authenticity of the VR job interview practices.

Peer observation in language teaching within higher education has been recognized as valuable for teacher professional development, yet teachers’ attitudes towards observation practices remain mixed. Most criticisms of the practice are related to its top-down nature, teacher time constraints, and its rigid procedure. It has also been known to cause stress and anxiety. These drawbacks of peer observation of teaching (PoT) approaches have resulted in teachers perceiving a loss of agency in the process, and to their consequent sense of disempowerment. With the purpose of redressing these issues, the Center for Language Education at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, started introducing changes to its PoT model. A variety of observation formats were provided for teachers to choose from and the importance of dialogue with a peer, and reflexive praxis were emphasized. Through data collected from a survey, semi-structured interviews, and content analysis of written reflections, this study sought to examine teachers’ views about this new approach. Results show that: a) participants found the opportunity to talk about teaching with a trusted peer of their choice particularly rewarding and b) they mostly did not avail of the different PoT formats despite indicating through the survey that they welcome these options. The latter could be due to teachers’ unfamiliarity with new ways of conducting PoT or it could be reflective of the contradictions between what they think and what they do. This paper, therefore, raises key questions about flexibility and choice in PoT and discusses these issues in detail.

It has long been a challenge for teachers to provide personalised speaking training for students with limited class time and space in a physical classroom, and the pandemic has made the issue even more pronounced, under which in-person, teacher-student practices were implausible. As part of the post-pandemic new normal, the implementation of e-learning technology, particularly, Virtual Reality (VR), has become a viable solution with higher task authenticity and personalization for language and communication training. This paper begins by depicting the hurdles of teaching and acquiring communication skills for HKUST business students; the present project showcased the development and implementation of the VR mobile application, I’m IN – HKUST, in a business English course. The application encompasses 2 main functions, providing communication practices, corresponding to the needs and the majors of the business students, by VR trainers and introducing job-seeking related topics (in the form of mini-lessons). It also provides standardised feedback based on self-reported performance levels, integrated as a blended reflective learning task. Users’ surveys, field observations and focus group interviews were conducted within HKUST, and the results indicated that the introduction of VR technology enhanced the teaching and learning of business communication successfully.