Hong Kong, like many other contexts, is witnessing a surging interplay of different social voices demanding to have a say in language policy and education. These voices reflect diverse sociopolitical, cultural and economic interests, which need to be carefully considered when formulating and implementing policies in context. With shifting sociopolitical realities, it has become strategic for societies like Hong Kong to promote the use of internationally/nationally important languages to enhance our global/national competitiveness.
Due to increasing global flows of populations, it has also become essential to acknowledge the language rights and lived experiences of indigenous, migrant, transnational and ethnolinguistic minorities in education. Against this background, there is an ongoing need to bring together researchers from different disciplines (who have been working on language issues) to undertake intense theoretical, conceptual, and empirically-driven practical studies on the development and implementation of language policies. These studies can shed light on the impact of such policies on individual learners, teachers, social communities and the wider socioeconomic development of Hong Kong.
As home to an internationally prominent group of scholars in a world class university, the Faculty of Education of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) proposes to seize the opportunity to lead cutting-edge research in language policy and practice now. The Faculty has been actively conducting research on language policy and practice through the work done by colleagues with internationally well-known expertise in a diversity of areas including education policy in postcolonial contexts, sociolinguistics, multilingualism, education for minority students, English and Chinese as second/foreign languages, language across the curriculum and classroom discourse. Key members of the proposed Consortium have also been engaged in various types of international collaboration.
Since September 2012, colleagues in the Faculty (Professor James Tollefson, Dr Andy Gao and Dr Miguel Pérez-Milans) have been running a Special Interest Group (SIG) on Language and Society, which involves scholars and research students from Faculty of Education and Faculty of Arts. The SIG provides a platform for members to regularly share their work in progress and discuss with each other potential research collaboration. It has also brought in well-known scholars in applied linguistics, media, sociolinguistics, communication, and new literacy studies to share their experience and insights with members. The SIG demonstrates existing cross-faculty collaboration on language policy and practice research, an effort which needs further consolidation and expansion.
A Consortium is therefore needed to synergise the research endeavours of this group of scholars within the Faculty of Education and in Faculties such as The Faculty of Arts, HKU and The Faculty of Social Sciences, HKU. It will also serve to maintain a close link with world class scholars who have already been collaborating with members of the Faculty and to further attract those who have not yet done so, but who have already expressed an interest in engaging with the work of the Consortium. Furthermore, the Consortium will attract doctoral students and post-doctoral students to undertake an ongoing series of studies that will shape and reshape language policies and language education practices in the region and beyond. In this regard, the Consortium will promote significant research that will have an impact on Hong Kong, the Asia region and beyond.
With experienced and junior colleagues all well positioned to secure language-related research funds and offer commissioned consultancy services, the Consortium will serve to enhance University’s international visibility and its commitment to research excellence.