STAFF PROFILE

Prof HUNG Tong Ning, Tony

Professor Emeritus

Qualifications:
Ph.D. (Linguistics), University of California (San Diego)
M.A. (Applied Linguistics), University of Lancaster
B.Ed. Queen’s University
B.A. Hons. (English), McMaster University

Telephone:
3411 5847
Email: tonyhung@hkbu.edu.hk
Office: RRS617

BIO

I am a teacher first, a researcher second, and an administrator a distant third. I have only had one profession in my whole life, and that is teaching language and about language. I am in the happy position of being able to do both simultaneously at HKBU – teaching English to undergraduates and Linguistics to M.A. students.

To me, language is by far the most fascinating attribute of being human. After a lifetime of learning it, learning about it and teaching it, I cannot claim to have understood more than a tiny fraction of all that we would want to know about language – about its internal structure and how it is acquired. My study and research have included both theoretical and applied linguistics, as I believe they complement each other and are both essential to the language teacher and researcher.

I have rated my administrative work a ‘distant‘ third, because, when all is said and done, the ‘real‘ work of education is done by the teachers, and the ‘real‘ satisfaction derives from the fruits of teaching. Nevertheless, there is no denying that someone has to create the conditions under which teachers can do their work, and to that extent I hope my colleagues will tolerate my existence.

If you wish to know more about my professional and personal interests, you may want to visit my homepage.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My current research interests focus on two main areas, one theoretical and the other applied.

I have been investigating the phonological systems of languages, especially ‘new varieties‘ of English (such as Hong Kong and Singapore English), and varieties of Chinese (such as Hong Kong Mandarin and Cantonese). I am interested in discovering the internalised sound systems that underlie these outwardly different-sounding language varieties, and the extent to which they can vary from each other and yet remain the ‘same‘ language; and how the phonological systems of two or more languages (such as English and Cantonese, or Mandarin and Cantonese) can co-exist and interact within the same speaker.

In applied linguistics, I am interested in how grammatical competence can be taught (if at all), seeing that it is so fundamental and pervasive a part of one’s language proficiency, and yet in many cases so poorly acquired even after many years of language instruction.

Linking the two together, I have developed an interest in the learner’s ‘interlanguage‘ grammar and phonology, the window through which we can glimpse their mental linguistic systems as speakers of a second language. In recent years, I have focused more on the phonological features of ‘World Englishes‘ (especially Hong Kong and Chinese English), and on issues arising from English as a world language.

My other research interests have (at one time or another) included Chinese linguistics (especially phonology), contrastive linguistics (especially English and Chinese), syntax-phonology interaction, and Cognitive Grammar.

GRANTS, AWARDS AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

  • Research Grants

    • ‘Investigating the interlanguage grammars of learners of English in tertiary institutions in Hong Kong‘. RGC Competitive Ear-Marked Research Grant (2157/03H), 2003-2006.
    • ‘Interlanguage Phonology: a Multi-lingual Study‘. HKBU Faculty Research Grant (FRG/00-01/II-05), 2001-2003.
    • ‘Phonology of Hong Kong English‘. RGC Competitive Ear-Marked Research Grant (HKBU 2002/98H), 1998-2001.
    • ‘Phonology of Chinese English‘. Joint research project with Beijing Medical University, Foreign Languages Department. Funded by International Development Research Centre, Canada. 1998-1999.
    • ‘CD-ROM on English Pronunciation‘. HKBU Teaching Development Grant TDG/9798/IV/11). 1998-2000.
    • ‘Developing a Remedial English Course for HKBU Students, Stage I‘. HKBU Teaching Development Grant (TDG/9899/III/4). 1998-1999.
     

    Awards

    • President’s Award for Excellence in Service, HKBU
    • ACUCA Visiting Scholar, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines 2004
    • K.C. Wong Foundation Visiting Scholar, China 1999
    • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Visiting Scholar, Japan 1993
    • Fulbright Visiting Scholar, U.S.A. 1989
     

    Professional Services

    • Adjunct Professor, Linguistics Dept., Chinese University of Hong Kong
    • Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Language and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology, Kuching, Malaysia.
    • Adjunct Professor, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, United International College, Zhuhai
    • Fellow, HKBU-UIC Joint Institute of Research Studies
    • Consultant, Macquarie Dictionary (Macquarie University, Sydney)
    • Editorial Adviser, Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics, University of Hong Kong.
    • Editorial Board Member, RELC Journal, Singapore.
    • Editorial Board Member, 3 L – the Journal of Language, Linguistics and Literature, Kuala Lumpur.
    • Editorial Consultant, Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. De La Salle University, Manila.
    • Advisory Board member, Thoughts. Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.

SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

Books & Monographs

  • Understanding English Grammar: A Course Book for Chinese Learners of English. Hong Kong University Press, 2005.
  • English Sounds and Words [with Z.M. Bao]. Prentice Hall, 1997.
  • The Study of Language Structure. UK Open University/Singapore Institute of Management, 1997.
  • The Speech Organs and the Classification of Speech Sounds/ Phonological Features. UK Open University/Singapore Institute of Management, 1997.
  • Underlying Representations/ Phonological Processes. UK Open University/ Singapore Institute of Management, 1997.
  • The Structure of the Syllable/ English Word Stress. UK Open University/Singapore Institute of Management, 1997.
  • Tone and Intonation/ Contrastive Phonology. UK Open University/Singapore Institute of Management, 1997.
  • Syntactic and Semantic Aspects of Chinese Tone Sandhi. Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1989.
 

Journal Papers & Book Chapters

  • ‘Hong Kong English: A Linguistic Description’.  In E.L. Low & A. Hashim (eds.), English in Southeast Asia: Features, Policy & Language in Use, pp.113-133.  John Benjamins, 2011.
  • ‘How the global spread of English can enrich rather than engulf our culture and identity‘. Papers in Applied Language Studies, 13:41-53. HKBU, 2009.
  • ‘Pygmalion in Singapore‘. In K. Murata & J. Jenkins (eds.), Global Englishes in Asian Contexts: Current and Future Debates, pp.59-72. Palgrave-Macmillan 2009.
  • ‘He who can, does – and teaches, and teaches teachers‘. In L. Uyechi & L.H. Wee (eds.), Reality Exploration and Discovery: Pattern Interaction in Language & Life, pp.3-8. Center for the Study of Language & Information, 2009.
  • ‘Innovation in Second Language Phonology: Evidence from Hong Kong English‘. In T. Hoffmann & L. Siebers (eds.), World Englishes: Problems – Properties – Prospects, pp.227-237. John Benjamins 2009.
  • ‘English as a global language: The teaching of pronunciation‘. In M. Nakano (ed.), World Englishes and Miscommunications, pp. 3-12. Waseda University International, 2007.
  • ‘Hong Kong English‘. In M. Nakano (ed.), World Englishes and Miscommunications, pp. 71-90. Waseda University International, 2007.
  • ‘He who can, does – and teaches, and teaches teachers‘. In L.H. Wee & L. Uyechi (eds.), Reality Exploration and Discovery: Pattern Interaction in Language & Life. CSLI, 2007.
  • ‘Some Reflections on Teaching Evaluation at HKBU‘. Papers in Applied Language Studies, Vol.11. HKBU, 2007.
  • ‘Where the grammar syllabus ends and the teacher begins‘. In T.R.F. Tupas, B. Lin, Y. Yuan, & C. Nur (eds.), Changing Perspectives on Grammar in the Classroom, pp.7-19. Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, 2007.
  • ‘Word stress in Hong Kong English: A preliminary study‘. Papers in Applied Language Studies, Vol. 9, pp. 29 – 40. HKBU, 2005.
  • ‘Applications of Corpus Linguistics in English Language Classroom‘. In K. Denham & A. Lobeck (eds.), Language in the Schools, pp.223-234. Lawrence Erlbaum, 2005.
  • ‘Pygmalion in Singapore: From Cockney to Singlish‘. In G. Poedjosoedarmo (ed.), Teaching and Assessing Language Proficiency. SEAMEO Regional Language Centre Singapore, pp. 53-65. 2003.
  • ‘Pygmalion: from Greek legend to My Fair Lady‘. 3L – The Journal of Language, Linguistics and Literature, Vol.8, pp. 145-156. 2003.
  • ‘How linguistics can contribute to the teaching of grammar‘. In J.E. James (ed.), Grammar in the Language Classroom: Changing Approaches and Practices‘, pp. 41-61. Regional Language Centre Singapore, 2003.
  • ‘New English‘ words in international English dictionaries‘. English Today, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 29-34. Cambridge University Press, 2002.
  • ‘Towards a Phonology of Hong Kong English‘. In K. Bolton (ed), Hong Kong English: Autonomy and Creativity, pp.119-140. Hong Kong University Press, 2002.
  • ‘The use of language corpora in the teaching of English‘. Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 7, No.1, pp.34-48. Hong Kong University Press, 2002.
  • ‘English as a global language and the issue of international intelligibility‘. Asian Englishes, Vol.5, No.1, pp.4-17. ACL Press, 2002
  • ‘English as a Language of Wider Communication in East Asia Today‘. In W.K. Ho & R. Wong (eds.), English Language Teaching in East Asia Today: Changing Policies and Practices, pp.33-47. Eastern Universities Press, 2002.
  • ‘Languages in contact: Hong Kong English phonology and the influence of Cantonese‘. In Andy Kirkpatrick (ed), Englishes in Asia: Communication, Identity, Power and Education, pp.191-200. Language Australia, 2002.
  • ‘Corpus linguistics and the language teacher‘. Thai TESOL Bulletin, Vol.15, No.1, pp.24-33. Thailand TESOL, 2002.
  • ‘English as a global language: Implications for teaching‘. ACELT Journal, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp.3-10. Ateneo University Manila, 2002.
  • ‘Modern perspectives on the teaching of grammar‘. In E.L. Low & S.C. Teng (eds.), The Teaching and Use of Standard English, pp.14-24. Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, 2002.
  • ‘Interlanguage analysis as an input to grammar teaching‘. PASAA, Vol.31, pp. 1-12. Chulalongkorn University, 2001.
  • ‘Towards a phonology of Hong Kong English‘. World Englishes, Vol.19 No.3. pp.337-356. Blackwell, 2000.
  • ‘Interlanguage analysis and remedial grammar teaching‘. Papers in Applied Language Studies, Vol.5, pp.155-168. Hong Kong Baptist University, 2000.
  • ‘Prescriptive and descriptive grammars‘. SAAL Quarterly, No.37, pp.2-6. Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, 1997.
  • ‘On linguists’ grammars‘. SAAL Quarterly, No.35, pp.9-12. Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, 1996.
  • ‘Some aspects of the segmental phonology of Singapore English‘. In S.C. Teng (ed.), The English Language in Singapore: Implications for Teaching, pp.29-41. Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, 1995.
  • ‘The role of phonology in the teaching of pronunciation to bilingual students‘. In R. Khoo et al. (eds.), Towards Global Multilingualism: European Models and Asian Realities, pp. 53-60. Multilingual Matters, 1994.
  • ‘Syntactic conditions on suprasegmental phonological rules in Chinese and English‘. Papers and Studies in Contrastive Linguistics, Vol. 27, pp.149-158. Adam Mickiewicz University, 1993.
  • ‘The role of phonology in the teaching of pronunciation to bilingual students‘. Language, Culture and Curriculum, Vol. 6, pp. 249-256. Multilingual Matters,1993.
  • ‘The role of grammar in the teaching of English‘. In A. Pakir (ed.), The English Language in Singapore: Standards and Norms, pp.6-12. UniPress, 1993.
  • ‘Some problems and issues in the representation of pronunciation in a Singapore English dictionary‘. In A. Pakir (ed.) Words in a Cultural Context, pp. 30-36. UniPress, 1992.
  • ‘Syntactico-semantic conditions on Fuzhou phrasal tone sandhi‘. Journal of Chinese Linguistics, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 50-83. UC Berkeley,1992.
  • ‘Syntax-phonology interaction in Chinese tone sandhi: An overview‘. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, Vol.25 No.3, pp. 43-60. Ohio State University, 1990.
  • ‘vvSingapore English‘. In International English Usage, 2nd Edition, ed. L. Todd & I. Hancock, pp. 423-425. Routledge, 1990.
  • ‘Case and role in Newari: A Cognitive Grammar approach‘. Linguistic Notes from La Jolla, No.14, pp. 95-107. UC San Diego,1988.
  • ‘Tianjin tone sandhi: Towards a unified approach‘. Journal of Chinese Linguistics, Vol.15 No.2, pp. 274-308. UC Berkeley, 1987.
 

Conference Proceedings (selected)

  • ‘English as a world language: Implications for the teaching of pronunciation‘. Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, pp.18-24. Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 2007.
  • ‘The role of contrastive analysis in interlanguage analysis: the case of Hong Kong learners‘ English‘. Proccedings of the 2002 International Symposium on Contrastive and Translation Studies between Chinese and English, pp.349-361. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2005.
  • ‘Investigating Interlanguage Phonology: The Case of Hong Kong English‘ [with V. Man]. New Sounds 2000: Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on the Acquisition of Second-Language Speech, pp.174-183. University of Klagenfurt, 2002.
  • ‘Phonological features of Hong Kong Mandarin‘. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Chinese Phonology, pp.396-403. National Chengchi University, 2001.
  • ‘Error analysis of Hong Kong students’ English‘. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Language Teaching, pp.597-605. Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics, 1999.
  • ‘Towards a phonology of Singapore English‘. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Languages and Linguistics, pp. 1429-40. Mahidol University, 1996.
  • ‘Syntax-phonology interaction in Chinese and English‘. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Departures in Contrastive Linguistics, pp. 11-20. University of Innsbruck, 1991.
 

Editorial Work

  • The Structure of Modern English series (15 volumes). UK Open University/Singapore Institute of Management, 1997.
 

Miscellaneous

  • The Pronunciation of English: A multimedia, self-learning CD-ROM package [with V. Man & J. Leung]. HKBU Language Centre, 1999.
  • Handbook on Plagiarism. Hong Kong Baptist University, 1999.
  • Review of M. Pennington, Phonology in Language Teaching. AILA Quarterly. AILA (International Association for Applied Linguistics), 1998.
  • ‘A meeting of East and West: Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde‘.Programme Essay for Singapore Symphony Orchestra, 1992.
  • Review of J.C. Wells, Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. RELC Journal, Vol.21 No.2, pp. 95-97. Regional Language Centre Singapore, 1990.
 

Conference Presentations (last 5 years)

  • ‘Teaching English Grammar through Online Corpora’. Invited plenary paper, KAMALL Conference, Hannam University, Korea, October 2011.
  • ‘How the global spread of English can strengthen rather than threaten our culture and identity’.  Paper presented at the 3rd International Conference on English, Discourse and Intercultural Communication, University of Macau, 22-24 June, 2011.
  • ‘Language teaching in the Post-method Era’.  Paper presented at the 7th CamTESOL Conference on English Language Teaching, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 26-27 February, 2011.
  • ‘Hong Kong English: A variety in the making?‘ 15th English in Southeast Asia Conference, University of Macau, 9-11 December, 2010.
  • ‘Teaching English in the ‘World Englishes‘ era – Linguistic and cultural considerations‘. CELC Symposium for English Language Teachers, 26-28 May 2010, Singapore.
  • ‘A Pragmatic Approach to the Pronunciation of English in Asian Contexts‘. Invited paper, Waseda-RELC International Students Seminar on World Englishes, 19-23 Feb. 2010, Singapore.
  • ‘Will the global spread of English engulf or enrich our national identity and culture?‘ 15th Annual Conference of International Association of World Englishes, Cebu, Philippines, 22-24 October, 2009.
  • ‘The Influence of Asian Languages on the Phonologies of World Englishes‘. Paper presented at the Asia TEFL Conference, 1-3 August 2008, Bali, Indonesia.
  • ‘Re-structuring the phonology of World Englishes: The influence of Asian Englishes‘. RELC International Seminar, 21-23 April 2008, RELC Singapore.
  • ‘English as a world language: Implications for the teaching of pronunciation‘. Invited keynote address, 12th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 19-21 Dec. 2007, Pattaya, Thailand.
  • ‘Re-structuring the phonology of World Englishes: The influence of Asian Languages‘. The 1st HCLS Conference on Becoming a World Language: the Growth of Chinese, English and Spanish, 3-5 Dec. 2007. City University of Hong Kong.
  • ‘Innovation in second language phonology‘. 13th Annual Conference of International Association of World Englishes. University of Regensburg, October 4-6, 2007.
  • ‘Teaching the pronunciation of English as a world language‘. CELC Symposium on ‘The English Language Teaching and Learning Landscape’. CELC, National University of Singapore, 20 May to 1 June, 2007.
  • ‘Phonological features of Asian varieties of English‘. 2007 International Society for Language Studies (ISLS) Conference, Honolulu, 2-4 April, 2007.
  • ‘Some Reflections on Language, Culture & Identity in the Context of World Englishes‘. Waseda-RELC International Student Seminar on World Englishes, RELC Singapore, 10-14 Feb. 2007.
  • ‘A comparative study of the phonological features of Asian Englishes‘. 11th Contemporary Linguistics Conference, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, 13-16 Oct. 2006.
  • ‘Speaking English as a world language‘. 12th International Association of World Englishes conference, Chukyo University, Nagoya, 7-9 Oct. 2006.
  • ‘The ‘Inner Game‘ of Teaching‘. RELC International Seminar, Singapore, 24 – 26 April, 2006.
  • ‘Phonological features of New Varieties of English‘. First International Conference on the Linguistics of Contemporary English. University of Edinburgh, 23-25 June, 2005.
  • ‘Focusing on phonology in the teaching of pronunciation‘. RELC International Seminar, 18-20 April, 2005.

COURSES TAUGHT

  • LANG4402 – Introduction to the Study of Language II 
  • LANG4640 – Grammar of Modern English 
  • LANG4550 – English as a World Language 
  • LANG1491 – English I 
  • LANG1140-1240 – English for Academic Purposes (Science) 
  • LANG0010 – English Proficiency Course 
  • SUPE1030 – Cantonese I