English Studies for Language Teaching

Welcome to English Studies for Language Teaching, a 20-credit postgraduate level course in the Master of Education in English Language Education programme. The course is delivered in a face-to-face teaching mode.

Course aim

The main aim of this course is to develop your knowledge and understanding of the English language, and your ability to apply this for enhancing learners' English language standards.

Course learning outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• analyse the sound and meaning systems and the syntactic structures of the English language;
• analyse written and spoken discourse in relation to its context of use, and evaluate the choice of textual components for fulfilling discourse functions;
• account for and evaluate the relationships between language, culture and society, and examine the place of English in the world and in Hong Kong;
• relate their understanding of English as a system to English language teaching; and
• critically review and evaluate knowledge and perspectives in the English language system based on theories and research findings in the literature.

The following table provides an overview of the areas and topics covered in the course, the amount of time it takes to complete each of them, and the submission dates for the assignments.

This course is presented in a face-to-face teaching mode. As the table above shows, there will be 240 contact hours spread over nine months, comprising 77 lectures (each of two hours), 17 tutorials (each of three hours), completion of directed study tasks and participation in online discussion. In addition, at the beginning of the course, there will be a student orientation which aims at familiarizing students with the course contents and administration.

The lectures will be given by guest speakers and internal staff, and will be held in the evenings, normally twice/thrice a week. Tutorials will take place on Sunday afternoons. Please refer to the Online Learning Environment (OLE) for the detailed lecture and tutorial schedules.

Attendance requirement

There is an 80% attendance requirement for lectures and tutorials, as set by the Education Bureau.

Tutor support

In the tutorials, your tutor will answer your questions about problems you might face during your study and hold other activities, such as small-group discussions, to help you to understand better the lectures and set books/readings. In addition to these face-to-face sessions, you can also discuss problems with your tutor by email or telephone, or by making use of the Discussion Board.

As soon as your tutorial group is confirmed, we will give you the name and phone number of your tutor and notify you of the dates, times and location of the tutorials.

Besides supporting you through the face-to-face sessions and the other means mentioned above, your tutor will mark and comment on your assignments, and keep a close watch on your progress. When your assignments are returned, you are advised to pay particular attention to the comments your tutor has written on the Marking Scheme.

Online support

This course is supported by the Online Learning Environment (OLE). It provides a platform for communication among learners, tutors and the Course Coordinator. You can find the latest course information on the OLE. Most importantly, the OLE is used to deliver lecture outlines for the course. You are strongly advised to download and read the lecture outlines, and bring them to each lecture. No printed copies will be provided by the University.

Set books

There are seven set books, each of which corresponds to a particular part of the course:

Part 1: ROACH, P. (2009, 4th edn) English Phonetics and Phonology, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Part 2: HOLMES, J. (2013, 4th edn) Introduction to Sociolinguistics, London, Longman.

Part 3: PAYNE, T. E. (2011) Understanding English Grammar: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Part 4: PALTRIDGE, B. (2012, 2nd edn) Discourse Analysis, London and New York, Bloomsbury.

Part 5: JACKSON, H. and ZÉ AMVELA, E. (2007, 2nd edn) Words, Meaning and Vocabulary: An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology, London & New York, Continuum.

Part 6: MITCHELL, R. and MYLES, F. (2019, 4th edn) Second Language Learning Theories, Oxford, Routledge.

Part 7: PARKINSON, B. and THOMAS, H. R. (2000) Teaching Literature in a Second Language, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.

Selected readings

These readings will be available in the Reserved section in the HKMU Library.

Part 1 Phonetics and phonology for English language teaching

CHAN, A. and LI, D. (2000) 'English and Cantonese phonology in contrast: explaining Cantonese ESL learners' English pronunciation problems', Language, Culture and Curriculum, 13(1), pp. 67–85.

HUNG, T. (2000) 'Towards a phonology of Hong Kong English', World Englishes, 19(3), pp. 337–56.

RAYNER, K. et al. (2001) 'How psychological science informs the teaching of reading', Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2(2), pp. 31–67.

SCOTT, V. G. (1999) Phonemic Awareness: Lessons, Activities and Games, Minneapolis, Peytral Publications, Inc., pp. 6–13.

Part 2 Sociolinguistics and English as an international language 

BAMGBOSE, A. (1998) 'Torn between the norms: Innovations in world Englishes', World Englishes, 17(1), pp. 1–14.

BENSON, P. (2000) 'Hong Kong words: Variation and context', World Englishes, 19(3), pp. 373–80.

HALLIDAY, M. (2003) 'Written language, standard language, global language', World Englishes, 22(4), pp. 405–18.

HASAN, R. (2003) 'Globalization, literacy and ideology', World Englishes, 22(4), pp. 433–48.

TSAO, F. F. (1999) 'The language planning situation in Taiwan', Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 20(4–5), pp. 328–75.

Part 3 Written and spoken discourse for English language teaching

BASTURKMEN, H. (2001) 'Description of spoken language for higher level learners: The example of questioning', ELT Journal, 55(1), 4–13.

BAXTER, J. (2003) 'The classroom study' in Positioning Gender in Discourse: A Feminist Methodology, Chapter 5, Hampshire & New York, Palgrave Macmillan.

HALLIDAY, M. A. K. (1991) 'The notion of “context” in language education' in GHADESSY, M. (ed.) Text and Context in Functional Linguistics, Amsterdam, John Benjamins, pp. 1–24.

WHITE, R. (2001) 'Adapting Grice's maxims in the teaching of writing', ELT Journal, 55(1), pp. 62–69.

Part 4 Pedagogic grammar

BUNTON, D. (1991) 'A comparison of English errors made by Hong Kong students and those made by non-native speakers internationally', Institute of Language in Education Journal, Special Issue No. 2, English Usage in Hong Kong, pp. 9–22.

LI, D. and CHAN, A. (1999) 'Helping teachers correct structural and lexical English errors', Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(1), pp. 79–101.

LI, D. and CHAN, A. (2001) 'Form-focused negative feedback: Correcting three common errors', TESL Reporter, 34(1): pp. 22–34.

ODLIN, T. (1994) 'Introduction' in ODLIN, T. (ed.) Perspectives on Pedagogical Grammar, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–22.

TOMLIN, R. S. (1994) 'Functional grammars, pedagogical grammars, and communicative language teaching' in ODLIN, T. (ed.) Perspectives on Pedagogical Grammar, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 140–78.

Part 5 Lexis, morphology and semantics for English language teaching

JULIAN, P. (2000) 'Creating word-meaning awareness', ELT Journal, 54(1), pp. 37–46.

KONDAIAH, K. (2004) 'Metaphorical systems and their implications to teaching English as a foreign language', Asian EFL Journal, March, <http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/>.

STENGIN, M. and IEDEMA, R. (2001) 'How to analyse visual images: A guide for TESOL teachers' in BURNS, A. and COFFIN, C. (eds) Analysing English Language in a Global Context, London, Routledge, pp. 194–208.

THORNBURY, S. (2003) 'Teaching vocabulary using short texts', Asian EFL Journal, December, <http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/>.

WANG, A. (2003) 'A comparison of word-formation between Chinese and English', Asian EFL Journal, December, <http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/>. 

Part 6 Psycholinguistics and second language acquisition

BEHRENS, H. (2001) 'Cognitive-conceptual development and the acquisition of grammatical morphemes: The development of time concepts and verb tense' in BOWERMAN, M. and LEVINSON, S. C. (eds) Language Acquisition and Conceptual Development, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 450–74.

GASS, S. M. and SELINKER, L. (2001) 'The lexicon' in GASS, S. M. and SELINKER, L. (2001) Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course, Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 372–97.

HARRINGTON, M. (2001) 'Sentence processing' in ROBINSON, P. (ed.) Cognition and Second Language Instruction, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 91–124.

ROBINSON, P. (2001) 'Task complexity, cognitive resources, and syllabus design: A triadic framework for examining task influences on SLA' in ROBINSON, P. (ed.) Cognition and Second Language Instruction, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 287–318.

THORNE, S. L. (2000) 'Second language acquisition theory and the truth(s) about relativity' in LANTOLF, J. P. (ed.) Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning, Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 219–44.

TSUI, A. B. M. and FULLILOVE, J. (1998) 'Bottom-up or top-down processing as a discriminator of L2 listening performance', Applied Linguistics, 19(4), pp. 432–51.

Part 7 Literature and language arts in English

CARTER, R. (2007) 'Literature and language teaching 1986–2006: A review', International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17(1), pp. 3–13.

CHAN, P. (1999) 'From reading and speaking to writing: Dramatising for the English classroom' in FALVEY, P. and KENNEDY, P. (eds) Learning Language through Literature Book 3: A Source Book for Teachers of English in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, pp. 67–76.

MALEY, A. (2001) 'Literature in the language classroom' in CARTER, R. and NUNAN, D. (eds) The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages,Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 180–85.

Other references

A list of other texts which you may find useful is included in the Appendix.

ENGL E810F has two methods of assessing your progress: continuous assessment (assignments) and a final examination. 

Assignments

There are three assignments for continuous assessment purposes in the course. All assignments will be counted and contribute 60% to your final course result. Details of the assignments and the assessment system can be found in the Assignment File.

Examination

There will also be a three-hour end-of-course examination, which accounts for 40% of the final course result.

Later, you will be provided with a specimen examination paper similar in format to the final examination, although the questions will be different.

To complete the course successfully, you must pass in both the continuous assessment (assignments) and the final examination.

Other references

References available in the HKMU Electronic Library are indicated below:

Part 1   Phonetics and phonology for English language teaching

COLLINS, B. and MEES, I. (2003) Practical Phonetics and Phonology, London, Routledge.

CRYSTAL, D. (1994) A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Oxford, Blackwell.

FLYNN, C. (2003) Intonation in Cantonese, Munich, Lincom.

HALLIDAY, M. A. K. (1970) A Course in Spoken English: Intonation, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

HEILMAN, A. W. (1998) Phonics in Proper Perspective, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall, Inc.

JENKINS, J. (2000) The Phonology of English as an International Language, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

LADEFOGED, P. (2004, 2nd edn) Vowels and Consonants: An Introduction to the Sounds of Language, Malden, MS, Blackwell.

LADEFOGED, P. and JOHNSON, K. (2010, 6th edn) A Course in Phonetics, Boston, Heinle & Heinle.

LUKE, K. K. (2000) 'Phonological re-interpretation: The assignment of Cantonese tones to English words', paper presented in the International Conference on Chinese Linguistics, Singapore, June.

PENNINGTON, M. C. (1996) Phonology in English Language Teaching, New York, Longman.

ROGERSON-REVELL, P. (2011) English Phonology and Pronunciation Teaching, London and New York, Continuum.

STIBBARD, R. (2004) 'The spoken English of Hong Kong: A study of co-occurring segmental errors' Language, Culture and Curriculum, 17(2), pp.127–42.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 'Educational resources for English phonetics and phonology', Department of Phonetics and Phonology, <www.ucl.ac.uk>.

Part 2 Sociolinguistics and English as an international language

BAKER, C. (1996) Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Clevedon & Philadelphia, Multilingual Matters. (Electronic Library)

BAUER, L. (2002) An Introduction to International Varieties of English, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.

BOLTON, K. (ed.) (2002) Hong Kong English: Autonomy and Creativity, Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press.

COULMAS, F. (1998) The Handbook of Sociolinguistics, Oxford & Boston, MS, Blackwell Publishers. (Electronic Library)

JENKINS, J. (2003) World Englishes: A Resource Book for Students, London & New York, Routledge.

MCKAY, S. L. (2002) Teaching English as an International English, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

SETTER, J., WONG, C.S. P. and CHAN, B. H. S. (2010) Hong Kong English, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.

STOCKWELL, P. (2002) Sociolinguistics: A Resource Book for Students, London & New York, Routledge.

Part 3 Written and spoken discourse for English language teaching

BLOMMAERT, J. (2005) Discourse: A Critical Introduction, Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press.

CAMERON, D. (2001) Working with Spoken Discourse, London & Thousand Oaks, Sage.

CARTER, R. (1997) Investigating English Discourse, London, Routledge.

CORNBLEET, S. and CARTER, R. (2001) The Language of Speech and Writing, New York, Routledge. (Electronic Library)

CUTTING, J. (2007, 2nd edn) Pragmatics and Discourse: A Resource Book for Students, London, Routledge.

GEE, J. P. (1999) An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method,London, Routledge. (Electronic Library)

HOEY, M. (2000) Textual Interaction: An Introduction to Written Discourse Analysis, London & New York, Routledge.

JOHNSTONE, B. (2008, 2nd edn) Discourse Analysis, Oxford, Blackwell Publishing.

Part 4 Pedagogic grammar

GREENBAUM, S. (1996) The Oxford English Grammar, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

HUDDLESTON, R. and PULLUM, G. K. (2002) The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

LEECH, G. and SVARTVIK, J. (2002) A Communicative Grammar of English, London, Pearson Education Limited.

QUIRK, R., GREENBAUM, S., LEECH, G. and SVARTVIK, J. (1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, New York, Longman.

ROZAKIS, L. (2003) English Grammar for the Utterly Confused, New York, McGraw-Hill Professional. (Electronic Library)

STERN, H. H. (1999) 'The language syllabus: Functional analysis' in ALLEN, P. and HANLEY, B (eds) Issues and Options in Language Teaching, Shanghai, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, pp. 155–76.

Part 5   Lexis, morphology and semantics for English language teaching

CARSTAIRS-MCARTHY, A. (2002) Introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their Structure, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. (Electronic Library)

CARTER, R. (1998) Vocabulary: Applied Linguistic Perspectives, London, Routledge. (Electronic Library)

HATCH, E. and BROWN, C. (1995) Vocabulary, Semantics and Language Education, New York, Cambridge University Press.

KREIDLER, C. W. (1998) Introducing English Semantics, London & New York, Routledge.

Part 6   Psycholinguistics and second language acquisition

AMSEL, E. and BYRNES, J. P. (eds) (2002) Language, Literacy and Cognitive Development: The Development and Consequences of Symbolic Communication, Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.(Electronic Library)

BIRCH, B. M. (2002) English L2 Reading: Getting to the Bottom, Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (Electronic Library)

BLOOM, P. (2000) How Children Learn the Meanings of Words, Cambridge, MS, MIT Press. (Electronic Library)

DOUGHTY, C. J. and LONG, M. H. (eds) (2003) The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Oxford, Blackwell.

FIELD, J. (2003) Psycholinguistics: A Resource Book for Students, London, Routledge.

FIELD, J. (2004) Psycholinguistics: The Key Concepts, London, Routledge.

GARROD, S. C. and PICKERING, M. J. (1999) Language Processing, Hove, Psychology Press. (Electronic Library)

GASS, S. M. and SELINKER, L. (2001) Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course, Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

MERCER, N. M. (2002) Words and Minds, London, Routledge.

ROBINSON, P. (ed.) (2001) Cognition and Second Language Instruction, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

SORACE, A., HEYCOCK, C. B. and SHILLCOCK, R. (eds) (1999) Language Acquisition: Knowledge Representation and Processing, New York, Elsevier. (Electronic Library)

Part 7   Literature and language arts in English

BEACH, R. (1993) A Teacher's Introduction to Reader-Response Theories,Illinois, National Council of Teachers of English.

BRUMFIT, C. and CARTER, R. (1986) Literature and Language Teaching, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

CARTER, R. and LONG, M. (1991) Teaching Literature, London, Longman.

CHAN, P. (2003) 'Play into play: Language through drama' in SUBRAMANIAM, G. (ed.) Teaching of Literature in ESL/EFL Contexts, Petaling Jaya, Sasbadi Sdn Bhd, pp. 159–73.

COLLIE, J. and SLATER, S. (1987) Literature in the Language Classroom: A Resource Book of Ideas and Activities, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (2002) The Learning and Teaching of Poetry (Secondary 1–3): A Resource Package, Hong Kong, Education Department.

DUFF, A. and MALEY, A. (1991) Literature, Teachers' resource book series, Oxford University Press.

FALVEY, P. and KENNEDY, P. (1997) Learning Language through Literature: A Source Book for Teacher of English in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press.

GAMBLE, N. and YATES, S. (2008, 2nd edn) Exploring Children's Literature, Sage Publications.

HALL, G. M. (1999) 'Awareness, response and what might lie beyond: A critical linguistic perspective on literature as a social practice and the implications of this perspective for the use of literature in education', Language Awareness, 8(1), pp. 3–14.

HARFITT, G. J. and CHU W. K. B. (2011, forthcoming) 'Actualizing reader-response theory on L2 teacher training programmes', TESL Canada Journal.

HOVEYDA, F. (2000) The Hidden Meaning of Mass Communications: Cinema, Books, and Television in the Age of Computers, Westport, CT, Praeger. (Electronic Library)

LAZAR, G. (1993) Literature and Language Teaching,Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

LERER, S. (2008) Children's Literature: A Reader's History From Aesop to Harry Potter,Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

ROSENBLATT, L. M. (1978) The Reader, The Test, The Poem,Southern Illinois University Press.

ROSENBLATT, L. M. (1995) Literature as Exploration,New York, Modern Language Association.

SHORT, M. (1996) Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose, London, Longman.

TCHUDI, S. and MITCHELL, D. (1999, 4th edn) Exploring and Teaching the English Language Arts, New York, Longman.