The Department of Chinese, Translation & Linguistics offers programmes of study at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels designed to address the growing needs of Hong Kong and other Chinese communities for language professionals well versed in areas such as Chinese, translation and interpretation, comparative cultural studies, linguistics and language technology, culture and heritage management.
At the undergraduate level, our programmes include B.A. (Hons) in Chinese, B.A. (Hons) in Linguistics and Language Technology, B.A. (Hons) in Translation and Interpretation, B.A. (Hons) in Culture and Heritage Management, and a non-Government funded B.A. Honours programme in Language Studies (with specialization in Chinese, Linguistics and Language Technology, Translation and Interpretation, Japanese or Korean). In addition, the Department also offers minors in Culture and Heritage Management, Chinese for Professional Purposes, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, Language Technology, Linguistics, Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature, and Translation.
At the postgraduate level, the Department offers two non-Government funded M.A. programmes: M.A. in Language Studies (with specialization in Language and Law, Linguistics, Translation and Interpretation, or Translation with Language Information Technology) and M.A. in Chinese (with specialization in Chinese Language and Literature, Chinese for Professional Purposes, or Chinese for Educational Purposes). To motivate and support our students' enthusiasm for learning, scholarships are offered to those achieving excellent academic performance.
Apart from the taught programmes mentioned above, the Department also offers research degree studies toward M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in the core areas of the Department.
The Department encourages and promotes research in such areas as linguistics and language technology, the study of Chinese language and literature, and translation and cross-cultural studies. Research emphases in the Department include translation (machine and human), culture and heritage management, corpus linguistics, language and law, computer assisted language learning, phonetics, comparative literature, terminology and scholarship in Chinese and other Asian languages. The Department also maintains links with The Halliday Centre for Intelligent Applications of Language Studies (HCLS).
The Language and Cognition Laboratory (LCL) is established to be one of the best equipped cognitive/neurocognitive laboratories of language studies in the region, certainly the best in Hong Kong. It has all the research tools, basic as well as the advanced, and state-of-art research facilities (e.g., SR Research EyeLink 1000 system for recording eye-movement data and an EGI 128 Channel Geodesic System 300 for recording brainwave data) for carrying out cognitive/neurocognitive research in various aspects of language-related human cognitive capabilities (i.e., language acquisition, adult language learning, neurolinguistics, language comprehension and language production, etc.). The lab is committed to high quality research and to demonstrate deep interdisciplinary sophistication by equipping the CTL intellectual force to collect both natural and controlled data of basic research to uptake lines of multi-disciplinary research in language studies that comprise a critical strategy to ensure the sustainability of the existing areas of strengths of CTL. The lab aims to produce research results that provide essential knowledge and discoveries for language researchers to understand the universality and particularity of cognitive/neurocognitive mechanisms of language processing in Chinese, that distinguish competing language models, spanning through a wide spectrum of linguistic domains in Chinese (phonology, morphology, semantic, syntax, anaphora and pragmatic), and that implement Chinese learning environment (CSL) that optimally facilitate language learning through effective intervention techniques that lead to successful reading outcomes.
The Phonetics Laboratory of the Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics at the City University of Hong Kong was established in 1995. The phonetics lab serves both teaching and research needs for undergraduate and postgraduate (M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D.) programmes of the department as well as research projects of the teaching staff. The lab's main research interests include phonetics and typology of the sounds of Chinese dialects, phonetic explanations for sound changes in Chinese, and phonetics in second language acquisition. The lab has received a number of research grants from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Government in support of research projects.
The Phonetics Laboratory has a collection of basic research tools, namely EMMA AG500, Kay-PENTAX CSL4500, Scicon PC-quirer, EPG, HL Synthesizer, DSP Sonagraph 5500, and IAC soundproof booth, etc. for investigation of the acoustical, articulatory, perceptual, and physiological properties of speech sounds.
The Department also has a multipurpose laboratory with the most advanced equipment and facilities designed for professional training in simultaneous and consecutive interpretation as well as for language learning.
Enquiry: ctlenq@cityu.edu.hk
Page last updated: 15 April 2013
