News and Kudos

CBS MATI student and teaching fellow were awarded in national competitions

Congratulations to Mr. ZHOU Zhihao from Master of Arts in Translation and Interpreting (MATI) for awarding with the following prizes in national competitions: First Prize in the National English Writing Competition (2023“中國故事大賽·雙語中國”寫作大賽中奪得英文賽道A組一等獎) Third Prize in the National College Student English Reading Competition (”BETT杯“全國大學生英語閱讀大賽 -決賽三等獎 ) Dr. LI Wenjing, who served as an instructor for Mr. ZHOU, has also been recognized with the "Excellent Instructor" award for her role in his achievements in "BETT" series. Mr. ZHOU's outstanding achievement is not only an accomplishment that showcases his individual talent but also a remarkable milestone to acknowledge the exceptional education and training provided by the MATI programme. We wish Mr. ZHOU boundless success in all his future endeavours! 

CBS MATI students secured the First and Second Prize in a 2023 National Translation Competition

Congratulations to Ms. LI Liyue and Mr. FAN Rui for clinching the First and Second Prize respectively in the University A category of the prestigious 2023 National News Translation and Editing Competition. This esteemed competition, a joint venture between the China Internet Information Center (CIIC) and the China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters (CATTI) Center under the China International Communications Group (CICG), celebrates outstanding achievements in translation and editing disciplines.

Dr Emmanuele Chersoni and a CBS Graduate Received Honorable Mention to Best Paper Award at BlackboxNLP 2023

Dr. Emmanuele Chersoni, Assistant Professor of the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies (CBS), and CBS graduate Ms. Chenxin Liu have been honored with an "Honorable Mention" for the Best Paper Award at the prestigious BlackboxNLP 2023, held in Singapore on December 7, 2023. This outstanding achievement is attributed to their collaborative paper "On Quick Kisses and How to Make Them Count: A Study on Event Construal in Light Verb Constructions with BERT".

CBS MATI student secured the Silver Prize at the national final of the Understanding Contemporary China Interpreting Contest

Congratulations to Ms. Zhao Yamei for clinching the Silver Prize at the national final of the 'Understanding Contemporary China Interpreting Contest.’ This prestigious competition puts participants' interpreting skills to the test in diverse realms of contemporary China, spanning politics, economics, society, and culture. Ms. Zhao's remarkable achievement is a testament not only to her exceptional individual talent but also to the outstanding education and training provided by the Master of Arts in Translating and Interpreting (MATI) programme. Her success shines a spotlight on the dedication and excellence fostered within the MATI team. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Ms. Zhao Yamei and express our pride in her accomplishments.

CBS PhD student won the championship in the 48th Hong Kong Youth Translation Competition

Congratulations to Ms HUI Ka-yee, a CBS PhD student, for winning the champion of English-Chinese translation and the second runner-up of Chinese-English translation in the Open Section of the 48th Hong Kong Youth Translation Competition, which is the highest-level translation contest in Hong Kong. The competition, held in May 2023, was jointly organized by the Hong Kong Youth Cultural and Arts Competitions, the Society of Chinese Accountants and Auditors, and the Hong Kong Translation Society. It consisted of three sections: open, senior secondary, and junior secondary. More than 50 participants joined the Open Section, making it a highly competitive arena.  Let's give Ms HUI a round of applause for her excellent achievements.

PolyU-trained students achieved excellent results in the 20th International Linguistics Olympiad

The Hong Kong Linguistics Olympiad (HKLO) team, under the training by the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies (CBS) and the Department of English and Communication (ENGL), has proudly achieved extraordinary success (1 gold and 2 silver medals) in the Twentieth International Linguistics Olympiad (20th IOL), held at Bansko, Bulgaria on 21-29 July 2023. Outshining 205 contestants from 52 teams, Ian TAM from La Salle College secured the highest score and clinched the absolute gold medal. In recognition of the remarkable teamwork, the HKLO team has been awarded “Team Contest Honorable Mentions”. Congratulations!

CBS PhD student brings home the Runner-Up prize in the 1st PolyU 3MT Competition

Congratulations to Mr LAM Yiu Shun Wilson won the Runner-Up prize in the first PolyU Three Minute Thesis Competition by presenting the research topic “Thy Swallows We Hear and See: Listening to the Sounds and Watching the Movements of Swallowing”. The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition was developed by the University of Queensland and is a globally recognized competition that challenges doctoral researchers to deliver their researches within just three minutes, using one slide.

CBS Minor in Korean student won the 1st Runner-Up prize in Korean speech contest

Congratulations to Ms Yuen Cheuk Ling, a CBS Minor in Korean student, for winning the 1st Runner-Up prize at the 7th Korean Consul General Cup Korean Speech Contest! The contest was jointly organized by Consulate General of the Republic of Korea and Korean Cultural Center in Hong Kong, at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in June 2023. Ms Yuen’s exceptional speech on “Koreans' sentiment reflected in Korean rice cake” received recognition at the prestigious contest. We're proud of Ms Yuen's hard work and dedication in her Korean language studies. We wish her continued success in all her future endeavors!

Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU CBS 2023 - Result Announcement

The Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU CBS aims to give public recognition to outstanding CBS graduates for their professional achievements and significant contributions to the community and their alma mater. We are delighted to announce the following result of the CBS Outstanding Alumni Award 2023:   Mr. Peter NIU Outstanding Young Alumni Award in Professional Achievement of PolyU CBS 2023   Read more about the story of our awardee:   Mr. Peter NIU MA in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, The Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, 2010 During the past 13 years, Mr. Niu teaching reputation across global IB schools has gained wide recognition. In 2012, he initiated and successfully held the first inter-school Chinese character dictation contest in Hong Kong. He has also organized and coached students to participate in the World Scholars Cup actively. His team has won the world team championship and two individual global championships for two years at Yale University.   As a passionate educator, he has developed his patented product (both USA and HKSAR), Niu Xiaozi AR Chinese Flash Cards, which is used by more than 200 schools and kindergartens worldwide and won him the Asia International Innovative Invention Gold Award in 2018. He has also organized local students to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the mainland and enhance their sense of ethnic identity. He mobilized students to participate in community services in less developing counties, such as Laos and Bangladesh with a view to cultivating them to better responsible world citizens.   He has actively contributed to academic workshops as a leader and a keynote speaker in different workshops and seminars to share his teaching experience with other educators at home and abroad from 2012 till now, which has contributed to his selection as Hong Kong Outstanding Youth Teacher Awardee in 2017.       Congratulations to the outstanding CBS alumnus who is accomplished in his respective fields and draw positive attention to his alma mater. We would also like to thank the panel of judges for their commitment to the selection process.

Officials of Education Bureau visit the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies

Led by Deputy Secretary for Education Ms. Louise SO, seven officials from the Professional Development and Special Education Branch of Education Bureau (EDB) visited the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies (CBS) on 14 February 2023 to understand how technologies are utilized in applied language sciences research, and their application values in the education sector.   The EDB guests include: Ms. Louise SO, Deputy Secretary for Education 4 Ms. Mandy HO, Principal Assistant Secretary (Special Education) Mrs. Gloria LI, Principal Education Officer (Special Education)1 Ms. Joyce YIP, Principal Education Officer (Special Education)2 Ms. Louise HUI, Senior Specialist (Speech Therapy Service) Dr. Dorothy LI, Senior Specialist (Education Psychology Service / NTW) Ms. Bianca WONG, Senior Education Officer (Special Education Support 1)   After the opening remarks by Prof. Ping LI, Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Dr. Cindy NGAI, Associate Head of CBS, CBS researchers introduced the equipment in the Speech and Language Sciences Laboratory to the guests, including a social robot for speech training for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) system for speech and language intervention, and an electroencephalography (EEG) system to address issues in second language acquisition. The guests then visited three more facilities at PolyU, namely the Brain, Language, and Computation Lab, the Speech Therapy Unit (STU), and the University Research Facility in Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience (UBSN). We look forward to further collaborations with the Professional Development and Special Education Branch of EDB on the educational and clinical applications of the research findings in the future.