Join the ELC CILL Workshops and boost your language and communication skills

The ELC CILL Workshops are starting from Week 2 (8 September). There are workshops throughout the week starting at 2:30pm. On Mondays, you can practise for IELTS while on Tuesdays you can enhance your academic English. Wednesday sees workshops about cultural diversity and Thursdays are about using AI to help you study at university. The week ends on Friday with workshops focusing on speaking skills. Find out more Book a place

Join the ELC Open Online Courses

Study online, anywhere at anytime!  To enhance students' communication skills so that they can pursue academic and professional excellence, we have developed:  English@Work gets YOUR foot in the door and helps YOU impress your interviewer! Join the courses and get professional tips from industry experts and English language input from language professionals. Academic Skills for Independent Learners (ASIL) helps YOU improve the academic English that YOU need to successfully complete YOUR university studies! Join this course to self-study, practise and master academic English.  To foster students' independent, life-long English language learning and whole-person development, we have developed:  Read to Know! is for YOU to read more and know more! Join the course and increase YOUR knowledge and develop YOUR critical thinking skills. Learning English through Short Stories helps YOU increase your reading proficiency and develop your language and literacy skills!  More information: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/elc/independent-learning/moocs/

Excel in IELTS!

Excel in IELTS! Are you ready to excel in your IELTS exam? Take your preparation to the next level with our face-to-face IELTS workshops in CILL! Comprehensive: Our workshops cover all four essential IELTS skills - Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking. Our experienced instructors will guide you through each component, ensuring holistic and comprehensive preparation. Interactive: Engage in hands-on activities and interactive discussions with fellow participants. Our workshops create an immersive learning environment, allowing you to practice and develop your skills in a supportive setting. Effective: Learn effective strategies and pro tips for each IELTS component. Our experienced teachers will share valuable insights and techniques that will boost your confidence and maximize your score potential. Start Right, Score Right! Join our face-to-face IELTS workshops and unlock your doorway to global opportunities! Enrol now and secure your spot in our upcoming workshops! Click the link below and take the first step towards achieving your IELTS goals. https://elc.polyu.edu.hk/booking/main.php 

2025 PolyU 3MT Final Results

The 2025 3MT final was successfully held in early July at the Chiang Chen Studio Theatre. An enthusiastic audience saw finalists from 7 faculties and 3 schools face the five judges. Thorough preparation from ELC workshops ensured that there were excellent performances from all the candidates. The winner, with a prize of HK$10,000, was JIN Minxia (RS). First runner up was QIU Xuejie, Daffne (SHTM) and second runner up was PENG Yingying (CBS).

Photos from the AHKLC 2025 Symposium

Photos from the AHKLC 2025 Symposium  The AHKLC 2025 Symposium, jointly hosted by the ELC and CLC, was successfully held from 22-23 May 2025 at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. We are now delighted to showcase the photos taken at the event.   https://events.polyu.edu.hk/ahklc2025/gallery The event was well attended, with language educators from sister universities in Hong Kong, neighbouring cities as well as further afield giving overwhelmingly positive feedback. We look forward to the next AHKLC Symposium in 2026 scheduled to be held at HKU.

Join the ELC's Speaking Assistance Programme!

The Speaking Assistance Programme aims to help students gain the confidence and skills to speak fluently in a variety of university and workplace settings. The programme is based on a negotiated programme. Students are expected to decide what aspect of speaking they would like to focus on before attending a session. The teacher's role is that of guide and feedback provider. Examples of oral topics include: social discussion, debate of a current affairs topic, presentation practice and pronunciation focus. We have a range of materials, games, videos, and worksheets for students to use if they so desire. Alternatively, students may bring their own resources.  More details Booking

Join the ELC's Writing Assistance Programme (WAP)

The Writing Assistance Programme is offered to all students enrolled in UGC-funded degrees. Our goal is to help you become a better writer by providing you with professional feedback on your writing that can hopefully develop your writing skills and confidence.  We are not a proofreading service and we do not correct errors for you, but we will help you identify possible errors and areas of improvement.  We are happy to show you strategies for improving your writing, such as how to:  generate and develop ideas organise your content in logical paragraphs understand the expectations of your target reader learn paraphrasing and referencing skills find appropriate ways to express your ideas explain grammar points More details Book here

Keynote by Prof Glenn Stockwell at AHKLC 2025 Symposium

The first plenary speaker at the AHKLC 2025 Symposium (22-23 May 2025) was Prof Glenn Stockwell, Professor in Applied Linguistics at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. In a packed Chiang Chen Studio Theatre at PolyU on the first day of the Symposium, Prof Stockwell explored the realities of AI in the language classroom.   During his talk, Stockwell contended that while AI will not replace teachers, it will change their roles, and educators must adapt to these changes. He further stressed that technological capacity does not equate to pedagogical value and that while AI tools are powerful, they are not educators and should not be relied upon to replace human teaching.  You can watch the full plenary below:  Summary of plenary  Full transcript of plenary 

AHKLC 2025 Symposium - Opening Speech by Dr Julia Chen

The AHKLC 2025 Symposium was successfully held on 22-23 May 2025. Over 200 educators from Hong Kong and the region registered for the event. During the opening ceremony, attendees heard an opening speech by Dr Julia Chen, Director of the Educational Development Centre at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. During her speech, Dr Chen stressed the critical role of language centres in universities, particularly in the context of the challenges posed by Generative AI. She highlighted that language is not just a communication tool but a vehicle for thinking and understanding diverse cultures. The full speech can be seen below.   Summary of speech Full transcript of speech

STiLE-New Issue Out Now

There is a new issue for STiLE, the journal for the scholarship of teaching in language education. The articles in the new issue are all based around customising GenAI for language learning.  Go here for all the articles: https://www.stile.hk/osp/issue/view/5  For a summary of the articles, listen to this short podcast.  STiLE: VOLUME 3, Special Issue, 9 May 2025 Available NOW!