Skip to main content
Start main content
Dr Lucas John Peltonen

Dr Lucas John Peltonen

Postdoctoral Fellow

Research Overview

My research focuses on developing pedagogy to prepare internationally operating professionals for business communication. To that end, I investigate the communication that professionals actually engage in using domain analyses and then develop pedagogical frameworks, practices, and resources to address such communicative requirements. I endeavor to test the efficacy of the pedagogical frameworks and resources in experimental and quasi-experimental studies. While my PhD work focused on developing professionals’ linguacultural competence, my future studies will examine the impact of AI on workplace communication and language learning. I am also looking at how global macro-trends such as deglobalization and demographic-economic shifts are affecting business communication and language learning. More broadly, I am interested in language pedagogy, mixed methods approaches, assessment, and developing cultural competencies. I enjoy collaborating with teachers to address questions arising from their classrooms.

Education and Academic Qualifications

  • PhD in Applied Linguistics, Department of English and Communication, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR
  • MA in English Language Teaching, the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA
  • BA in Film & Video Studies, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Academic and Professional Experience

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2026 – Present)
  • PhD Student, Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2022 – 2026)
  • Teacher of Business Foundations and British Literature, Social Sciences and Advanced Placement (SSAP) Department, Guangdong Experimental High School, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (2021 – 2022)
  • Senior Teacher and Corporate Training Project Consultant, Innovative Learning Solutions Department, Wall Street English, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (2017 – 2021)
  • Lecturer of English and Culture, English Department, Neusoft Institute Guangdong, Foshan, Guangdong, China (2016 – 2017)

Research Interests

  • Business English
  • Professional Communication
  • Linguacultural Competence
  • Adult Education
  • English as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF)
  • Pedagogy
  • Mixed Methods
  • Pedagogical Experiments and Interventions
  • Glocalization
  • GenAI’s Effects on Workplace Communication and Language Learning

Research Output

  • The pedagogy of English as a business lingua franca: BELF concepts, principles and practices. Springer Nature.
  1. Peltonen, L. (2026). Cultural levels and orientations in business English materials. ELT Journal. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccag030
  2. Peltonen, L. (2026). Examining how business professionals express their home culture through digital multimodal composing. TESOL Quarterly. 1-40. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.70180
  3. Peltonen, L., & Hu, G. (2026). Developing and validating assessments of business professionals’ linguacultural competence. Language, Culture and Curriculum. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2026.2691819
  4. Peltonen, L., & Ning, Z. D. (2026). Examining how L2MSS motivation and International Posture manifest in a drama-based pedagogical course at a private university in China. Language Teaching Research. 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688261430058
  5. Peltonen, L., Hu, G., & Rose, H. (2025). Cultivating linguacultural competence in business English communication: A mixed-methods intervention study. System, 135, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2025.103869
  6. Peltonen, L., & Haga, H. (2025). Navigating the theory-practice gap in business English classrooms. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294906251359232
  7. Peltonen, L., & Hu, G. (2025). Addressing linguacultural competencies in business English pedagogy. ELT Journal, 79, 419-427. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaf017
  8. Peltonen, L. (2025). Developing professionals’ linguacultural competence in the classroom. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 22, 161–172. http://dx.doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2025.22.1.12.161
  9. Peltonen, L., & Hu, G. (2024). Linguacultural competence in business English communication: The case of a business English textbook in China. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 38, 19–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2024.2372594
  1. Peltonen, L. (2026). Glocalized pedagogy leveraging business professionals’ funds of knowledge. In N. Wright & D. Xerri (Eds.), The rise of English as a glocal language: Reimagining its role in an era of deglobalisation. Springer Nature.
  2. Peltonen, L., & Ning, Z. (2025). Expressing the home culture in English as a business lingua franca: A glocalized pedagogy. In N. Wright (Ed.), Glocalising approaches to learning and teaching English: Voices from periphery (pp. 103–124). Springer Nature.
  1. Peltonen, L. (2026, July 14). Linguacultural competence for business communication [Webinar]. EIU Regional Campus Dubai Lecture Series 2026. Virtual.
  2. Peltonen, L. (2026, June 22). Examining what we know and do not know about AI’s effect on professional communication: Potential Implications for ELT pedagogy [Conference presentation]. International Summit on the Use of AI in Language Learning and Teaching 2026 (AIinLT 2026), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR.
  3. Peltonen, L. (2026, May 9). Glocalized Pedagogy Leveraging FofK [Conference presentation]. International Symposium on Language Science (ISLS) 2026: Interdisciplinary Research and the Legacy of Yuen Ren Chao, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR.
  4. Peltonen, L. (2026, April 24). Online, On-Demand Micro-Learning for Business Professionals [Symposium presentation]. Platformized language teaching after GenAI: Teachers in focus, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR.
  5. Peltonen, L. (2026, March 22). Conducting a teaching experiment targeting BELF linguacultural competence: Findings from my PhD [Workshop]. Conversations about BELF (English as a business lingua franca), Virtual.
  6. Peltonen, L. (2025, July 11–13). Addressing linguacultural competencies (LCCs) in business English pedagogy: A mixed methods exploratory sequential study [Conference presentation]. The 23rd AsiaTEFL Conference on Care, Innovation, and Sustainability in ELT, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
  7. Haga, H., & Peltonen, L. (2024, September 11–14). The relevance of BELF to teaching practices: A mixed methods explanatory sequential study [Conference presentation]. ELF14 Conference, Prague City University, Prague, Czech Republic.
  8. Qiu, X., & Peltonen, L. (2024, March 9). Chinese EFL learners’ performance in pragmatic assessment tasks: A comparative analysis of pragmatic and linguistic production [Conference presentation]. Hong Kong Second Language Acquisition Research Forum 2024, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
  9. Peltonen, L. (2023, June 16). Linguaculture in business English as a lingua franca: Textbook adaptation and classroom implementation [Plenary speech]. 2023 Forum on English, Bilingual and EMI Education, The National Dong Hwa University of Taiwan, Hualien, Taiwan. Virtual.
  10. Peltonen, L. (2023, June 3). The place of linguacultural competence in a ChatGPT-created curriculum [Plenary speech]. V APIBA Business English Conference, Asociación de Profesores de Inglés de Buenos Aires y Universidad de Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Virtual.
  11. Peltonen, L. (2023, May 16–18). Linguaculture in business English as a lingua franca: Levels and orientations – Analysis and evaluation of business English textbooks [Conference presentation]. Joint Conference: Talking Across the World & Business and Professional Communication in a Changing World, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR.
  12. Peltonen, L. (2023, April 13–15). The place of linguacultural competence in a business English textbook [Conference presentation]. The 1st Annual Education, Languages and Internationalisation Network (ELINET) Conference, The University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland. Virtual.
  13. Peltonen, L. (2023, April 3–4). Building linguacultural competence into a business English textbook [Conference presentation]. TESOL 2023 Convention, Portland, Oregon, United States. Virtual.
  14. Peltonen, L. (2023, January 28). Building linguacultural competence into a business English textbook [Workshop]. Conversations about BELF. Virtual.
  15. Peltonen, L. (2022, February 18). Business English as a lingua franca (BELF) pedagogy in Asia: Taking a deep dive into a business English textbook unit [Conference presentation]. 18th Annual CamTESOL Conference on English Language Teaching, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Virtual.
  1. Peltonen, L. (2023, October). Cultural dimensions revisited: Practical steps for interaction. TESOL Connections.
  2. Peltonen, L. (2023, February/March). Language and culture in business English Part 2. IATEFL Voices, 290.
  3. Peltonen, L.(2022, November/December). Language and culture in business English. IATEFL Voices, 289.
  4. Peltonen, L. (2022, May/June). A paperless Shakespearean classroom for ELLs. IATEFL Voices, 286.
  5. Peltonen, L. (2022, March/April). Strategy charts for small talk. IATEFL Voices, 285.

Others

  • Research Associate and Co-Author. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of English and Communication. RGC-Funded. Project Title: Discrimination and self-branding on online language tutoring platforms: An applied linguistics approach. Principal Investigator: Dr. Nate Ming Curran.
  • Recognised Student and Co-Author. The University of Oxford, Department of Education. PolyU Funded (RSAP and ICRF). Project Title: Cultivating linguacultural competence in business English communication: A mixed methods intervention study. Host Supervisor: Professor Heath Rose.
  • Research Assistant and Co-Author. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of English and Communication. PolyU Start-up Fund for New Recruits (2023-2025). Project Title: Exploring task-based second language assessment in face-to-face and computer-mediated communication: An exploratory study. Principal Investigator: Dr. Xuyan Qiu.
  • Peltonen, L. (2023, June 16). Linguaculture in business English as a lingua franca: Textbook adaptation and classroom implementation [Plenary speech]. 2023 Forum on English, Bilingual and EMI Education, The National Dong Hwa University of Taiwan, Hualien, Taiwan. Virtual.
  • Peltonen, L. (2023, June 3). The place of linguacultural competence in a ChatGPT-created curriculum [Plenary speech]. V APIBA Business English Conference, Asociación de Profesores de Inglés de Buenos Aires y Universidad de Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Virtual.

Esteem Measures

  • Hong Kong Association for Applied Linguistics (HAAL) | Member | 2024 – Present
  • TESOL International Association | Member | 2021 – Present
  • IATEFL Business English Special Interest Group (BESIG) | Member | 2021 – Present
  • Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) Awardee 2022-2025. Established by the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong in 2009, the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) aims at attracting the best and brightest students in the world to pursue their PhD studies in Hong Kong universities.
  • PolyU International Collaborative Research Fellowship (ICRF) Awardee 2025. The ICRF is a prestigious fellowship that offers a competitive grant to support outstanding PhD students to conduct international collaborative research at top-notch global universities. This award was granted for my research project conducted at the University of Oxford with Professor Heath Rose.
  • PolyU Research Student Attachment Program (RSAP) Fellowship Awardee 2025. Through the Research Student Attachment Program, the Graduate School of PolyU supports attachment studies both to and from leading institutions worldwide. This award was granted for my research project conducted at the University of Oxford with Professor Heath Rose.
  • Stephen Evans Best Paper Award Winner 2025. Presented by PolyU’s Department of English and Communication for my paper co-authored with Professor Guangwei Hu entitled “Linguacultural competence in business English communication: The case of a business English textbook in China.”
  • Polyu Outstanding Work by Students (OWS) Selectee 2025. This honour represents the PolyU Pao Yue-kong Library’s commitment to showcasing outstanding work by students. This award was for the research for my thesis entitled “Cultivating linguacultural competence in business English communication: A mixed-methods intervention study.”
  • Teaching Excellence Prize (National) First Prize (Guangdong) 2019. This honour was awarded by the Fifth Foreign Language Mini-Class Competition of the National University Teaching Creativity and Innovation Competition of China for the mini-lesson “Study Political Correctness with Peppa Pig.” This lesson was created in collaboration with Ning Zidan of Neusoft Institute Guangdong.

Your browser is not the latest version. If you continue to browse our website, Some pages may not function properly.

You are recommended to upgrade to a newer version or switch to a different browser. A list of the web browsers that we support can be found here