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Research Students

Qu Congyi

Qu Congyi

PhD Student (FT)

Biography

Chief Supervisor:
Prof. Guangwei Hu

Co-supervisor:
Dr. Renia Lopez

Research Interests

  • Applied Linguistics, English Language Studies, Second Language Acquisition (SLA) (especially L2 Tense and Aspect), Oral Corrective Feedback, Gesture, Psycholinguistics
  • English Language Education, English Language Curriculum and Instruction, English Language Teaching, Language Assessment and Testing
  • Multimodal Communication, Speech and Language Pathology (SLP), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Research

Completed Research Projects and Theses
  • The Effects of Oral Corrective Feedback on Chinese Secondary School Student' Acquisition of English Past Tense
  • TBLT (Task-based Language Teaching) in the English Curriculum Innovation in China: Perspectives and Experiences of Teachers from a Local Secondary School
  • Narrative Art in Henry James' The Turn of the Screw

 

Title of PhD Thesis

Gesture and the Acquisition of L2 English Tense and Aspect

 

Description of PhD Thesis Research

Gesture is spontaneous, synchronized, and meaningful hand and arm movements produced by people when they speak. They are closely linked to speech and mind, and can offer valuable insights into the processes of L2 acquisition, like L1 transfer, processing difficulties, and interlanguage.
Conceptualization of time in mind can be expressed by tense and aspect, and by gesture as well through converting abstract conceptualizations of time into concrete spatial movements. The gestures that express temporality and occur simultaneously with oral temporal devices are “Temporal Gestures''.
Previous research into L2 tense and aspect acquisition has mainly focused on verbal modality and neglected the nonverbal gesture modality. The study looks into the acquisition of L2 English tense and aspect through the lens of gesture. Combining both qualitative and quantitative, offline and online research methods and techniques from sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and language education, the study discovers: 1) the roles of pedagogical gesture in teaching and learning L2 English tense and aspect; 2) the online processing of L2 English tense and aspect as reflected in sensitivity to and inhibitory control of temporal gesture-speech incongruencies; 3) the acquisitional trajectory of temporal gesturing as a developing system in its own right.

Publications

 

  1. Qu, C. (2021, 23-26 June). The Effects of a Pedagogical Metaphoric Gesture on L1 Chinese Learners’ Acquisition of the L2 English Progressive Aspect. RaAM14: Metaphor and Space. Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.

  2. Qu, C. (2021, 18-19 June). The Effects of a Pedagogical Deictic Gesture on L1 Chinese Learners’ Acquisition of the L2 English Past Tense. Postgraduate Research Symposium on Linguistics, Language, and Speech (PRSLLS). Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.

  3. Qu, C. (2021, 3-5 June). Gestures by L1 Cantonese Learners of L2 English. The 6th International Conference of Asia-Pacific LSP & Professional Communication Association. Department of English, City University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with the International Society for Gesture Studies-Hong Kong (ISGS-HK), Hong Kong, China.

  4. Qu, C. (2020, 17-18 October). The Effects of Oral Corrective Feedback on Chinese Secondary School Students' Acquisition of English Past Tense. The 2nd National Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA) Forum. School of Foreign Languages, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.

  5. Qu, C. (2018, 2-4 November). Autistic Children’s Gesture Development. The 2nd China Multi-disciplinary Forum on Multimodality and Special Groups of People's Discourses. School of Foreign Languages and Research Centre for Aging, Language, and Care, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

  6. Qu, C. (2018, 15-17 August). Teaching EFL Secondary School Students to Critically Read Literary Classics: a Discourse Analysis of The Merchant of Venice. The 9th International Conference on Multimodality. Centre for Multimodal Communication, Department of Language and Communication, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.

  7. QU, C. (2018, 27-29 June). Gesture and the Acquisition of L2 English Tense and Aspect. Spotlight presentation of the HAAL Postgraduate Student Travel Grant awarded proposal at The 16th Asia TEFL International Conference. Asia TEFL, Macau Association for Applied Linguistics (MAAL), Hong Kong Association for Applied Linguistics (HAAL), and University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.

  8. Qu, C. (2017, 6-8 June). TBLT Innovation in China: Secondary School Teachers’ Perspectives and Practices. The 6th International Conference on English, Discourse and Intercultural Communication. Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macao SAR, China.

  9. Qu, C. (2017, 6-7 May). The Effects of Implicit vs. Explicit Feedback on Chinese Secondary School Students’ Acquisition of English Past Tense. The 2017 International PhD Forum on Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. Centre for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China.

  10. QU, C. (2016, 15-17 April). The Washback Effects of the English College Entrance Examination Reform in China. The 8th International Conference on TESOL—Bridging ELT Theory and Practice: Innovations and Reservations in the Digital Age. English Language Centre, Shantou University, Shantou, China.

  1. Qu, C. (2022). The Effect of a Pedagogical Deictic Gesture on L1 Chinese Learners’ Acquisition of the L2 English Past Tense. In W. Lu, E. C. H. Wong, & L. Salicchi (Eds.), Proceedings of 2021 Postgraduate Research Symposium on Linguistics, Language, and Speech (pp. 58-68). Hong Kong: Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

  2. Qu, C. (2018). Teaching EFL Secondary School Students to Read a Play: a Case Analysis of a Play from a Textbook in China. Proceedings of the TESOL International Association China Assembly. TESOL International Association, China Daily, and Shanghai International Studies University.

  3. Qu, C. (2018). Working Memory in Simultaneous Interpreting. In L. Zeng & B. Carter (Eds.), Proceedings of 7th Annual International Conference on Language, Literature & Linguistics (pp. 199-201). Singapore: Global Science and Technology Forum.

  4. Qu, C. (2017).A Dictionary and Corpora based Study of the Synonyms: “Contain” and “Include”. In H. Xu (Ed.), Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of the Asian Association for Lexicography. Lexicography in Asia: Challenges, Innovations and Prospects (pp. 102-112). Guangzhou: Centre for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

Others

 

 

 

Assisted with the following postgraduate courses:

  • ENGL518 Research Design and Methods
  • ENGL582 Second Language Teaching

Tutored in the following undergraduate courses:

  • Bilingualism: Cognition and Society
  • Psycholinguistics
  • Grammatical Structure of English
  • Best Paper Award in Postgraduate Research Symposium on Linguistics, Language, and Speech (PRSLLS), by Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2022, March).
  • Best Poster Presentation Award in Postgraduate Research Symposium on Linguistics, Language, and Speech (PRSLLS), by Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2021, June).
  • Postgraduate Student Travel Award by Hong Kong Association for Applied Linguistics (HAAL) (2018, June).

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