Department of English

Profile Information

The Department of English of City University of Hong Kong offers a wide range of courses and programmes in English studies, including English literature and linguistics, English for the business and corporate world, English for the creative professions, English in digital media, English language education, and English for Specific Purposes. Learning at one of the top English departments in the Greater China region* is a valuable study opportunity.

The Department of English has an international faculty with teachers from Australia, Britain, Germany, Hong Kong, mainland China, New Zealand, Spain and the US. The Department has an outstanding research and publications record and is a leading centre for English studies in Asia*. Courses are designed to be challenging, interesting and intellectually stimulating. English studies at City University is an exciting field of study as it connects to many other academic fields. Undergraduate courses in English studies may be combined with business studies, cultural and media studies, linguistics, and many other programmes across the University.

*According to Quacquarelli Symonds world ranking by subject 2016, the Department is ranked top 100 in English language and literature.

Research areas

• Applied Linguistics and Language Education

  • identity, intercultural communication, language policy and planning, pedagogical grammar, second language acquisition, second language writing, English-medium instruction.

• Discourse Analysis

  • conversation analysis, corpus-assisted discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis, genre analysis, mediated discourse analysis, multimodal discourse analysis, pragmatics, semiotics, and text analysis

• Language, Technology, and Media

  • computer-assisted language learning, digital literacies, language and mobile communication, and online discourse.

• Literary and Cultural Studies

  • aesthetics, Asian diaspora literature, Asian writing in English, children's literature, colonial and postcolonial literature, contemporary literature, creativity, creative writing, fashion studies, narrative studies, popular culture, and Victorian literature

• Professional Communication

  • (International) business communication, English for specific purposes, health and risk communication, language and law, persuasive communication, and rhetoric of science