2023 Faculty Early Career Research Output Award

We are happy to announce that Dr Kevin W. H. Tai, Assistant Professor of English Language Education in the Faculty’s Academic Unit of Teacher Education and Learning Leadership, is the recipient of the Faculty Early Career Research Output Award for 2023. This award honours the publication or creation of outstanding research output by early career researchers. 

Dr Kevin Tai’s achievement stems from his journal publication titled “Empowering Students Through the Construction of a Translanguaging Space in an English as a First Language Classroom,” co-authored with Dr Cathy Wong and published in Applied Linguistics, a flagship journal in the field of Linguistics. This publication is also considered for the 2023 Research Output Prize (ROP). 

Dr Tai's research interests encompass various areas, including language education policy, classroom discourse, translanguaging in multilingual contexts, and qualitative research methods such as Multimodal Conversation Analysis, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, and Linguistic Ethnography. His exceptional contributions to research have been acknowledged through the recent receipt of the RGC Early Career Award (ECA) in 2023/24 from the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong.

Dr Tai's research not only presents a novel theoretical perspective but also introduces innovative methodological approaches. The study emphasises the transformative impact of establishing a translanguaging space in English as a first language classrooms, demonstrating the way it enhances students' understanding of languages as resources for communication. Furthermore, it highlights the value of linguistic and cultural diversity in our society. By creating translanguaging spaces, all students, including native English speakers, can develop a broader communicative repertoire, experience improved socio-emotional well-being, and shape their identities as citizens in our multilingual world.

We congratulate Dr Kevin Tai on his exceptional achievement and commend him for his valuable contributions to the field of Applied Linguistics.