Our history

CityU EN 30th anniversary

The Department of English was established in 1989 at what was then City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, under the leadership of Professor Jack Richards. In the early 2000s the name was changed to the Department of English and Communication, to reflect our traditional strength in the area of professional communication, before returning, in 2008, to the Department of English.

In 2019 we celebrated our 30th anniversary.

We are proud of world-renowned scholars who have been associated with us during our relatively brief history. They include the likes of Jack Richards, Chris Candlin, Ron Scollon, Vijay Bhatia, and John Flowerdew. We are equally proud of the team of scholars and dedicated pedagogues who are following in their footsteps. Read more about our people here.