Research seminar by Dr Christoph Hafner and Dr Lindsay Miller

Event date
Event location
English Department Meeting Room, M8015, Level 8, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre
Research Seminar CityU EN

Learning, Working and Playing Online: University students’ practices when collaborating in social media
by Dr Christoph Hafner and Dr Lindsay Miller, City University of Hong Kong

In this talk, we report on a study which followed the activities of a group of four English language learners who collaboratively created a digital video project as part of an English for Specific Purposes course at City University of Hong Kong. We examine the ways in which the students used online and offline spaces and how these spaces opened up opportunities for the development of the students’ autonomy as language learners and users. The students made extensive use of a Facebook group and Facebook messenger, generating a large number of naturally occurring interactions in online spaces. These interactions are characterised by their hybrid nature, with the online space acting as a place for students simultaneously to learn, to work, to socialize and to play. The interactions are also plurilingual in nature, with frequent translanguaging in evidence. After examining the student interactions we consider how different individuals influence those interactions, for example by their choice of language, and their choice of task focus. Drawing on the data, a profile for each member of the group is created, highlighting the language practices of each student and how their individual practices have an effect on the group’s language and learning practices. 

Christoph Hafner's principal research interests include English language teaching and learning, legal English and digital literacies. In particular, he is interested in studying how new technologies can be utilised to support the development of both ‘traditional’ domain-specific literacies (e.g. English for Law), and the ‘digital literacies’ which are necessary to exploit the potential of digital media. He has co-authored a book (with Rodney H. Jones) entitled Understanding Digital Literacies: A practical introduction (Routledge, 2012). He is principal investigator in an ongoing action research project, which investigates academic literacy in the Hong Kong context (project website here). Most recently, this project has examined university students' use of digital video to create multimedia scientific documentaries in the context of a course in English for Science. He currently teaches courses in English for Specific Purposes, Writing for New Media and Language in Law and Crime.

Lindsay Miller has worked at CityU since 1990. He has been responsible for designing, developing and teaching a wide variety of courses in the Department of English. In the area of English for Specific Purposes Lindsay has taught mainly 'English for Science' courses. In undergraduate courses he teaches mostly listening and speaking proficiency skills and conceptual courses on learner strategies. The postgraduate courses he teaches are mainly concerned with such topics as learner autonomy and critical pedagogy. Lindsay's main areas of research have focused on self-access language learning, academic listening, and English for Science and Technology. He has co-authored two books in these areas for Cambridge University Press, Establishing Self-Access: From Theory To Practice (1999) and Second Language Listening: Theory and Practice (2005). He is a founding member of the Hong Kong Association of Self-Access Learning and Development (HASALD), and over the past twelve years he has been invited to give lectures, seminars and workshops in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Pakistan, Spain, the UK, and the USA. Apart from his teaching and research, Lindsay has also held two main administrative posts, as Associate Head of The English and Communication Department (2003-2005), and Associate Dean (Undergraduate Curriculum) in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (2005-2008).