Spotlight on ... Jeremy Ng
Special Interest Group for Translanguaging and Inclusive Education
1. What is your current role and what does it entail?
I am currently a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Education in the University of Hong Kong. My ongoing doctoral research focuses on how learning analytics facilitates the learning process and outcomes of virtual reality (VR) content creation in the context of cultural heritage education. As a member of the Culture Computing and Multimodal Information Research lab directed by Prof. Xiao Hu in HKU Education, I have also assisted in research work arising from various projects on leveraging systems and data for improving users’ learning and well-being.
2. What sparked your interest in translanguaging and/or inclusive education?
As a former Language Studies student, a Lecturer of Phonetics, and a logophile in life, I have always been fascinated by the interactions between Cantonese and English in the context of Hong Kong, particularly in terms of their speech sounds. Despite not being involved in linguistics research in recent years, I still hope to stay informed about news and knowledge about translanguaging and related topics from the scholarly community.
On another note, in relation to inclusive education, part of my research agenda involves the democratization of digital creation to the socio-economically challenged, non-tech-savvy student population. Through a series of research on pedagogical design and user evaluations, it is hoped that these students will be empowered to take agency and ownership over their technology-enhanced learning process of creating personally meaningful, public-facing digital content.
3. Which professional achievement or initiative are you most proud of?
I am most proud of receiving the Research Postgraduate Student Teaching Award from HKU Education in 2022. It is a recognition of my achievement in delivering an engaging and stimulating learning experience, as well as my efforts in research-informed teaching.
4. Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list?
As a final-year PhD candidate, I am now writing up my doctoral thesis.
5. If you could give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Do more exercise, as you might have less time and energy when you get older!
6. Who has been a significant influence in your life?
Dr. Taylor Swift. She is talented, well-articulated, persistent, highly productive (like Prof. Tai!), and also philanthropic.
7. What is something about you that would surprise people to know?
I often write poems, where the stream of consciousness during the writing process can help me temporarily escape me from the sometimes monotonous, overly scientific and logical research writing.