Greetings from Convener

On behalf of the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies (CBS), the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK PolyU), I would like to extend our warmest welcome to our esteemed keynote speakers and other conference participants. It is our honor to co-organize The 12^th International Symposium on Japanese Language Education and Japanese Studies.

HK PolyU being one of the top 100 universities in the world (96^th according to QS ranking 2017), we firmly believe that the nurturing of capacities in scientific research and their meaningful applications in society should be informed and supported by the finest of research in humanities. CBS is one of the four academic departments in the Faculty of Humanities (FH). Details of FH may be found at https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fh.

Apart from corpus linguistics, cognitive neuroscience and speech sciences, CBS promotes bilingualism (e.g. bilingual corporate communication, teaching Chinese as a foreign language) as well as multilingual and multicultural development. We offer academic programs at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. There are currently 25 PhD students studying in CBS, including recipients of the prestigious and highly competitive Hong Kong Postgraduate Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS). CBS also offers a Minor in Japanese which, like the Minor in Korean, is one of the most popular Minors with undergraduate students at HK PolyU. CBS has been an active and enthusiastic supporter of Japanese activities in Hong Kong. For instance, in November 2017, CBS sponsored the 42^nd Japanese Speech Contest organized by The Japan Society of Hong Kong; in October 2016 and October 2017, PolyU hosted the annual Wakayagi-ryu Traditional Japanese Dance Performance (若柳流日本舞踊). Being open to the general public, all of these Japanese language-and-culture activities were well received.

We live in an increasingly globalized and multilingual world. Knowledge of the local language(s) is hardly sufficient. CBS promotes and supports additional language learning. It is our conviction that, whatever the target additional language, the learners’ native language(s) and cultural identities should be respected. Such a premise, we believe, should be reflected in the curriculum and pedagogies of Teaching Japanese as an Additional Language (TJAL), whether TJAL teaching and learning is conducted in Japan, Hong Kong, elsewhere in Greater China and beyond.

Hong Kong has many attractions to offer. If your home base is outside of Hong Kong, we hope you will be able to find time to discover what this “Asia’s World City” has to offer. Together with all my CBS colleagues, we look forward to welcoming you to HK PolyU, and wish you a pleasant and fruitful conference at experience. Thank you.

David C.S. Li, PhD
Professor