Responding to Language Challenges in the Classroom: Faculty Practices Across Disciplines
Responding to Language Challenges in the Classroom: Faculty Practices Across Disciplines
Join the Event
Date: 20th Nov 2026 (Fri)
Time: 1pm – 2pm (HKT)
Venue: Learning Lab (RRS321, 3/F, Run Run Shaw Building, Main Campus)
Contact: cics@hku.hk
Abstract
Many students in English-medium courses understand their subject matter well, but struggle when it comes to the language demands of the classroom, making sense of assessment instructions, expressing ideas clearly in English, or grasping disciplinary terms we often take for granted.
This JTC seminar takes those everyday challenges as its starting point, bringing together faculty and the CiC team for a practical dialogue on what language accommodation can look like in the classroom.
You’ll come away with:
– A clearer sense of how language challenges show up differently across disciplines, and how faculty have responded in practice
– Practical, classroom-tested strategies you can adapt for your own teaching, including resources, and AI-supported examples
– A better sense of how the CiC team can support your course
About the Speakers
Ms Anna-Maria Kutateladze is a faculty member at the Department of Social Work & Social Administration and a Senior Resident Tutor at Phoenix Yuen College JCSV IV, HKU. She is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Education, Charles University. Her research primarily centers on holistic student wellbeing. Professionally engaged in the global sociology community, she acts as the Communications Officer for the International Sociological Association (ISA). She maintains active research memberships with the APA’s Educational Psychology division and the ISA Research Committee on Sociology of Education.
Dr Sam Leung is a Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong and a recipient of the Faculty Early Career Teaching Award. His teaching focuses on food and nutritional sciences, with an emphasis on inclusive learning, assessment literacy, and practical strategies to support students from diverse language backgrounds.
Dr Linda Shetabi is a Senior Lecturer and the Director of the MSc Conservation Programme at the Division of Landscape Architecture at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Shetabi is a well-recognised international policy analyst with expertise in heritage conservation and sustainable development, actively contributing to the ICOMOS SDG Working Group and the NGO Major Group.
Dr Michelle Raquel is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Applied English Studies. She possesses over two decades of higher education experience and directs HKU’s Communication-intensive Courses initiative. Her distinguished research in language assessment and acquisition explores innovative pedagogies and diagnostic assessment, notably including co-editing Routledge’s Quantitative Methods for Language Assessment.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at cics@hku.hk
See you at the event!