Dr LAM, Sin Manw Sophia   林善敏
Assistant Professor
Department of Chinese Language Studies
Phone No: (852) 2948 8506
Email: ssmlam@eduhk.hk
Contact
Phone
(852) 2948 8506
Email
ssmlam@eduhk.hk
Address
10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong
Website
https://pappl.eduhk.hk/rich/web/person.xhtml?pid=62856&name=LAM, Sin Manw Sophia
Research Interest
  • Chinese Language Pedagogy
  • Teaching Chinese as a Second Language
  • Teacher Education
  • Second Language Acquisition
  • Motivation Theories
  • Research Methods
Teaching Interest

Currently, I am teaching the following undergraduate and postgraduate courses:

  • Cantonese and Hong Kong Local Culture
  • Chinese Language Pedagogy
  • Theory and Practice of Classroom Language
  • Cantonese Pronunciation and Use of Blackboard
  • Academic Writing and Use of Research Resources
Personal Profile

Academic Qualifications

  • PhD (Applied Linguistics in Education), University College London, Institute of Education
  • MSc (Education: Language – Theory, Practice and Literacy), University of Edinburgh
  • MA (Chinese Language and Literature), The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • BEd (Languages), major in Chinese Language, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Professional Qualifcations

  • Full Registration, Secondary Education, Subject: Mandarin, The General Teaching Council for Scotland
  • Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), Department for Education, England
  • Registered Teacher, Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau
  • Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (Putonghua), Attained with Merit, Hong Kong Examination and Assessment Authority, Hong Kong
  • 國家語言委員會普通話水平測試二級甲等

Academic/Teaching Appointment

  • 01/2021 - present Assistant Professor, Department of Chinese Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong
  • 08/2019 - 12/2020 Senior Lecturer, Department of Chinese Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong
  • 09/2018 - 08/2019 Postgraduate Teaching Assistant (PGTA), University College London, Institute of Education, United Kingdom
  • 11/2017 - 06/2019 Doctoral School Research Training Programmes (RTP) Facilitator, University College London, Institute of Education, United Kingdom
  • 08/2016 - 03/2019 Vice-warden, Residences Office, University College London, United Kingdom
  • 04/2016 - 07/2016 Secondary school teacher - Cantonese and Mandarin, Scotland
  • 09/2006 - 08/2015 Secondary school teacher - Chinese Language and Putonghua, Hong Kong

Research Interest
  • Chinese Language Pedagogy
  • Teaching Chinese as a Second Language
  • Teacher Education
  • Second Language Acquisition
  • Motivation Theories
  • Research Methods
Teaching Interest

Currently, I am teaching the following undergraduate and postgraduate courses:

  • Cantonese and Hong Kong Local Culture
  • Chinese Language Pedagogy
  • Theory and Practice of Classroom Language
  • Cantonese Pronunciation and Use of Blackboard
  • Academic Writing and Use of Research Resources
Selected Output
Scholarly Books, Monographs and Chapters
Chapter in an edited book (author)
林善敏、麥俊文 (2021)。 對外漢語課程文化及歷史教學實施的現況、挑戰及展望。馮志弘, 許國惠, 施仲謀， 《中國歷史文化教育及研究》 (58-80)。中華書局(香港)有限公司 https://julac.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,991017982329703410&vid=EDUHKFind@EdUHK Library

Journal Publications
Publication in refereed journal
LAM, S. M. S., & CHENG, W. T. M (2021). Integrative Motivation of Students towards Learning Mandarin in Scotland and Hong Kong. International Journal of Chinese Language Education, 10, 17-44
Lam, S.M. (2020). Mapping development and challenges of teaching Mandarin Chinese in England . International Journal of Chinese Language Education, 7, 17-40
Crawford, J.,Butler-Henderson, K., Rudolph, J., Malkawi, B., Glowatz, M., Burton, R., Magni, P., Lam, S. (2020). COVID-19: 20 countries’ higher education intra-period digital pedagogy responses. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 3(1), 1-20
Lam, S., Galdames, S., & Tong, V. C. (2019). From a little idea to a project: Establishing a student-staff partnership program to support international students in their MA programme. International Journal for Students As Partners, 3(1), 190-196

Conference Papers
Refereed conference paper
Lam, S. M., Lam, M. K. & Mak, C. M. (2021, 9). Integrating concept-based learning into writing assessment in Chinese as a second language: An exploration in the Hong Kong international school context. British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) 2021 Conference, Northumbria University, United Kingdom
Lam, S. M. (2021, 7). Seven motivational strategies to sustain motivation of Mandarin learners at GCSE classrooms in England. 6th International Conference on Chinese as a Second Language Research, The George Washington University, United States
Lu, W. & Lam, S. M. (2021, 7). Chinese character learning and teaching in England GCSE Mandarin: A component perspective. 6th International Conference on Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Second Language, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Taiwan.
Huang A., Lam S.M., & Diamantidaki, F. (2019, 7). The teaching of Chinese characters: A case study of Mandarin teachers’ understanding of professional learning in the UK. Acquisition of Chinese: Bilingualism and Multilingualism , University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Lam S.M., Diamantidaki, F., & Huang, A. (2019, 5). Challenging Mandarin teachers’ pedagogical approaches to the teaching of Chinese characters. International Conference on Education, Communication Institute of Greece, Athens, Greece
Lam S.M. (2018, 9). Motivational strategies of Mandarin classrooms in England: A multiple case studies. British Educational Research Association (BERA) Annual Conference, Newcastle, UK
Wu, J., Lam, S.M. (2018, 6). From extrinsic to intrinsic motivation: A case study of character teaching. 15th Annual Chinese Teaching Conference , UCL Institute of Education, UK
Galdames S., Lam S.M. (2018, 4). The experience of Postgraduate International Students in a London university. University College London Education Conference , University College London, UK
Lam S.M. (2017, 7). Motivational Strategies of Mandarin Classroom in England. Chinese Educational Research Association (CERA) Annual Conference , UCL Institute of Education, UK
Lam S.M., Chan W.K. (2014). 提昇高中學生文言文閱讀能力 To enhance the reading competence of secondary school students in reading classic Chinese . Global Curriculum and Instruction Network (GCIN) Conference 2014, Hong Kong
Chu K.Y., Suen K.C., Lam S.M., Chan W.K. (2014, 7). Students’ Motivation to Produce Mobile-learning (M-learning) Materials. Global Curriculum & Instruction Network (GCIN) Conference 2014, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong
Lam S.M. (2014, 6). A comparison study on the integrative motivation of secondary students in Scotland and Hong Kong in learning Mandarin. Asia Pacific Educational Research Association International Conference (APERA) 2014, Hong Kong

All Other Outputs
Review of books or of software
Lam, S.M.S (2021). Review of the book Content knowledge in English language teacher education, by D. L. Banegas. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching (190-191). Bloomsbury
Other outputs
梁佩雲、謝家浩、張連航、林善敏、陳曙光、金夢瑤 (2021)。 變則通：充分把握中文線上教學的機遇，保良局中學教師培訓工作坊。香港: 保良局

Project
Exploring the relationship between the self-efficacy and writing process of L1 Chinese learners
Motivation is a key success in language learning as it relates to the reasons an individual chooses to do an activity, how long an individual engages with it, and how much effort an individual gives to it (Dörnyei, 2001). While numerous studies have examined the relationship between motivation and language proficiency, scant research has been conducted to explore the effects of writing motivation on the writing processes. In addition, Chinese has a logographic writing system in which the connection between semantic, semiotic and phonetic elements of Chinese characters is non-transparent (Zhang, 2017). This adds an additional processing effort during the writing and may be different from the behaviours that have been examined in writing in an alphabetic language (e.g. Karkaoui, 2019; Spelman-Miller et al., 2008). The proposed study intends to fill these knowledge gaps and explore the affective aspects (i.e. motivation) in connection with the cognitive phenomena (i.e. writing processes). Self-efficacy theory will be used to study the students' writing motivation, while Kellogg’s writing model will be adopted to examine the writing processes of the selected participants. The study is expected to enhance the understanding of L1 Chinese learners writing motivation and is one of the few attempts to investigate writing in the non-alphabetic language. The findings should shed light on the writing instruction for L1 Chinese learners in secondary schools in Hong Kong and internationally.
Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): LAM, Sin Manw Sophia 林善敏
 
Promoting motivational strategies of Chinese teachers and students’ motivation in Chinese reading
It is based on the relationship between teachers’ motivational strategies and students’ motivation, the proposed project intends to enhance the in-service Chinese teachers’ motivational strategies in reading, especially classical Chinese, so as to promote students’ reading competence. In addition, the project aims to examine the Year 10 students’ Chinese reading motivation in modern Chinese and classical Chinese and their reading competence. It is hoped to understand whether or not (and to what extent) the students’ motivation is related to their competence.
Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): LAM, Sin Manw Sophia 林善敏
 
Promoting a Dynamic Pedagogical Model of Asynchronous and Synchronous Virtual Teaching and Learning to Enrich Students’ Virtual Learning Experiences
Having meticulously considered the situation of the COVID-19 in Hong Kong, the EdUHK has been conducting Virtual Teaching and Learning (VTL) since 2020 spring. Most lecturers deliver lectures synchronously using Zoom and assist students’ asynchronous learning through sharing materials on Moodle and other online platforms and conducting online learning activities. A range of measures have been taken to help teachers and students cope with the challenges and problems, for example, developing Zoom tutorial videos and conducting online workshops, seminars, and sharing sessions to introduce and explain useful approaches to effective VTL. However, many teachers may feel overwhelmed by the large amount of resources and do not know exactly how to apply these strategies or methods in their lessons. Thus, it is necessary to provide them with a pedagogical model, which is easy to follow, conducive to effective VTL, and can be adapted to meet diverse teachers’ and students’ needs. In response to this call, we propose a dynamic pedagogical model that synthesizes and balances asynchronous and synchronous VTL (AS-VTL). To establish and promote this pedagogical model in Faculty of Humanities (FHM), we aim to develop a series of innovative virtual learning resources and implement the AS-VTL pedagogical model in a range of FHM courses across all the five departments/units in FHM. We will also establish a community of practice (CoP) for the wider adaptation of the AS-VTL pedagogical model in FHM, and indeed, in the EdUHK and beyond.
Project Start Year: 2021, Principal Investigator(s): WANG, Lixun 王立勛 (LAM, Sin Manw Sophia 林善敏 as Co-Investigator)
 
Exploring Classical Chinese Reading Strategies of Secondary School Students in Hong Kong
..
Project Start Year: 2021, Principal Investigator(s): LAM, Sin Manw Sophia 林善敏
 
An integrated identity project for preparing interculturally competent foreign language teachers
This project, informed by the existing theories from language teacher identity and
interdisciplinary perspectives of intercultural understanding, aims at using foreign language
(FL) teacher education programmes as the vehicles to explore reflective, experiential training methods to enhance the pre-service teachers’ awareness of cultural diversity, reduce ethnocentricity, and promote meaningful engagement pre-service FL teachers at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Project Start Year: 2020, Principal Investigator(s): GU, Ming Yue Michelle 谷明月, LI, Zhen Jennie 李蓁, Lai, Chun (LAM, Sin Manw Sophia 林善敏 as Co-Investigator)
 
Enhancing online learning and teaching in FHM courses
This project aims to promote online learning and teaching in FHM courses which need further support. Currently, a number of FHM courses have benefited from the BLUE II project, and 22 high quality e-learning packages have been developed to support online learning and teaching in over 25 different FHM courses. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, more and more courses will have to provide a significant amount of online learning and teaching to students in the coming academic year, it is desirable that more high quality e-learning packages can be developed for more FHM courses. In this project, a total of 28 FHM courses have been identified, and e-learning packages will be developed for these courses. It is hoped that through this project, online learning and teaching can be further promoted in FHM courses.
Project Start Year: 2020, Principal Investigator(s): LEUNG, Pui Wan Pamela 梁佩雲 (LAM, Sin Manw Sophia 林善敏 as Co-Investigator)
 
Enhancing Professional Excellence: Developing Motivational Strategies of Pre-Service Teachers in Chinese Language Classrooms
The proposed project aims to:
1) Enhance understanding of language motivational strategies to improve teaching competence of pre-service Chinese language teachers;
2) Develop the skills of pre-service Chinese teachers in implementing motivational strategies in the classrooms so as to enhance professional excellence;
3) Create a motivational strategies handbook to facilitate the teaching and learning of four skills in Chinese language classrooms;
4) Establish a video corpus of motivational strategies in Chinese language classrooms and provide resources for pedagogy related courses.
Project Start Year: 2020, Principal Investigator(s): LAM, Sin Manw Sophia 林善敏
 
Promoting AI Literacy and Effective Use of AI in Education
The objectives of this project are twofold: firstly to prepare students with AI literacy and secondly to explore and develop AI tools for teaching and learning in a range of academic disciplines. The project will offer a good opportunity not only to develop the AI literacy of students, but also to promote effective use of AI in education as well as to prepare students to adopt AI-powered technology in their future teaching careers.
Project Start Year: 2020, Principal Investigator(s): LI, Wai Keung 李偉強 (LAM, Sin Manw Sophia 林善敏 as Co-Investigator)
 
Understanding the Effectiveness of Concept-driven Classroom through Writing Assessment
The proposed project aims to investigate the understanding of Chinese teachers in assessing concept-based learning s well as to explore how students understand and demonstrate their awareness of concepts in writing assessment.
Project Start Year: 2019, Principal Investigator(s): LAM, Sin Manw Sophia 林善敏