Introduction

The establishment of the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre (CBRC) in 2008 marks an important milestone in the development of research in language acquisition and bilingualism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). CBRC was launched in 2008 with an inaugural international Conference on Bilingual Acquisition in Early Childhood. It is the first Centre of its kind in Asia dedicated to the study of childhood bilingualism and multilingualism in diverse environments and communities with a focus on the development of Cantonese, Mandarin and English. The Centre has been supported by the Focused Investment Scheme from CUHK and research grants from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council.

News

Symposium on Languages in China: Typology and Acquisition (Poster) (Program)
Date: 11 March 2024
Time: 08:45–12:30
Venue: Rm220 Fung King Hei Building, CUHK

Guest speaker: Prof. Chan Lü, University of Washington, USA (Poster)
Bilingual Development in Mandarin-English Dual Language Immersion Learners
Date: 23 February 2024
Time: 14:30–16:00
Venue: Rm208 Lee Shau Kei Building, CUHK

Please join the discussion on “Mandarin Chinese Learning for a Connected World” on 12 December 2023. Professor Maggie Ziyin Mai, Deputy Director of Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre at CUHK will share her insights on learning Mandarin.

請參加2023年12月12日舉行的「漢語在世界中的發展」的討論!香港中文大學兒童雙語研究中心副總監麥子茵教授將會分享學習漢語心得。

中文大學正招募0-35個月嬰兒參與一項認知能力發展研究
We are now recruiting babies aged 0 – 35 months to participate in our research.

Plenary speech by Prof. Virgina Yip on 18 July 2023 “Toward diversification of bilingual acquisition research: insights from heritage bilingualism” delivered at the 20th anniversary AILA World Congress, Lyon, France. Abstract in English, French, Spanish and German [Video]

Keynote speech by Prof. Virginia Yip on 19 June 2022
“Language diversity and bilingual first language acquisition”
delivered at the Conference on Advances in second/foreign language acquisition (ASeFoLA).

On 10 December 2021 we launched a new podcast series Language Kaleidoscope 【語言萬花筒】hosted by Professor Virginia Yip and Professor Stephen Matthews. Please join us in the magical journey of exploring languages and linguistics. What we discover about language is like what we see through a kaleidoscope — incredibly rich and colorful, but arranged in systematic patterns. If you are curious about language and bilingualism, please tune in to hear about the fascinating linguistic phenomena, with a focus on Cantonese and English. Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Prof. Stephen Matthews (University of Hong Kong) will give a talk on Monday, October 18, 2021 organized by Lund Circle of East Asian Linguistics (LCEAL) | Projects, Lund University, Sweden.

Date: Monday, October 18, 2021
Time: 19:15 – 20:15, HK Time on Zoom (registration required)
Speaker: Stephen Matthews (University of Hong Kong)
Title: Some unresolved problems in Cantonese grammar

To attend the seminar, please register in advance here.

Looking forward to seeing you at the seminar!

Please join us for a talk on Cantonese Popular Culture on Zoom
Speaker: Prof. Stephen Matthews (HKU), Co-Director, Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre (CUHK)
Topic: Cantonese Popular Culture Master Class
Date: 18 June 2021
Time: 10am-12noon (HK time)
Organizer: Raymond Pai, Department of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia
Please register here

Prof. Stephen Matthews featured in Apple Daily interview (12 November 2020)

Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre is featured as “one of the most prominent research hubs in the department of linguistics and modern languages at CUHK”
on the Times Higher Education website (2020).

Please join the online forum we organize on Early Childhood Education in Overseas Communities: the case of New Zealand. (Online Forum). Registration is required:
Date: August 2020 (Saturday)
Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Speaker: Dr. Danping Wang, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Host: Prof. Virginia Yip
Online platform for the event: Zoom (Meeting info will be sent to the registered participants one day before the seminar)

Please join the online forum we organize on Childhood Bilingualism: An Australian Immigrant Mother’s Perspective. (Online Forum). Registration is required:
Date: 15 August 2020 (Saturday)
Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Speaker: Prof. Ruying Qi, Associate Professor, Western Sydney University
Host: Prof. Virginia Yip
Online platform for the event: Zoom (Meeting info will be sent to the registered participants one day before the seminar)

International Workshop on Language Acquisition
Jointly organized by the Centre for Language Technology (University of Copenhagen), Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre (CUHK) and University of Cambridge-CUHK Joint Laboratory for Bilingualism
Dates: 24-25 June 2021

Please join the online forum we organize on Early Childhood in Overseas Communities: The Case of Denmark (Online Forum). Registration is required:
Date: 26 June 2020 (Friday)
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Speaker: Dr. Alice Tse, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Copenhagen
Host: Prof. Virginia Yip
Online platform for the event: Zoom (Meeting info will be sent to the registered participants one day before the seminar)

Please join the online forum we organize on Early Childhood Education in BC and Canada: Careers in demand (Online Forum). Registration is required:
Date: 30 May 2020 (Saturday)
Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Speakers: Mr. Keith Chan, President of Christian EduCultural Association & Ms. Amelia Ng, Founder and Executive Director of CARES Global Student Services
Host: Prof. Virginia Yip
Online platform for the event: Zoom (Meeting info will be sent to the registered participants one day before the seminar)
Remarks: We are happy to offer free access to our online forums to principals, teachers and educators.

Free download of COVID-19 ebook for children:
Registration is required
(If you are in mainland China: please fill in this registration form):
This e-book is launched by WIT Enterprises Ltd. in collaboration with NTUC First Campus (Singapore).
Once registered, you will receive the links to download the e-book free of charge. Enjoy!!

Please join the online forum we organize on Early Childhood Education in Overseas Communities: The case of Singapore (Online Forum). Registration is required:
Date: 27 March 2020 (Friday)
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Speaker: Thian Ai Ling, General Manager of My First Skool by National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) First Campus
Host: Prof. Virginia Yip
Online platform for the event: Zoom (Meeting info will be sent to the registered participants one day before the seminar)

Launch of our Knowledge Transfer project on the assessment of language proficiency in Hong Kong children (October 2019):
See poster and article in Yahoo news.

Dr. Angela Xiaoxue He from the University of Southern California presents a seminar:
Title: How do young children ‘decipher’ the meanings of ‘tough words’?
Date: 12 March, 2019 (Tuesday)
Time: 4:30 pm -5:30 pm
Venue: Swire Hall Rm1, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Media interview by 深圳卫視Shenzhen TV: video
with footage of the Symposium Panel on Language Development and Bilingualism in Early Childhood at the Shenzhen Research Institute on 15 December 2018

Please attend the Symposium on Childhood Bilingualism and Heritage Language Acquisition
Date:14-15 December 2018 (Friday & Saturday)
Keynote speakers:
Maria Polinsky, University of Maryland
Lee Cher Leng, National University of Singapore

Prof. Yinglin Ji from Shenzhen University presents a seminar in our lab:
Title: Representing motion events beyond language use: An exploration of L1 and L2 learners
Date: 28 September, 2018 (Friday)
Time: 4:30 pm -5:30 pm
Venue: Room G14, Leung Kau Kui Building, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Profs. Virginia Yip and Stephen Matthews interviewed by OMNI TV in Vancouver on 11 July 2018: video and facebook

We are very happy to announce an upcoming seminar by Prof. Roumyana Slabakova at the JLB.
Optionality and ambiguity in L2 English article meanings
by Roumyana Slabakova (University of Southampton)
Date: 12 June, 2018 (Tuesday)
Time: 4:30 pm -6:15 pm
Venue: Room 101, Fung King Hey Building, Chinese University of Hong Kong

[CUHK Press Release] CUHK Announces the Launch of the World’s First Child Heritage Chinese Language Corpus and the Establishment of the University of Cambridge – CUHK Joint Laboratory for Bilingualism

[CUHK Press Release] 中大宣布推出全球首個華裔兒童漢語語料庫暨成立劍橋大學-香港中文大學雙語研究聯合實驗室

[Sing Tao Daily] 華裔童接觸多語言 中大研究:助奠根基 全球首設 漢語語料庫

[HK01] 中大推全球首個華裔兒童漢語語料庫 記錄三語學習歷程

[Ming Pao Daily News] 學者:幼兒學英語毋須「犧牲」漢語

[Wen Wei Po] 中大研究揭學中文不必犧牲英語

[Metro Daily] 兒童在家聽不同語言 能培養雙語或三語能力

[Oriental News] 僅說英文未必好 接觸多語言助幼兒建三語能力

Prof. Virginia Yip featured in CUHK homepage “Bastion of Bilingualism”, 11 December 2017

The International Conference on Bilingualism: Language and Heritage will be held at CUHK on 18-19 December 2017

A warm welcome to the following members of CBRC:
Prof. Gloria Zhang (Adjunct Assistant Professor), Sheila Chan and Vaness Law (full time RA), Kathleen Ng and Riki Wu (PhD students) and Hannah Lam (MPhil student)
Summer Interns 2017: Christa Schmidt and Wang Huilei (Bryn Marwr College)

A Dialogue on Science Fiction Movies by Stanley Chan (陈楸帆) & Jedd Jong (21 May 2017)

Prof. Stephen Matthews’ interview with Apple Daily (21 May 2017)

Workshop on Documenting Children’s Language
jointly organized by the Department of Linguistics (HKU), CUHK-Peking U-UST Joint Research Centre for Language and Human Complexity and Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre.
Date: Thursday 25 May 2017
Venue: 4/F Run Run Shaw Tower, University of Hong Kong
3:30-4:30pm Forum speaker: Prof. Evan Kidd, Australian National University
Widening the contexts of language acquisition
4:30-5:00pm discussion (moderator: Prof.Virginia Yip, Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Panelists
5:00-5:15pm Prof. Anita Wong, University of Hong Kong
Documenting the language of children with Specific Language Impairment
5:15-5:30 pm Prof. Angel Chan, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Documenting the language of bilingual minority children
5:30-5:45 pm Prof. Mai Ziyin and Prof. Virginia Yip, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Documenting the language of heritage children
5:45-6:00pm Q&A (moderator: Prof. Stephen Matthews, University of Hong Kong)

Revised editions of Basic Cantonese and Intermediate Cantonese by Virginia Yip and Stephen Matthews are now available from Routledge. The books include Chinese characters for all example sentences. A big thank you to Szeto Pui Yiu for his assistance with the revision.

Prof. Stephen Matthews featured in RTHK TV program “Hong Kong Stories: Local Plus 香港故事-本土 plus+” released on 28 January 2017.

Prof. Stephen Matthews’ interview with Apple Daily (25 January 2017)

An interview featuring Dr. Mark Antonio sharing his experience in bringing up his son Alexander as a English-Greek bilingual child. He is Senior Research Fellow at the MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University.

A warm welcome to Dr. Elaine Lau, our postdoctoral fellow who has joined CBRC!

Profs. Virginia Yip and Stephen Matthews give invited talks at the International Conference on the Transformation and Innovation of Chinese Culture at the National University of Singapore, 2-3 December 2016.

Prof. Mai Ziyin gives a talk on Acquisition of Chinese by Heritage and Second Language Speakers: Grammatical Representation and Development on 6 December 2016.

A warm welcome to Prof. Jiang Ping who joined CBRC as affiliated member.

Prof. Stephen Matthews featured in interviews (episode 1 & episode 2) on his experience as a supervisor of postgraduate students.

Congratulations to Scarlet Li and her supervisor Prof. Gloria Zhang on the LSHK Outstanding Thesis Award!
Title of MA thesis: “The Relation of Working Memory, Declarative Memory, and Procedural Memory as Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition”

A warm welcome to Lam Bou-Lai Hannah from Harvard College, Fan Yujing Julia and Zhou Jieyu Joy from the Chinese University of Hong Kong who joined CBRC as full-time members recently.

Dr. Lucy Zhao, Director of the Sheffield Confucius Institute in the UK, gives a talk on “L2 acquisition of Mandarin overt and covert arguments and its implications for teaching” on Friday 14 October 2016 at 10:30am in Room 308 Lee Shau Kee Building.

Congratulations to Deng Xiangjun who has joined the Research Centre for Language and Cognition at Shenzhen University as Assistant Professor! We say farewell to her, Yu Zishu Sophia and Liang Yinyin Lana who are also moving on.

A warm welcome to a number of new full-time members who have joined CBRC recently: Zhu Yanxin Alice from Peking University, Wu Yuqi Riki and Li Wan Yee Scarlet from Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Prof. Salikoko Mufwene visits CBRC and delivers a distinguished lecture “The complex linguistic behavior of a plurilingual” on 26 June 2016.

Prof. Virginia Yip was invited by the HKSAR Education Bureau to give a public talk “Nurturing children’s bilingual ability” 培育兒童的雙語能力 on 16 June 2016.

Prof. Stephen Matthews featured in interview with BBC on Cantonese and Pokemon.

Article in E-weekly: Issue 27 date: 2016/5/5 (video)

Prof. Stephen Matthews inteviewed by E Media Plus in May 2016 (video)

Prof. Antonella Sorace from the University of Edinburgh visits CBRC and discusses collaboration with our team on 11 April, 2016

Congratulations to the University of Cambridge on the successful bidding of a group grant funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)’s Open World Research Initiative. CBRC is pleased to be an international partner of the project.

Profs Virginia Yip and Stephen Matthews are keynote speakers at the 3rd Workshop on Innovations in Cantonese Linguistics (WICL-3) 12-13 March 2016

A multimedia child Mandarin corpus: the Tong corpus is deposited in the CHILDES archive in the EastAsian folder. Here’s Brian MacWhinney’s announcement on March 1 2016

Prof. Stephen Matthews interviewed by Apple Daily in February 2016 (video)

CBRC Directors interviewed by Apple Daily in February 2016 (video)

A warm welcome to Dr. Stephan Stiller who joins CBRC as full-time postdoctoral fellow from 1 February 2016

Prof. Stephen Matthews featured in Apple Daily article and video

More…