Dr Li Kam Cheong speaks for the UIC audience
On 13 October, Director of Research at the Open University of Hong Kong, Dr Li Kam Cheong, was invited to give a lecture titled ‘Towards an English Professional Workforce for Business and Education’ at UIC. The lecture received a warm response from the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences (DHSS) students.
Dr Li began the lecture by introducing how his working experience related to the lecture topic as well as expressing his wishes on hoping the DHSS graduates to master their workplace English for the future. Dr Li questioned the audience about the effective ways of learning English, before stating that the key of using English as a communication tool is to use it in an appropriate way, as language itself is highly context dependent. Dr Li suggested using simple English in business context as the field emphasised on clarity and preciseness.
“Exposure to a language makes you really use it,” said Dr Li. He pointed out that a great way to learn English is to immerse oneself in an English language environment, and UIC offers that opportunity.
Dr Li also introduced the Chartered Institute of Linguists to the audience later in the talk, explaining why belonging to certain professional bodies can enhance one’s competitiveness in the job market.
To illustrate how to be effective in the workplace, Dr Li showed the audience how to write a professional cover letter. He also explained that it is important to find out the features of oneself that will attract the employers and be creative in preparing cover letters. He stressed that one should customise his/her cover letter to fit into different job applications.
Towards the end of the lecture, Dr Li kindly reminded the audience that in today’s society, where Short Messaging System (SMS) language is commonly used, it is essential to distinguish the target audience and make sure to use the appropriate language.
Reporter: Belinda Sun (ELLS/Y2)
Photographer: Evelyn Zhou (FIN/Y3)
Editors: Melody Feng (ELLS TA), Edith Yan (ELLS Programme Director), Samuel Burgess (MPRO)
