Module: 01 Academics · Sub-file: Faculty of Humanities Deep Archive (with Department of English and Communication special focus) At PolyU, renowned for engineering, design, hospitality and tourism, and health sciences, the Faculty of Humanities (FH) is often overlooked. Yet it is one of the leading units in Greater China and Asia in language science, bilingual studies, translation, and speech therapy, and has taken a pioneering step in integrating AI with the humanities. This piece first establishes a general file on the Faculty, then uses the Faculty of Humanities's Department of English and Communication (ENGL) for a single-department deep-dive analysis. For a Faculty overview, see faculties-and-schools.md. Information is drawn primarily from the official pages of the FH, the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, the Department of English and Communication, and relevant programme pages.

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# 1. Overview and Positioning

According to the official page of PolyU's Faculty of Humanities^※, the FH is one of the leading higher education providers in Greater China and Asia in the following areas:

• Language science;
• Language technology;
• Chinese-English bilingual studies and translation;
• Intercultural communication;
• Chinese culture and history studies.

It also stands out in cross-disciplinary fields such as speech therapy, language neuroscience, AI-driven analysis and modelling, and healthcare communication.

Source strength: The FH's leading fields are listed on its official page.

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# 2. Core Departments

The FH comprises several departments, with the core ones including:

According to the official page of CBS^※, CBS is one of the core departments within the FH, with research spanning Chinese linguistics, corpus and computational linguistics, language and communication disorders, cognitive neuroscience, translation and interpreting, bilingual communication, Chinese language education and testing, language technology, and data analytics.

For undergraduate studies, according to the programme page^※, students can pursue a BA(Hons) in Chinese and Bilingual Studies (BACBS), a BA(Hons) in English Studies for the Professions (BAESP), or a double major combining both.

Source strength: Departments and research areas are confirmed by the CBS official page and programme pages.

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# 3. AI × Humanities: The MSc in Generative AI and the Humanities

The FH's most era-defining initiative is its integration of generative AI and the humanities. According to the MSc in Generative AI and the Humanities (MScGAH) programme page^※:

• This master's programme is hosted by the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies;
• It offers two specialisms: Language and Communication and Arts and Culture;
• It couples the capabilities of generative AI with humanistic inquiry and cultural analysis.

At a moment when generative AI is sweeping through every industry, the question of how the humanities can coexist with AI, and how to use AI to study language and culture, is answered by the FH with a dedicated master's programme. It represents a proactive stance: "the humanities are not replaced by AI, but harness it."

Source strength: The MScGAH's hosting by CBS and its two specialisms are specified on the programme page.

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# 4. Speech Therapy and Language Neuroscience: The "Health" Dimension of the Humanities

Another distinctive feature of the FH is its intersection with health — encompassing speech therapy, language neuroscience, and healthcare communication. These domains sit within language science but also serve health outcomes (e.g., aiding the rehabilitation of individuals with language disorders) — creating cross-faculty synergies with PolyU's health disciplines (rehabilitation sciences, nursing, optometry; see 11 Medical).

This further confirms the FH's orientation of "Humanities + Application / Technology / Health": its humanities are not ivory-tower contemplation, but an applied humanistic practice deeply intertwined with language technology, AI, and health.

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# 5. Placing the FH within PolyU's Disciplinary Map

Within PolyU's predominantly application-oriented landscape, the FH is a relatively "light" but clearly defined wing:

• It does not compete with PolyU's signature strengths in engineering, design, and health, but carves out its own identity through language science, bilingual translation, speech therapy, and AI × Humanities;
• It underpins the university-wide provision of Chinese and English language education (supporting the GUR requirements for Chinese and English literacy; see programs.md);
• It intersects with health disciplines (speech therapy), FCMS (language technology/AI), and design (culture), among others.

In one sentence: PolyU's Faculty of Humanities demonstrates that even in a university renowned for polytechnic and applied sciences, the humanities can find their place with a posture of "Application + Technology".

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# Department of English and Communication (ENGL) Deep Dive: Professional Communication, Translation, and Corpus Linguistics

This file specifically focuses on the Department of English and Communication (ENGL) within the Faculty of Humanities. It complements the preceding "Faculty of Humanities Overview" by offering details on the specific department, research centres, and programme details.

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# 6. What is ENGL? What is its position within the Faculty of Humanities?

The Department of English and Communication (known by the abbreviation ENGL) is one of the four teaching units^※ under PolyU's Faculty of Humanities (FH). The other three are the Department of Chinese History and Culture, the Department of Language Science and Technology, and, from January 2026, the Division of AI and the Humanities.

The department's overarching orientation is encapsulated as "Linguistic Excellence in Professional Contexts" — meaning that both research and teaching focus on the practical application of language in authentic professional environments (business, healthcare, government, media, etc.) rather than a purely academic or literary orientation. This is highly consistent with PolyU's overall applied orientation: even the humanities must engage with the real world and real workplaces.

According to the department's official overview page^※, ENGL currently has around 32 full-time academic staff, 13 administrative support staff, and 20 research personnel, serving approximately 400 undergraduate students and 250 postgraduate students (including around 30 doctoral students). The department office relocated on 14 April 2025 to the 9/F of PolyU's Hung Hom Bay Campus (8 Hung Lok Road), reflecting the recent expansion of PolyU's campus footprint.

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# 7. How did PolyU Linguistics leap from around 100th to 51st in the rankings?

This is a ranking jump worth examining closely: according to an official FH news release^※, in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, PolyU's position in the "Linguistics" subject category surged from approximately 100th the previous year to 51st, an advance of 49 places. This is a notably rare, large leap within the upper tier of subject rankings.

QS subject rankings evaluate indicators including academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper, H-index, and international research network. This ranking rise reflects a systematic uplift in the FH's recent research output and international visibility in linguistics disciplines — including applied linguistics, corpus linguistics, professional communication, and discourse analysis. Concurrently, the same ranking exercise^※ showed that PolyU's overall "Arts and Humanities" broad subject area also rose to 83rd globally.

Note on scope: Rankings refer to the QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2025 edition, which assessed over 1,700 institutions across 55 subjects.

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# 8. What are the department's five main research areas?

According to the department's research overview page^※, ENGL currently defines five research areas, covering a full spectrum from linguistic fundamentals to applied communication:

Among these five areas, "Language and Professional Communication" is the largest sector. The researcher group includes: Head of Department Prof. Eric Friginal, who focuses on aviation English and workplace communication; Prof. Hans Ladegaard, who researches leadership and intercultural dynamics; and Honorary Professor Kathleen Ahrens, who works on metaphor and corpus methods.

A single phrase runs through the department's overall research theme: "Linguistic Excellence in Professional Contexts" — linguistic excellence serving authentic professional contexts, not merely academic self-consistency.

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# 9. What is the RCPCE corpus? Why is it considered the infrastructure for professional communication research in Hong Kong?

The Research Centre for Professional Communication in English (RCPCE) is one of the flagship research centres under ENGL. According to the RCPCE official page^※, RCPCE has a well-established reputation in the field of professional communication — having "built an established reputation for its research activities, expertise and academically-oriented professional communication programmes."

RCPCE's most distinctive contribution is its portfolio of specialised, profession-specific corpora. According to the RCPCE corpus resources page^※, the centre collects authentic texts, discourse, and genres from various professional communities and contexts in Hong Kong, establishing publicly accessible research corpora. Representative resources include:

The value of these industry-specific corpora lies in their documentation of the genuine language use of Hong Kong's professional communities — the actual English writing and discourse of engineers, healthcare professionals, government officials, and others in workplace settings — rather than textbook English. For discourse analysis, genre studies, and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching, this is an irreplaceable local data infrastructure.

RCPCE's specific objectives include creating Hong Kong-related professional corpora, advancing applied research to support professional communication curricula, nurturing a postgraduate research environment, and establishing a forum for academic and industry exchange on professional communication issues.

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# 10. What does IRCAHC do? How does health communication bridge the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Health?

The International Research Centre for the Advancement of Health Communication (IRCAHC) is another research centre under ENGL, and it is the unit where the cross-faculty nature is most pronounced. According to the IRCAHC official page^※, the centre is jointly affiliated with both the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (FHSS) — this dual-faculty institutional structure embodies its research model: integrating linguistics, discourse analysis, and social psychology with medical practice.

IRCAHC's core premise is that "people's ability to understand and communicate about health and care is fundamental to providing safe, quality healthcare." Under this premise, researchers explore questions such as: How does doctor-patient discourse affect clinical outcomes? What comprehension barriers does health information encounter in public communication? How can linguistic interventions enhance patient safety?

The Centre Director is Prof. Stefano Occhipinti^※, whose research interests include health beliefs, stigma, and political discourse analysis. International partners include the University of New South Wales in Australia (Health@Business Research Network) and the University of Queensland's Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences.

IRCAHC's institutional linking of two faculties essentially confirms an increasingly important proposition: there is a quantifiable, substantive connection between linguistic competence and healthcare quality — this is no longer a bonus of cultural literacy, but an infrastructure for medical safety.

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# 11. What does the recruitment of Anthony McEnery signify? A strategic signal for corpus linguistics and AI humanities

A significant personnel appointment in January 2026 marks ENGL's elevation of corpus linguistics to a strategic priority: according to an official FH announcement (27 January 2026)^※, Professor Anthony Mark McEnery has been appointed as the "Chair Professor of Corpus Linguistics and AI for the Humanities."

McEnery is one of the most influential figures in international corpus linguistics. His academic credentials include: BA in Linguistics from Lancaster University (1986), MSc in Information Technology from Leicester Polytechnic (1988), PhD in Computational Pragmatics from Lancaster University (1996), and an Honorary DLitt in Linguistics from Lancaster University (2012). At Lancaster, he rose from Lecturer (1992) to Professor (2001) and then Distinguished Professor (2013), and served as Head of Department (2000–2005) and Dean of Faculty (2008–2014). Key academic achievements include:

• Securing over £10 million in cumulative research funding
• Leading the British National Corpus 2014 (BNC 2014) and the EMILLE multilingual corpus project
• Listed by Stanford University as among the top 2% of scientists globally in the fields of Linguistics and Language
• Awarded the title of Changjiang Chair Professor by China's Ministry of Education in 2021

McEnery's research focuses on the computational analysis of corpora and the integration of AI with the humanities — forming a strategic echo with the Faculty's upcoming Division of AI and the Humanities. His recruitment represents a major strengthening of ENGL's corpus linguistics research capacity.

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# 12. What programmes does ENGL offer? A full programme map from bachelor's to doctoral level

# Undergraduate: BA(Hons) in English and Applied Linguistics (BAEAL, JUPAS JS3240)

According to the JUPAS programme page^※, PolyU currently offers the BA(Hons) in English and Applied Linguistics (BAEAL), JUPAS code JS3240. The programme was previously known as the BA(Hons) Scheme in English Studies for the Professions (BAESP) and was renamed for the 2020/21 academic year to more accurately reflect its applied linguistics orientation.

The programme aims to nurture students into "competent English language professionals and responsible global citizens". According to PolyU's undergraduate programme information^※, students may opt for the following double major combinations:

Graduates' employment sectors include media and journalism, public relations, marketing and advertising, human resources, publishing, education, and the civil service. Those holding qualifications recognised by the Education Bureau may become English language teachers after completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE). Some graduates proceed to postgraduate study in Hong Kong or overseas in linguistics, applied linguistics, translation and interpreting, communication, and related fields.

# Taught Postgraduate: MA in English Studies for the Professions (MAESP)

According to the MAESP programme page^※, the MA in English Studies for the Professions (MAESP), programme code 71026, offers both full-time (1 year) and part-time (2 years) modes of study. The tuition fee is HK$6,500 per credit, the same rate for both local and non-local students.

The MAESP programme requires 31 credits (or a version including a 6-credit dissertation). Core subjects cover English phonetics and phonology, discourse analysis, English semantics and lexicon, and analytical perspectives on English grammar. The programme also offers four specialisms:

Elective subjects range across "Multimodality and Professional Communication", "Workplace Language and Intercultural Communication", "Pragmatic Disorders", and "Language and Crime" — demonstrating the wide dimensions of MAESP's coverage at the level of language application.

# Research Postgraduate (MPhil / PhD)

According to PolyU Scholars Hub data^※, ENGL routinely offers MPhil and PhD research degree programmes, for which applicants can seek funding through the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS). The department has approximately 30 enrolled PhD students, with research directions covering its five research areas.

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# 13. What is the quantitative research output? A look at the Scholars Hub data

According to the PolyU Scholars Hub (as recorded in its database)^※, ENGL's quantitative research output is as follows:

Note on scope: Data in the above table is sourced from the PolyU Scholars Hub research database, representing cumulative data recorded in the platform up to the date of retrieval. Citation counts and H-index are subject to the version and coverage scope of the database; refer to the official pages for the most current figures.

Looking at the output structure, journal articles (889) and conference presentations (799) are produced in parallel — showing that ENGL scholars value both peer-reviewed journal publication (long-cycle, depth-focused) and active participation in international academic conferences (short-cycle, network-focused). The 47 scholarly monographs reflect the traditional importance placed on book publication within the linguistics field.

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# 14. How does ENGL intersect with other departments and interdisciplinary areas?

The Department of English and Communication does not operate in isolation within the FH, but has multiple points of intersection with other units and the wider university:

Complementarity with the Department of Language Science and Technology (LST): Both departments belong to the FH, but their research orientations differ — LST leans towards Chinese linguistics, bilingual studies, language technology, and speech therapy; ENGL focuses on English, professional communication, and applied linguistics. BAEAL students can pursue a joint double major with LST (English and Applied Linguistics + Linguistics and Translation), bridging both departments.

Links with the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (FHSS): IRCAHC's dual-faculty structure directly breaks down disciplinary boundaries between humanities and health. In the field of healthcare communication, linguists and medical practitioners must collaborate — and ENGL plays the role of the "language pillar" in this area.

Dovetailing with the AI Humanities strategy: With the imminent establishment of the Division of AI and the Humanities, McEnery's "Corpus Linguistics and AI for the Humanities" chair professorship explicitly points towards bridging fields: big data from corpora + AI-driven analysis + humanities research questions — this is ENGL's positioning within the FH's AI transformation.

Supporting university-wide GUR English education: ENGL also plays a role in backing the English language component of PolyU's university-wide General University Requirements (GUR), providing English language learning support for non-FH students and serving as a foundational layer for the entire university's English academic ecosystem.

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# 15. Frequently Asked Questions

# Does PolyU's English department lean more towards literature or professional English?

According to the ENGL official page^※, the department positions itself explicitly as providing "first-class English language education focusing on the skills needed in global and local workplaces", with its research theme being "Linguistic Excellence in Professional Contexts". This is fundamentally different from a traditional literature department: ENGL does not centre on the canon of English and American literature, but takes applied linguistics, professional communication, discourse analysis, corpus studies, and media communication as its main axes. English Language Arts is merely one of the four specialisms within the MAESP, not the overall positioning of the department.

# What specific discipline does ENGL's 51st place in the QS rankings represent?

According to the QS ranking announcement^※, the ranking scope is the "Linguistics" subject category of the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2025 edition). This is supported by the FH's overall research output, not solely an assessment of ENGL. ENGL is one of the main contributing units to this subject ranking, but the ranking encompasses all linguistics-related researchers across the FH.

# Are RCPCE's corpora publicly accessible?

According to the RCPCE resources page^※, both the Hong Kong Engineering Corpus (HKEC) and the Corpus of Research Articles (CRA 2007) are publicly released on the RCPCE website, intended for use by professionals, researchers, teachers, and students — positioned as a public resource for teaching and research, not a closed internal database.

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