Chunhong Liu

Languages, Cultures and Literacies doctoral student in the Faculty of Education

I come from China and start my doctoral study at SFU in 2021. I have two master’s degrees, one in Translation and Interpreting from Chongqing University and the other in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Macau. Although much of my previous learning was concentrated in the specific use of English in professional contexts, I grow this strong interest in education when I studied my second master’s program in Macau where the learner-centered instruction prevails. I admire the facilitative role played by teachers in shaping and guiding students’ learning not necessarily in certain tasks but also for their future engagement in knowledge exploration. Besides, I embrace the whole-student philosophy where students are not just passive receivers of knowledge but active meaning co-makers with their unique life experiences, expectations, dispositions, and beliefs.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO COME TO SFU?

The Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University has a wealth of emerging and well-established scholars specializing in my interested research fields, to name a few, academic literacies, multilingualism/plurilingualism, critical discourse analysis, and translanguaging.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR RESEARCH OR YOUR PROGRAM TO A FAMILY MEMBER?

I have done some research on writing feedback, especially how students of second language feel, view, and use feedback on their writing from various sources. Feedback, for me, is not merely the written information that points out errors in students’ writing, but a channel for two-way communication. Through feedback, students can know the expectations for their writing, areas for further improvement, and strategies for self-learning. Feedback providers including students and instructors can also improve their way of giving feedback as long as they acknowledge students’ feedback on their feedback. Methods-wise, I will define myself more as a qualitative researcher. In my previous research, I mainly make use of interviews and texts as platforms to generate data, and I attend to research contexts and individual historicity as the site for my interpretation of phenomena.

WHAT ARE YOU PARTICULARLY ENJOYING ABOUT YOUR STUDIES/RESEARCH AT SFU?

I have met a lot of amazing professors. I am taking courses with Dr. Angel Lin, Dr. Danièle Moore, Dr. Suzanne Smythe, Dr. Diane Dagenais, and Dr. Ena Lee. They are all extremely knowledgeable in their research fields and beyond, and they are willing to share their life stories with us.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PROGRAM/POSTDOC POSITION TO SOMEONE STILL SEARCHING FOR A PROGRAM OR POSTDOC POSITION?

The Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University is definitely an amazing place for learning and personal development. The Languages, Cultures and Literacies program focuses on fostering critical thinking and plurilingual awareness, which bears benefits for my development as an educational researcher and practitioner.