TANG, Wai-lan Gladys

TANG, Wai-lan Gladys

Professor

B.A., Cert. Ed. (HKU), Ph.D. (Edinburgh)

 

PERSONAL DATA

Full Name: TANG, Wai Lan Gladys (鄧慧蘭)
Address Room G02, G/F., Leung Kau Kui Building, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Telephone No.: 3943-7008
Fax No.: 2603-7755
E-mail Address: gtang@cuhk.edu.hk
Webpage: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/lin/new/people/gladys/index.htm

EDUCATION

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES

MAIN RESEARCH INTERESTS

Representative Publications

Books Authored & Edited

Journal Papers and Book Chapters

Sign Linguistics

Deaf Education

Language Development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children

RESESARCH DATABASES CREATED

HKSL Corpus (http://www.cslds.org/hkslcorpus/)

A repository which archives 15 hours of spontaneous dialogues between native/native or native/near-native signers of HKSL, and 6 narratives of native HKSL signers. All data have been transcribed using ELAN. This signbank is going to support future research into the grammatical properties of HKSL as well as sign language teaching and sign interpretation training in HK.

Asia SignBank (http://cslds.org/asiansignbank/)

A repository to archive Asian Sign Languages with search functions to view signs as well as their phonological features for linguistic analysis. Recent updates include a publishing function to access the archived materials for the production of dictionaries and teaching materials. Under construction is a set of procedures to transfer sign language discourse materials into the SignBank to support grammatical analysis of sign languages. The sign languages so far include HKSL, Ho Chi Ming Sign Language, Jakarta Sign Language, Yogyakarta Sign Language, Sri Lankan Sign Language. The Asia SignBank was used to support the MPhil research of Mak Ka Leong.

Hong Kong Sign Language Browser (http://www.cslds.org/hkslbrowser/)

A repository to archive the variation of Hong Kong Sign Languageyo to support the practical domains of society such as sign language interpretation now appearing on TV programs and LegCo meetings. Variation data from different deaf groups in HK are included, to facilitate future research on the variation of Hong Kong Sign Language.

Child HKSL Corpus (http://www.cslds.org/acquisition/en-us/Corpora)

This corpus focuses on two deaf children who acquired HKSL at a young age. They are siblings born to deaf parents. With CC, there are 212 clips of HKSL data covering ages from 1;9-6;11; with YY, there are 143 clips of HKSL data covering ages from 1;3 to 5;6. The database has been used to support the MPhil research of Fung Hiu Man and PhD research of Scholastica Lam.

Child HKSL-Cantonese Bilingual Corpus (http://www.cslds.org/acquisition/en-us/Corpora)

This corpus focuses on the bimodal bilingual development of two deaf children: YC was born into a hearing family and observation has resulted in 48 clips on HKSL and 44 clips on Cantonesedevelopment. The second child, WT, whose mother is deaf and father hearing, is a typical case for investigating bimodal bilingual development. Collection of data started in 2012. So far, 150 clips on HKSL and 150 clips on Cantonese have been collected and processed, covering WT’s age of development from 0;10 to 4;09. The database is now being used to support the PhD research of Li Jieqiong.

Hong Kong Sign Language Elicitation Tool
Tang, G., Lee, J., Lam, S., Sze, F., Li, j., Wong, Y-O., Chu, K., Wong, P., Lo, C. (2010). Hong Kong Sign Language Elicitation Tool. The Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Chinese Grammatical Knowledge Assessment
Tang, G., Li, Q., Li, J., Hu, Y-Y., Yiu, K-M., Lam, D. (2020). Chinese Grammatical Knowledge Assessment. The Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 

 

RESEARCH GRANTS

External Competitive Research Grants

2020-2022 China Disabled Persons’ Federation, CLS2020-02
Project Title: On the documentation of the Grammar of Beijing Sign Language (Principal Investigator)
2016-2018  Hong Kong GRF Grant#14611315
Project Title: Profiling Chinese Grammatical Knowledge of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in HK and China - A Comparative Study (Principal Investigator).
2014-2017 Hong Kong GRF Grant #450513
Project Title: A Reference Grammar of Hong Kong Sign Language (Principal Investigator)
2015-2016   Innovative Technology Grant #I ETS/117/14
Project Title: Development of computer-based tools for clinical assessment of speech, hearing and
language disabilities. (Co-investigator with Prof. Lee Tan, Principal Investigator, Department of Electronic Engineering, CUHK )
  Nippon Foundation Grant (Phase III) #AL06899
Asia Pacific Sign Linguistics Research and Training Program (Principal Investigator)
2006-2012 Nippon Foundation Grant (Phase II) #AL06899
Project Title: Asia-Pacific Sign Linguistics Research and Training Program (Principal Investigator)
2007-2008 Microsoft Research Asia Grant #AL07607
Project Title: ASIA-SIGNOPEDIA – An Online Sign Language Knowledge Base Composed
Collaboratively by Internet Users (Co-Principal Investigator with Prof. Ronald Chung, Computer Vision Laboratory, Department of Mechanical & Automation Engineering, Chinese University of Hong Kong)
2005-2007 Qualitative Education Fund
Project Title: Promotion of Deaf Literacy through Hong Kong Sign Language (Co-Investigator)
2003-2007 Nippon Foundation Grant (Phase I)
Project Title: Practical Dictionaries of Asian Sign Languages (Principal Investigator)
2003-2005 S.K. Yee Medical Foundation #AL03351
Project Title: Promotion of Deaf Communication through Hong Kong Sign Language
(Principal Investigator)
2004-2006 RGC Grant #AL01278
Project Title: Development of Hong Kong Sign Language by Deaf Children (Principal Investigator)
   

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COLLABORATION

2019-2022 National Science Foundation Project, “Two-verb predicates in sign languages: Typological Variation and Emergence” granted to Dr. Diane Brentari, Susan Golden Meadow, and Maria Coppala, Department of Linguistics, University of Chicago.
(Consultant to Principal Investigator)
2012-2017 National Science Foundation Project on ‘A Typological Analysis of Handshape: Gesture, Homesign, and Sign Language’. granted to Dr. Diane Brentari, Susan Golden Meadow, and Maria Coppala, Department of Linguistics, University of Chicago.
(Consultant to Principal Investigator)

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER ACTIVITIES

  1. Asia Pacific Sign Linguistics Research and Training Programm (2003-present, http://www.cslds.org/apsl/)

    Promotion of and establishment of Sign Linguistics research in Asian Universities through The Asia Pacific Sign Linguistics Research and Training Program (The APSL Program) organized by The Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies. Countries include Royal University of Phnom  Penh (Phnom Penh,  Cambodia), University of South Pacific (Fiji), Kwansei University (Osaka, Japan0, University of Indonesia ( Jakarta, Indonesia), and University of Kelaniya (Columbo, Sri Lanka), Yangon University of Foreign Languages (Yangon, Mynamar).

  2. Project Shuwa (2019-present, https://projectshuwa.com/)

    Project Shuwa is the joint research efforts of CSLDS, Google(Asia) and BitStudio (an extension of Google(Asia). It aims to further expand the existing Asian SignBank (http://cslds.org/asiansignbank/) to support Asian universities to develop sign linguistics research and training. It uses AI technology for sign language recognition as the basis for building the technological infrastructure of the signbank, enabling the incorporation of more signs, existing or new, into the database system at a relatively faster speed. Initially, Hong Kong Sign Language and Japanese Sign Language are used to test the model. The first research output is SignTown (https://www.signtown.org/), a multi sign language learning platform using AI technology.

  3. Establishment of Sign Bilingualism and Co-enrollment Education for deaf and hearing children in a mainstream setting (2006-present, http://cslds.org/slco/en/intro2.php#:~:text=Thanks%20to%20the%20seeding%20fund,the%20guiding%20principles%20of%20%22Sign)

    Since 2006, The Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies has been innovating an approach of education that potentially benefits both deaf and hearing children in a mainstream classroom. The Sign Bilingualism and Co-enrollment (SLCO) in Deaf Education Programme is grounded with findings of years of sign linguistics research, including research on deaf children’s language acquisition. To date, the Programme is firmly anchored in a kindergarten, a primary school and a secondary school in Hong Kong. The Centre is currently advising on establishing SLCO education in China, Macau and Singapore.

  4. Establishment of SLCO Community Resources Limited, a non-project organization to promote bimodal bilingualism in society (Jan 2016-present, https://www.slco.org.hk/en/) 

    This non-profit organization promotes bimodal bilingualism in society through provideing quality services to support various sectors of the population especially children whose needs can be addressed via the support of sign language and spoken language.

External Advisor

2016-present Advisor, Centre for Disability Studies, University of Kelanya, Sri Lanka. 
2015-2018 External Expert & Member, Scientific and Advisory Board for Association for
Child Education, Istanbul, Turkey
2015-present Academic Advisor, School of Language Rehabilitation, Beijing
Language and Culture University, China.
2011-present Member, Expert Advisory Committee, National Research Centre for Sign
Language and Braille, Beijing Normal University, China.

PUBLIC SERVICES

Hong Kong

2017- present Member, Hong Kong Joint Council for People with Disabilities
2014-present  Member, Working Committee on Sign Language Teaching and Sign Language
Interpretation Accreditation Subcommittee, Rehabilitation Advisory Committee, HKSAR Government
2009-present  Member, Working Committee on the Promotion of Sign Language, Rehabilitation
Advisory Committee, HKSAR Government

AWARDS AND HONORS

2020 Hong Kong ICT Awards - Smart People (Smart Education and Learning) Award – Silver Award
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=312420576914824&extid=NS-UNK-UNK-UNK-IOS_GK0T-GK1C&ref=sharing
2020 Zero Project - Innovative Practice Award on Education, the Essl Foundation, February 21-23 (https://conference.zeroproject.org/zeroprojectconference20)
2018 Zero Project- Innovative Practice Award on Accessibility, the Essl Foundation, February 21-23.
2017 Asia For Good Readers’ Choice Award, DBA-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia, Oct 4.
2017 Finalist, DBA-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia, Oct 4. 
2016 Finalist, Compassion Award, HK & Macau Taiwanese Charity Fund Limited
2016 Chief Executive’s Award for Teaching Excellence for Special Education Needs, 1st runner  up - Sign Bilingualism and Co-enrollment in Deaf Education, Kowloon Bay St    John’s the Baptist Primary School.
2014 CU50.The People《中大五十。人》錄像系列 （https://www.50.cuhk.edu.hk/en/cu50thepeople/gladystang）
2013 Red Cross Humanities Award （http://web.redcross.org.hk/ha2014/awardee/gladys_tang.html )
2013 Healthy Mobile Phone/Tablet APPS 2012 for the Exploring Hong Kong Sign Language,  Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration, Government of HKSAR.

 

©2022 Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong