Jette G. HANSEN EDWARDS (President)
Fields of Study:
Second language/multilingual phonological acquisition and use
World Englishes
Hong Kong English
Multilingual speech intelligibility
Profile:
Professor Jette G. Hansen Edwards is Professor of Applied English Linguistics and Chair of the Department of English at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Hansen Edwards holds a master’s degree from Purdue University and a PhD from The Ohio State University.
Professor Hansen Edwards has a diverse range of research interests including second language/multilingual phonological acquisition and use, world Englishes (with a particular focus on Hong Kong English), and second language writing. At the heart of her work is challenging the hegemony of English as a global language in order to empower multilingual learners and users of English. Her research has primarily focused on learners and users of English in Asia, aiming to transform pedagogical practice in the teaching of English to multilingual speakers.
Professor Hansen Edwards has published widely in her research areas and is the co-editor (with M. L. Zampini) of Phonology and Second Language Acquisition (2008 & 2011, Studies in Bilingualism, John Benjamins), a seminal volume in L2 phonology. She is currently writing a book entitled The Sounds of English around the World: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, in contract with Cambridge University Press (2021). This book is the first to place world Englishes and sociolinguistic variation at the centre of the discussion of English phonetics and phonology. In addition, Professor Hansen Edwards is writing a volume on Social Factors in L2 Phonetics and Phonology, also in contract with Cambridge University Press (2021).
As part of her work on challenging linguistic hegemonies and transforming pedagogical practice, Professor Hansen Edwards is currently working on an open-access website for a project entitled “Telling stories: A digital humanities approach to documenting linguistic diversity in Hong Kong.” Funded by a Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund) grant from the HKSAR, the project aims to: raise awareness of the rich cultural and linguistic heritage of Hong Kong as well as the cultural and linguistic richness found among ethnic minorities and members of the deaf community in Hong Kong. It also aims to document and protect endangered languages in Hong Kong. The website will serve as an educational tool and research resource for educators, schools, students, and academics. (Visit the website here.)
Professor Hansen Edwards serves as Series Editor for the Routledge Advances in Teaching English as an International Language (RATEILS) and is Co-Editor of the Asian Journal of English Language Teaching (AJELT). She serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Cambridge Elements in Phonetics Series published by Cambridge University Press and the Advisory Board of the Journal of Applied English.