Specifically, in pursuit of a collaborative community and excellence in language education, the Catalytic EAC Team (the Team) has worked tirelessly towards a learner-centred three-pronged approach, reflecting their insights and resilience: 1) Faculty-based ELTU Curriculum, 2) Programme or course-based EAC Project, and 3) Individual-based learning support through the Peer-tutoring Scheme.

The Team is led by Dr Jose Lai, Director of ELTU, with strong support from four Senior Lecturers, namely Dr Olive Cheung, Dr Allen Ho, Ms Ella Leung, and Mr Steven Yeung. “It never occurred to me that we will receive such a prestigious award from the University. Really glad to learn that our hard work in enhancing academic literacy has paid off,” said Dr. Lai, who was thrilled and greatly honoured to have received the award. “It represents collective achievements for the entire Unit because most of our colleagues, including teaching, project and administrative staff members have also played a part in the process. Credits should be given to all concerned.”

The Team recognises the importance of maximising student engagement in the learning process. 3Rs – relevance, readiness, and reflection – are three highlighted elements of the Team’s teaching philosophy. In designing learning materials or activities, they observe the relevance of language learning to students’ respective subject learning experience. In delivering their learning support, they do their best to provide intervention at the opportune moment to ensure student readiness. In improving their practice, they conduct reflection to review experience and outcomes. 

To complement the formal ELTU curriculum, the Team has launched two signature projects that won them the University Education Award – English Across the Curriculum (EAC) and the Peer-tutoring Scheme (PTS). EAC is the largest scale of interdisciplinary collaboration across the University to date. The Team collaborates closely with content teachers to enhance students’ disciplinary literacies through the integration of content learning and English learning. 

PTS offers informal opportunities for students to consult trained peer tutors on the use of English language in different areas of need. The Team has engaged students as partners (SaP) in the process and provided a supportive platform for both the peer tutors and peer tutees to grow and shine. Due to the diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds of most tutors, PTS has also created a natural platform for internationalisation at home to take place.
The University Education Award is a prestigious University-level award to commend outstanding faculty members for their significant contributions to enhancing student-learning experience. It is presented each year to up to three outstanding staff members or teams.