Bulletin Spring‧Summer Autumn‧Winter 1999

many other Asian societies w i t h large Chinese speaking populations. Long-term Plans A l t h o u g h the current RGC f unded project is expected to y i e l d many important benefits, the researchers are convinced of a further need to e x p a nd the research a nd to start t r a i n i n g services that w i l l have an impact on the lives of deaf people and their f ami ly members. They have thus p u t u p a long-term strategic research p r opo s al en t i t l ed ' As i an -Pac i f ic S i gn Languages / Deaf Studies Research and Training Programme' for consideration b y the C U HK Research Commi t t ee, and have successfully obtained seed-money f und i ng for the project. This programme is a long-term, comprehensive, interdisciplinary research and t r a i n i ng programme on sign languages and deaf studies i n the As i an - Pac i f ic r eg i on . Research a nd t r a i n i ng w i l l first focus on H o n g K o ng and g r a d u a l l y e x pand i n stages to i nco r po r a t e Southern China and Taiwan, No r t he r n China, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific c o u n t r i e s . Some of t he l o n g - t e r m objectives of this p r o g r amme i n c l u de the establishment of u n i v e r s i t y courses i n the h i s t o ry and g r amma t i ca l structure of H o n g Kong sign language and the Ho ng Ko ng deaf community, an undergraduate or postgraduate p r og r amme i n s p o k e n / s i gn language interpretation, and complete access to un i ve r s i ty degree programmes for deaf people i n H o ng Kong. The p r og r amme as currently envisioned includes a number of interrelated i n d i v i d u a l projects that fall into five major categories: (1) sign language linguistics, (2) sign language teaching, (3) sign language interpretation, (4) deaf education, and (5) deaf awareness. These p r o j ec ts w i l l be s u p p o r t ed b y donations as we ll as grants f r om international organizations and governments. A C U H K Deaf Education Fu nd has also been set u p at the University to collect donations that w i l l support projects under the programme, especially those related to the development of university level education programmes i n Ho n g Kong for deaf students. The f und was formally inaugurated i n May 1994 w i t h a generous contribution f r om the Ho n g Kong Association of Secretaries. Dr. James Woodward received his Ph.D. in sociolinguistics from Georgetown University, USA, in 1973. Before coming to CUHK in 1992, he worked for more than 20 years at Gallaudet University, the world's only liberal arts university for deaf people, as senior research scientist in the Culture and Communication Studies Program and in the International Center on Deafness. His current research interest is the historical-comparative study of Asian sign languages. Dr. Gladys Tang received her Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the University of Edinburgh in 1990 and is currently lecturer of linguistics in the English Department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include linguistic theory and second language acquisition, classroom processes and pedagogical grammar, curriculum development and planning, language testing theories and techniques, as well as Hong Kong sign language grammar. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Linguistics Society. Research 18