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The Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will hold a public seminar, entitled Learning to read and write in Chinese and English: Research with twins and singletons, this Saturday (10 October) to provide parents, educators and researchers with the latest update on the research on literacy and some related research. 

Over the past decades, psychologists and scientists around the world have explored different important aspects of children’s literacy development through various experiments and research studies. Some studies from non-Chinese speaking countries suggest that the developmental milestones of twins and singletons might differ. Educators and parents are increasingly concerned about children’s literacy development both in the native language and also in other languages children learn, such as English in Hong Kong. Since literacy learning is closely linked to overall school performance, professionals and parents hope to enhance children’s learning by understanding the process of reading and writing. 

The seminar will involve two sessions. The morning session, entitled ‘Research and Practice in Literacy for Practitioners, Researchers, and Parents’, will be presented by Dr. Silvia Paracchini, School of Medicine, University of St. Andrews, Prof. Catherine McBride and Prof. Cheung Him, both of the Department of Psychology, CUHK, and Prof. Waye Mary Miu-Yee, School of Biomedical Sciences, CUHK. This session is a continuing education activity for members of the Division of Clinical Psychology and the Division of Educational Psychology, The Hong Kong Psychological Society (HKPS). Eligible members please register before this Thursday, 8 October. The afternoon session, entitled ‘Nurturing Early Literacy Development of Twins and Singletons’, will focus on practical research implications. Three talks will be given by Dr. Chow Bonnie Wing-yin, Department of Applied Social Science, The City University of Hong Kong, Dr. Wong Simpson Wai-lap, Department of Psychological Studies, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, and Dr. Zhou Yan-ling, Department of Early Childhood Education, The Hong Kong Institute of Education. This session will be conducted in Cantonese/Putonghua. Parents, education practitioners and members of the public are welcome. 

Both sessions will conclude with a panel discussion. The morning session will be hosted by Prof. Catherine McBride, Department of Psychology, CUHK, while the afternoon session will be hosted by Prof. Ho Connie Suk-han, Department of Psychology, the University of Hong Kong. 

Details of the seminar are as follows: