People

Hyun Kyung Rachel Lee

Postdoctoral Fellow

PhD in Human Communication, Development, and Information Sciences (HKU)

Dr. Rachel Lee’s research interests lie in the neural mechanisms underlying language processing in native and second language learners. She is also interested in utilizing electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate language learning and development in bilinguals and individuals with special educational needs.

Email: lhk759@connect.hku.hk

Junghwan Maeng

Postdoctoral Fellow

PhD in East Asian Languages, Literature, and Linguistics (UIUC)

Dr. Junghwan Maeng’s primary research interests center around sentence processing, with a particular focus on how structural information contributes to the formation of sentence representations across typologically distinct languages. Additionally, his work explores morphological processing across diverse populations, including native, nonnative, and bilingual speakers, with the goal of understanding the unique role of morphology within the mental lexicon.

Email: jmaeng@hku.hk

Jonah Lack

Ph.D. Candidate

Jonah Lack is a third year PhD student researching L1 and L2 morphological processing through EEG, and is specifically interested in the roles that form and meaning play during L1 and L2 language processing and acquisition and whether these roles are similar or different. His MA dissertation discussed structural priming in bilinguals, including current theories, methodologies, and trends. He is heavily interested in L2 processing and acquisition broadly, and has been studying Korean and Mandarin since the start of his Bachelor’s degree with the goal of attaining fluency in both.

Email: jlack@hku.hk

Samuel Sui Lung Sze

Ph.D. Candidate

Samuel Sze is a PhD student planning to research second language acquisition. Deeply interested in L2 processing, he hopes to utilize electroencephalography (EEG) and psycholinguistic paradigms to probe into L2 syntactic and morphological processing and L1-L2 differences. To explore these research themes, his research work will look into how Hong Kong L1-Cantonese L2-English speakers process L2 sentences and words.

Email: u3564255@connect.hku.hk

Joey Zhiyin Zhu

Ph.D. Candidate

Joey Zhu’s research interests lie in second language acquisition, especially in the phonological and morphological processing of L2 learners. Currently she is exploring whether there is a general structuring system across languages, with the help of structural priming in EEG studies.

Email: zzy0504@connect.hku.hk

Ryan Wong

Research Assistant

Ryan Wong is a year 3 undergraduate student and an aspiring linguist. He is still exploring all things linguistics to determine his particular research interests, but has built up an especial passion for morphology and syntax.

Email: u3594288@connect.hku.hk

Tan Magenta Elizabeth

Research Assistant

Magenta is a third-year undergraduate student double majoring in Psychology and Linguistics. In addition to her fascination with linguistic variation, she is particularly interested in the fields of second language acquisition and language cognition with the use of electroencephalography (EEG). 

Email: u3606395@connect.hku.hk

Philip Li

Research Assistant

Philip Li is a year 3 undergraduate student double majoring Design+ and neuroscience, with a minor in philosophy. He is interested in learning about the interdisciplinary applicational potential of EEG and related brain imaging technologies.

Email: plich@connect.hku.hk

Lawrence Cheung Hoi Ki

Research Assistant

Lawrence Cheung is a year 3 undergraduate student pursuing a double major in linguistics and cognitive science, with a minor in philosophy. He is particularly interested in the nature of meaning, encompassing both semantics and pragmatics, as well as the processes through which individuals acquire this knowledge.

Email: ulawlaw@connect.hku.hk