- Dissertation: Cheung, Sik Lee. (1991).The Acquisition of Locative Constructions by Cantonese Children.Stanford University, CA, USA.
- Master Thesis: Cheung, Sik Lee. (1986).Anaphora Production in Cantonese Narration.University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada.
Professional Certification:
- Certified ILR Cantonese Oral Proficiency Interview Tester
- Certified ACTFL Chinese Writing Proficiency Tester
- Certified ACTFL Cantonese Oral Proficiency Interview by Computer Tester
- Universality and Variability in Heritage Language Development
- Development and Maintenance of Cantonese as a Heritage Language
- Teaching and Learning of Cantonese as a Foreign Language
- Acquisition of Cantonese by Mandarin Speakers
- Simultaneous Bilingual Language Acquisition
Upcoming & Recent Conference Presentations:
- Dennig, S. L., Leung, G., & Uchikoshi, Y. (2016). The Marking of Indefiniteness in Narratives by Heritage Cantonese Speakers in the U.S. The 21st International Conference on Yue Dialects, December 12-13, 2016, The Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macau. (PPT)
- Dennig, S. L. (2016). Language Contact: The Production of Aspect Markers in Narratives by Advanced Heritage Cantonese Speakers. Presented at the 3rd Workshop on Innovations in Cantonese Linguistics (WICL-3), March 12-13, 2016, Columbus, OH.
- Dennig, S. L. (2015). Advanced Cantonese Curriculum for the 21st Century. Panel chaired by Professor Marjorie Chan of Ohio State University on Developing Materials for Cantonese Pedagogy in North America. Other panelists: D. Bourgerie, M. Chan, T.-H. Tsui, Y. Tan, & L. Chen. ACTFL Annual Convention & World Languages Expo, November 21, 2015, San Diego, CA. Presentation: https://prezi.com/jwrc438nb-5f/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
- Dennig, S. L., Leung, G., & Uchikoshi, Y. (2014b). Universality and Variability in Chinese Heritage Language: Implications for Researchers and Practitioners. 2014 American Association for Applied Linguistics Annual Conference, March 22-25, 2014, Portland, OR. (PPT)
- Dennig, S. L., & Leung, G. (2014a). Cantonese HL development: An examination of narratives from Cantonese-speaking children and adults. Second International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages, March 7-8, 2014, UCLA, CA. (PPT will be posted soon)
- Dennig, S. L. & Leung, G. (2012a). The Acquisition of Chinese as a First Language in the U.S.: The Cantonese Experience. Presented at the 24thNorth American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, University of San Francisco, June 8-10, 2012. To appear in C. Chu & Z. Li, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 24th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-24). Columbus, OH: Ohio State University.(Click here for the proceedings.)
- Dennig, S. L. & Leung, G. (2012b). Profiling the Frog Story Narratives of Cantonese Heritage Speakers in the U.S. International Conference on Bilingualism and Comparative Linguistics, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, May 15-16, 2012.
- Dennig, S. L., & Lowdermilk, M. K. (2011). Promoting global competence and oral communication skills via social media. ACTFL Annual Convention & World Languages Expo, November 19, 2011, Denver, CO.
- Dennig, S. L. (2011). Narration and description in major time frames in Mandarin. ACTFL Annual Convention & World Languages Expo, November 18, 2011, Denver, CO. (PPT)
- Dennig, S. L., Leung, G., & Uchikoshi, Y. (2011). Cantonese maintenance in the U.S. context: Referential development in narratives by Cantonese-English bilingual children in bilingual and English-only schools. AAAL Conference, March 26, 2011, Chicago, IL. (PPT)
- Dennig, S. L. (2010). Enhancing the teaching of culture and oral communication skills by interactive Internet tools. Chinese Language Teachers Association of California Spring Conference, March 6, 2010; Stanford, CA.
Chinese Language 15, 16, & 17: Beginning Cantonese Conversation
This is a 3-course series on beginning conversational Cantonese. The primary objective of this series is to help students build up a repertoire of vocabulary and basic grammatical structures so that they can:
- introduce themselves in an informal social situation,
- converse about themselves, their friends and families,
- talk about activities in daily lives, and
- engage in simple transactions.
Authentic materials such as Cantopop and movie clips are incorporated in the courses and Internet tools are used to enhance learning. There is also an optional field trip to a dim-sum restaurant or a Cantonese community every quarter to experience Cantonese culture.
Samples of students' production:
Chinese Language 15M, 16M, & 17M: Beginning Cantonese Conversation for Mandarin Speakers
The primary objective of the beginning series for Mandarin speakers and advanced Mandarin learners is to help students with some comprehension of Cantonese improve their ability to speak the language. Students will learn:
- vocabulary for talking about everyday activities,
- common Cantonese characters,
- differences between basic Cantonese and Mandarin grammar, and
- differences between Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciation,
Authentic materials such as Cantopop and movie clips are incorporated in the courses and Internet tools are used to enhance learning. There is also an optional field trip to a karaoke bar, a dim-sum restaurant, or a Cantonese community every quarter to experience Cantonese culture.
Samples of students' production:
Chinese Language 18, 19, & 20: Intermediate Cantonese Conversation
This is a 3-course series on intermediate conversational Cantonese. The primary objective of the intermediate series is to help students acquire the vocabulary:
- to engage in conversations about less concrete topics,
- to give directions and instructions, and
- to carry out transactions in linguistically unfamiliar situations.
Students will work on more complex grammar that allows them to express their ideas in a variety of sentence structures. Authentic materials such as Cantopop, movies, and news clips are incorporated in the courses and Internet tools are used to enhance learning. There is also an optional field trip to a a dim sum restaurant or a Cantonese community every quarter to experience Cantonese culture.
Samples of students' production:
Chinese Language 20A, 20B, & 20C: Cantonese through Films
This is a 3-course series on intermediate-high and advanced conversational Cantonese. The primary objective of this series is to help students become proficient speakers so that they can talk about a wide range of topics: students
- review movies,
- describe their communities,
- narrate events in different time frames by combining contextual information, time adverbials, and aspect markers in linguistically and culturally appropriate ways,
- discuss current events and topics of interest to them, and
- learn Cantonese characters.
Linguistic structures for textual cohesion, subordinating and coordinating sentences, and foregrounding and backgrounding information are emphasized. Authentic materials such as movies and news clips are incorporated in the courses and Internet tools are used to enhance learning. There is also an optional field trip to a dim sum restaurant or a Cantonese community every quarter to experience Cantonese culture.
Samples of students' production: