More about me

I have a broad interest in language processing and experimental semantics/pragmatics. I am interested in: How do we humans interpret the meaning of sentences and discourse in real-time? How do we use various cues to make predictions in processing, and what cues prompt these predictions?  How do we infer extra-semantic meanings, filling in unstated information to build a coherent understanding of communication? What is the relationship between the language we speak and our broader cognitive processes and perspectives on the world? I address these questions using a variety of research methods, including comprehension tasks, self-paced reading tasks, maze tasks and eye movements. Recently, I have been interested in some computational methods, so I am learning new skills and hope to use them in my future studies!

While most of my current studies investigate English, as a native Chinese speaker and a multilingual, I am also deeply interested in many topics in Chinese linguistics (e.g., classifiers and temporal expressions in Mandarin) as well as cross-linguistic comparisons of semantic and pragmatic phenomena. I am open to discussions and collaborations across all these fields.

Before beginning my DPhil study, I earned an MPhil in Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics at Oxford. Prior to that, I completed a BA in Chinese Language and Literature and a BA in History at Jilin University, China. 

My nonlinguistic interests include films, traveling and  dancing . I started learning Chinese dance when I was three. I gave it up many times but picked it up many-plus-one times, and I really enjoy dancing with friends and performing on the stage, although I am not a talented dancer. So a fun fact about me: I wish I could be a dancer in a parallel world where I am not a psycholinguist!