More about me
While my current research mainly focuses on processing causal relations in discourse, 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.
Beyond research, I was born and raised in Hangzhou, China, which I think is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is famous for West Lake (Xi Hu), and the picture at the top of the "Research" page on my website shows it after the snow. 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. Fun fact: In a parallel world where I’m not a psycholinguist, I’d love to be a dancer!