Chiung-Wen Hsu

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Chia-Hua (Vivian) Tu

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Janet Cruickshank

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Dayong Huang

research interests

My research interest and strength is in language testing, which was fostered during my MA study and developed afterwards. In recent years, I published some articles on language testing and teaching. I have also done some research in aviation English testing and miscommunication in aviation English. I hope to continue my research in language testing during my PhD study in the University of Aberdeen. Since I came to this university, I have being helped by both my supervisor (Dr. Mark Garner) and other teachers and the administrative staff in the School of Language and Literature. I hope and believe, with their continuous support, I will finish my PhD study on time.

finished research projects and published papers

projects
Development of 'The oral English test bank for non-English majors in China Civil Aviation Flight University' (directed);
Studies of dictionary usage in foreign language examinations (directed);
The investigation of the teaching & learning effectiveness of English majors in China Civil Aviation Flight University (directed);
The reform of College English teaching for pilots (participated);
Development of 'Aviation English training and testing system for Chinese pilots' (participated);
Development of 'Aviation English training and testing system for Chinese controllers' (participated).

publications
A Preliminary investigation of CET4 washback. Proceedings of International Language Teaching and Testing Conference, Shanghai Jiaotong University, September 2002;
Review of studies on washback effect in language testing. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 4/2002;
How to improve the positive washback of CET test in China. Journal of Wuhan University, 5-1/2002;
Authenticity in language testing. Language Teaching and Research, 2/2004;
Miscommunication in aviation English and flight accidents. Journal of Civil Aviation University of China, 1/2005;
On the latest college English teaching reform in China. Journal of Southwest Nationalities University, 7/2005.
Studies on dictionary uses in foreign language testing. Teaching English in China: Journal of China English Language Education Association, 4/2005;
A preliminary investigation of the teaching quality and learning efficiency in English Majors—a case study of China. Civil Aviation Flight University, Foreign Language Teaching(special issue), 6 /2006
An interpretation of the latest ICAO language requirements for pilots and controllers—implication for China Civil Aviation. Journal of China Civil Aviation, 1/2007

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Mei Yang

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Esmaeil Momtaz

Education History

• 1977-1979 Associate Degree,English, Hamedan Teacher Training Centre(Iran)
• 1979-1984 BA,English Language and Literature, Allameh Tabatabaie University(Iran)
• 1987-1990 MA,Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Allameh Tabatabaie University (Iran)
• Currently PhD,Applied Linguistics,University of Aberdeen (the UK)

Publications

Books

• English Grammar and Tests
• General English for University Students (a collaborative publication)
• Adolf Hitler's Biography (A Translation Work)

Articles and Research Projects

• Explaining the Problems of Iranian Students in Writing English Complex Sentences with Adverbial Clauses' Roshd Foreign Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11, No. 41 (1995)
• A Phonological Contrastive Analysis of Major Dialects in Four Main Cities Of Hamedan Province

Employment History

• High school teacher from 1979 to 2005 Iran Ministery of Education
• Part-time university lecturer from 1990 to 2005 Islamic Azad University
• Full-time university lecture from 2005 to 2006 Islamic Azad University
• Linguistics tutor, University of Aberdeen

Responsibilities

• Head of the English Department in the Islamic Azad University of Malayer
• Part-time and Full-time Faculty Member in the Islamc Azad University of Malayer
• The Executive Director of the English Language Teaching Festivals held in the Islamic Azad University of Malayer

Recent Articles and Conference Presentations

• 'Does Collaborative Learning Improve EFL Students' Reading Comprehension?' (With M. Garner) Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 1/1 (2010)
• An Empirical Study of the Relative Effectiveness of Collaborative and Private Reading in EFL Teaching in Iran Paper presented at the joint IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG and SWON event held at the Open University, Milton Keynes, 11 December 2009
• Teaching Reading Comprehension through Collaborative Learning Paper presented at the 44th Annual International IATEFL Conference and Exhibition at the Harrogate International Centre, Harrogate, UK held from 7th-11th April 2010

   

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Wangying Lu

Wanying Lu has temporarily suspended her studies.

Yunhong (Emily) Wang

Emily is doing an ecological study of language use among Chinese Christians in Britain, building on a small study she did under Mark Garner's supervision in her MA at the University of Northumbria. She is investigating issues to do with variable use of Cantonese, Mandarin, and English (and perhaps other languages), as well as the adaptation of new forms of language to express religious concepts that have no cultural roots in the speech community.

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Bo (Bill) Yang

value and significance of the research

In light of FLA and SLA, there must be some particular rules and regulations during the course of foreign language learning for Chinese. For foreign language some universal rules are playing a special role upon us. The comparative research on EFL of English majors at university level between China and UK in terms of studying motivation, learning strategies and learning processes, is a big contribution to the world’s SLA field from a macro scope. China is a big country of foreign language teaching, and many problems need to be solved; methods, techniques and even model in solving the problem will have a great impact on the students’ future as teachers, translators, interpreters or as academic researchers of foreign language, linguistics, applied linguistics and literature. Hence we must deal with these problems within the university in a satisfactory way, for this research has practical significance and social value.

Every country has its merits and demerits. UK is an indispensable member of European Union, and it must have its own characteristics of foreign language teaching, no matter it is English major or French major, so the comparative research can foresee its practical results, improve studying as well as teaching, and also advance the society, the development of foreign language teaching.

In theory, right now there are no comprehensive and authoritative theories and models for SLA, especially in terms of processes, methods and strategies, and there are much less comparative results. If I can succeed in this research, it must exert a profound influence upon the theories and practices of SLA throughout the whole world. Anything that has never happened before or that has filled in the blanks of some certain field will do much good to theories and practices of foreign language teaching to one country; in terms of the several aspects of comparative research between the major students of China and UK, it sure will have a great impact upon SLA of the world.

In practice, there is social significance, educational influence and some concrete goods: it can increase teaching quality, improve the relationship between teachers and students, and also it can consolidate the harmonious society, and so on.

previous degrees

Bachelor Degree (English Teaching), Beihua University (1996); MA (Theoretical Linguistics and Applied Linguistics) , Beihua University (2005).

I started my PhD research at the University of Aberdeen in 2006 as a full-time student.

research interests

“3 Contra-Tricentric Approach——Systematic approach to English acquisition and to English teaching and learning of English Majors at the University Level in China”

recent publications

1. Journal of Beihua University, Journal of Beihua University Press, Aug., 2004, Editor-in-Chief, Huang Zhan. First author: 'On teaching design of "College English"'. (page115). ISSN 1009-5101 CN-1319/C, provincial level

2. Journal of Beihua University (Beihua University Press). Aug.,2004. Editor-in-Chief Huang Zhan. Co-author: 'Elementary Research upon English Acquisition of Chinese Middle School Students'. (page2). ISSN 1009-5101 CN-1319/C, provincial level

3. English Teaching & Research in Normal Colleges and Universities, Arts Branch of Advanced Education Bureau of National Education Department & Foreign Language Teaching Research Team of National Normal Colleges and Universities, Oct., 2005. Editor-in-Chief: Bao Tianren. Co-author: 'Competence Cultivation Experiment and Research Report of English Major Students of Normal Colleges and Universities'. ISSN 1008-7974, nation level

4. College English, College English Press. March, 2006. First author: 'Research on English Class Teaching Affect Factors of English Majors', national level

5. English Teaching & Research in Normal Colleges and Universities, Arts Branch of Advanced Education Bureau of National Education Department & Foreign Language Teaching Research Team of National Normal Colleges and Universities, June., 2006. Editor-in-Chief: Bao Tianren. First author: 'Teaching module Reform to "Integrated Skills of English"'. ISSN 1008-7974, nation level

other interests

singing English & Chinese songs, imitation, table tennis (used to be the champion in college career), volleyball, badminton.

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former PhD students

Lesley Black

Thesis title: When is a German not a German? Representations of identity in the life narratives of Russian-Germans.

Awarded January 2007.

Barbara Loester

Awarded 2009.

I started my undergraduate studies in English and German at the Catholic University of Eichstätt, Germany and completed an MA in English in 2000 at the University of Aberdeen.

research interests

My PhD project focuses on the attitudes towards the local language varieties and identity construction in the North-East of Scotland and Bavaria. The fieldwork which provides the data for the study was conducted in the small towns of Peterhead and Aichach which serve as a centre for a largely rural hinterland. However, these towns connect the rural regions to the major centres of Aberdeen and Augsburg and Munich which provide employment for a considerable number of people from the area. Peterhead and Aichach can therefore be regarded as a link between areas traditionally associated with dialectology research and those associated with sociolinguistic projects.

The study draws on mainly qualitative interview data which focuses on exploring people's attitudes towards the local variety. When do they use the Doric and Altbairisch? Is dialect a good thing altogether? Another issue I investigated is their experiences with the local variety - how were they treated in school and in their professional life, considering that they use dialect? How do they view their own speech? The participants were also asked to explore what characteristics they attribute to themselves as dialect speakers and to their community.

As Bavaria and the North-East of Scotland are distinct parts of larger communities, Germany and Scotland, their inhabitants do perceive themselves to be different. They can be distinguished in speech, political tradition and culture from the larger political/administrational units they are part of. Both areas display strong connections with the local vernacular and a distinct idea of identity connected to the local language variety, more so than other regions in Scotland and Germany. This study will judge how natives define this distinctiveness through the analysis of their language and social attitudes. What in their eyes makes a good 'Buchaner' or Bavarian? Can an outsider ever become a local? Do they feel disadvantaged or even discriminated against in comparison to standard variety speakers? It seems that, overall, the Bavarians have a more distinct attachment to their dialect and are more confident using it in public than are the Doric speakers. In contrast, however, the Doric speakers report fewer incidents where they felt disadvantaged because of their linguistic background.

recent conference presentations

Attitudes and identity construction in North-East Scotland. Paper presented at the 5th UK Language Variation and Change Conference (UKLVC5), University of Aberdeen, 12-14 September 2005.

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Pingrong Dong

Awarded 2009.

I began my linguistic research in 2000 while doing my MA in Chongqing University, P.R. China, with research interests involved mental spaces in cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition in psycholinguistics, and discourse analysis. With many non-linguistic factors in my former research inexplicable, I have been trying to find the solutions in sociolinguistics, and then started my PhD research at the University of Aberdeen in 2005 as a full-time student.

research interests

My PhD research aims to explore the complex interrelations between identity and second language acquisition by means of investigating the second language socialization process of Chinese students into the academic communities of a British university. Two analytic foci are adopted in this investigation: one is literacy to deal with identities in their academic writings, and the other is narrative to deal with identities in their experiences of the changing self. The purpose is to understand how they establish, position, or reposition themselves as a participant or non-participant in the academic communities during and after their one-year study through observing their spoken and written communication experiences mainly in an ethnographic way. The observation is centred on their exposure and access to English language as a medium by which they might be included or excluded as a L2 learner by the academic communities in their socialization processes.

recent publications

2005 A way to improve teaching academic paper writing: a survey on problems of dissertations of English majors of Chongqing University. Proceedings of the 2004 International Symposium on Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching, Beijing-Shanghai. Cedar Falls, Iowa: University of Northern Iowa.

2003 Mental spaces and the imagery interpretation in Chinese ancient poems. Foreign Languages and their Teaching 3: 4-6.

2003 Interpreting the implicit reference of third person by schema theory. Journal of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Social Sciences Edition) 16: 65-68.

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Sandra McRae LLB MA(Hons) PhD

Awarded 2006.

Thesis title: The Demonstrative Pronouns in the North-East of Scotland: a Sociolinguistic Study of Change in Progress.

publications

McRae, S. (2000). The demonstrative pronouns in the North-East: an introductory discussion. Scottish Language 19: 66-82.

McRae, S. (2004). Demonstrative use and variation in the Lower Garioch. In McClure, J.D. (ed.). Doonsin' Emerauds: New Scrieves anent Scots an Gaelic/New Studies in Scots and Gaelic. Belfast: Cló Ollscoil na Banríona.

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