Personal Statement
I'm a sociolinguist based at the Department of English, University of Liverpool. My research uses linguistic ethnography and discourse analysis to understand the relationship between language, social change, and social inequalities, focusing on transnational China.

I hold a PhD in Sociolinguistics, jointly conferred by the National University of Singapore and King’s College London. I'm the author of Aspiring to be Global: Language and Social Change in a Tourism Village in China (2019). The book examines how English was used as a tourism resource in Yangshuo, China, as it turned to a tourism-based economy in the late 1990s and became a well-known ‘global village’/'English Corner' under neoliberal globalisation. I'm co-editor of two edited volumes: Unpacking Discourses on Chineseness (2021) and Language and Intercultural Communication in Tourism (2021). My other research interests include the semiotic and discursive construction of Chinese food(space), the intersection of language and race in institutional settings, and the language of (anti-)fame on social and algorithmic media. I have published in key journals of the field and won awards for my research, including the Ton Vallen Award in 2017 for my article on language and educational tourism and Editor’s Choice from Discourse, Context & Media for my article on online activism in 2022.

Externally, I'm a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, and an ESRC Assessor. I'm also an Area Editor in Sociolinguistics for Linguistics Vanguard.

I'm currently working on a research monograph exploring the racialised experiences of Chinese international students at British universities. The project was partly funded by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship.

I welcome applications from students interested in the above research areas. Please email me your CV and Research Proposal for an initial discussion. Here are the PhD entry requirements

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