Yongyan Zheng

• PhD
• Professor at Fudan University

Market-driven neoliberal ideology advocates for the adoption of English as the common business language by multinational companies; however, this often clashes with multilingual realities. This study explores how neoliberal ideologies have made English a catalyst for language-related conflicts within language management across various stages at a S...

Previous studies have described diaspora members as linguistically stable subjects on whom bounded linguistic or ethnic categories are imposed, yet more recent research tends to view transnational identity as fluid and situational. This study investigates how adolescents with advanced Chinese and English proficiency living across China and the Unit...

Purpose: Based on the notion of translanguaging/trans-semiotizing, the study aims to explore an effective pedagogy in a foreign language classroom to respond to the multilingual and multimodal context and facilitate language teaching and learning. Specifically speaking, the study attempts to investigate the coordination of multiple semiotic resourc...

Drawing on Xiang and Lindquist’s notion of migration infrastructure, this study investigates how international students utilize contextual resources to enhance learning in English-medium instruction (EMI) degree programs in the Japanese context. We recruited 13 Chinese students enrolled in EMI postgraduate degree programs at four Japanese universit...

Drawing on the perspective of decolonizing methodology, this paper problematises the conventional interview technique of avoiding yes-or-no questions introduced by handbooks of research methods in applied linguistics. By demonstrating how this interview technique was found unsuitable in the first author's ethnographic study of multilingualism with...

In System’s 50th anniversary we celebrate the same aims and accomplishments that have made the journal a significant resource for applied linguistics. We also aspire to continue addressing established and cutting-edge research topics, to open for readers new ways of looking at second, foreign or heritage language learning by including new or revise...

Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) has significantly reshaped our understanding of second language learning and teaching across the micro, meso, and macro levels for several decades since its systematic introduction by Larsen-Freeman and Cameron (2008). This study conducts a comprehensive review of empirical research on second language learning...

This paper reports on an inquiry into a group of students’ Portuguese language learning with a focus on their access to economic, social, and cultural capital. The inquiry problematizes the traditional uncritical assumption of a shared pursuit of linguistic competence among students. Drawing on individual in-depth interviews with 14 participants at...

"The invited colloquium, “Researching Multilingually to Rethink EMI Policy and Practices”, organized by Xuesong Andy Gao (University of New South Wales) and Yongyan Zheng (Fudan University) took place on 18 March 2023, at the annual meeting of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) in Portland, Oregon, USA. This colloquium consiste...

This study aims to examine group trends and individual variability of descriptive Grammatical Complexity (GC) in writing development. A longitudinal sample of 41 high school EFL learners is followed for an academic year (12 waves of data collection), resulting in a corpus of 492 texts, coded for eight descriptive GC features of academic writing. Ou...

Informed by a combined framework of “translanguaging” and “epistemic injustice”, this paper examines how a group of teachers and students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds negotiated their knowledge participation through translanguaging in an English medium instruction (EMI) degree program at a Chinese university. Data were collected...

East Asia covers a very large area, and includes a large and diverse population (Sano et al., 2023). This chapter reviews the EMI situation in this context and presents an original study conducted in Japan, which is then examined for its implications for the wider region. Findings from this study suggest that students choose EMI courses to improve...

This study tracked the development of L2 writing of 39 intermediate-level EFL learners over one academic year. The purposes were to explore the relationship between variability and proficiency gains in L2 writing from the perspective of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) and to reveal the inherent developmental patterns of L2 writing development...

This study aims to explore how a group of Chinese American families transcend essentialist thinking through negotiating with different ideological orientations toward their heritage language and how these families’ different ideological profiles could influence the home language maintenance. Data were collected through three rounds of semi-structur...

Past research on English-medium instruction (EMI) has primarily focused on language-related challenges with scant attention paid to how language is entangled with epistemic access and epistemic injustice. Informed by the perspective of “epistemic (in)justice”, this study focused on how a cohort of students from diverse linguistic and cultural backg...

In this study we investigated how student engagement and disengagement change over the course of a semester in the L2 classroom. We modeled change at the inter- and intra-individual levels, using time-variant predictors to examine differences in student classroom engagement and disengagement trajectories. In addition to these temporal dynamics, we...

In this study, we investigated how student engagement and disengagement change over the course of a semester in the L2 classroom. We modeled change at the inter- and intra-individual levels, using time-variant predictors to examine differences in student classroom engagement and disengagement trajectories. In addition to these temporal dynamics, we...

随着近年来家庭多语现象的常态化，家庭语言政策已然成了社会语言学的研究热点之一。语言意识形态作为该领域传统研究模型的核心动力，决定着家庭语言管理和语言实践并联结着内外部的语言环境。然而，该因素在家庭语域的呈现方式较为分散，且并未突破传统模型对其的理论界定。本文认为Ruiz的语言“问题观”“权利观”与“资源观”不失为一种具有启发性的研究视角，能在丰富家庭意识形态理论基础的同时，进一步阐释该因素在多语教育场景中的内涵与外延。本文为三种取向在实证研究中的应用提供了针对性建议，并希望借此增强国际中文学习的主体性意识，为亚洲语境中家庭语言政策研究提供研究思路。

Translanguaging practices in Chinese as a second language (CSL) classrooms have been a heated topic in recent years, despite the longstanding Chinese-monolingual ideology. Against this backdrop, we have explored the functions of translanguaging practices in CSL classroom and the interplay of translanguaging and learners’ participation, by comparing...

In this study we investigated how student engagement and disengagement change over the course of a semester in the L2 classroom. We modeled change at the inter- and intra-individual levels, using time-variant predictors to examine differences in student classroom engagement and disengagement trajectories. In addition to these temporal dynamics, we...

Teachers’ emotions and professional identities in response to educational reforms play a key role in teacher development and policy implementation. However, little attention has been paid to the shifting emotions of teachers of LOTEs (languages other than English). Taking a social-psychological approach, this study examines the emotional reactions...

本研究考察了精细化句法复杂度对多维度写作质量的预测效果。研究对1个综合型句法复杂度指标和15个精细化句法复杂度指标建立回归模型，结果显示：精细化句法复杂度能够作为综合型句法复杂度的补充，更细致地呈现高质量作文句法特征。本文为精细化句法复杂度指标的可操作性提供了实证依据，为中国语境下的英语写作教学提供了启示。（解放军外国语学院学报） This study examines the effect of fine-grained syntactic complexity in predicting holistic and specific writing quality, by using 15 fine-grained syntactic complexity indices and cont...

Drawing on neoliberal ideology as a theoretical lens, this study critically examines how neoliberal ideological assumptions shape the interpretation and implementation of TGUP (Top Global University Project) as an English-medium instruction (EMI) policy in the Japanese context at multiple levels of government, universities, and multilingual interna...

This chapter is devoted to a discussion on modern language education programs in the Asia-Pacific region. The review aims to provide an overview of modern language education in three regions: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. The review highlights that English still dominates the modern language education landscape, either as the de fact...

Shanghai, we call ourselves the "Shanghai alliance of multilingual researchers". The research group echoes Chinese scholars' enthusiasm for conducting research on multilingualism, as well as their dedication to graduate training in the field. The group consists of around 10 core members, and during the last five years of its development the group h...

This study carried out speech production tests on 19 beginner learners of L1 Chinese Mandarin, L2 English, and L3 Russian. By using quantitative methods to analyze the voice onset time (VOT) and the distribution of learners' L2 English and L3 Russian, we aimed to explore the potential patterns in the production of L3 stop contrasts as well as the r...

Despite the predominant position of global English, teaching and learning of languages other than English (LOTEs) are gaining increasing attention in foreign language planning in China. This study aims to showcase the development of an elective Arabic language program in a Chinese university through the lens of agency as a spatial, temporal, and di...

Drawn on the notion of linguistic entrepreneurship (De Costa, P., Park, J. S., & Wee, L. (2016). Language learning as linguistic entrepreneurship: Implications for language education. Asia-Pacific Education Research, 25(5–6), 695–702, De Costa, P., Park, J. S., & Wee, L. (2019). Linguistic entrepreneurship as affective regime: Organisations, audit...

This study explores the language practices and beliefs of local employees at a Shanghai-based subsidiary of a German multinational company. We conducted a seven-month ethnographic study and collected data from the company’s publicly accessible documents, meeting transcripts, semi-structured interviews with five employees, and ethnographic notes. Qu...

Concomitant to the internationalization of higher education, Japan’s Ministry of Education announced a large-invest- ment initiative of “Top Global University Project” in 2014. The “Top Global University Project” encourages developing Eng- lish-medium instruction degree programs in Japanese universities with aims to attract overseas students and to...

This study aims to explore how ethnic identity, linguistic ideology, and family capital work in interaction in shaping Korean-Chinese migrant families’ multilingual planning against the backdrop of China’s rapid urbanisation and internal migration. A model of investment (Darvin and Norton [2015]. “Identity and a Model of Investment in Applied Lingu...

The study extends our understanding of the relationship between identity and Arabic learning in the Chinese context from a sociolinguistic perspective. Drawing on Darvin and Norton's (2015) model of investment, the study explores the interplay between identity and investment in the context of Chinese learners' motivation to learn Arabic. The sample...

This study uses a Q methodology to track the changing motivational profiles of 15 Chinese university students simultaneously engaged in second-language (L2) English and third-language (L3) Spanish learning over 1.5 years. Guided by complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), the study aims to investigate the initial trigger that propelled the Chinese le...

This paper reports on a mixed method study exploring demotivation among Uzbekistani students while they are learning Chinese in a Chinese university. In the study, we conducted a survey among 67 Uzbekistani students, and interviewed 30 of them about their experiences of learning Chinese. The analysis of the data revealed that a lack of self-confide...

This paper examines the multilingual translation efforts of a group of university student volunteers during the COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews of the volunteer team leader, team members, and a local community health worker. Findings identified time constraints, limited language proficiency, and...

This comparative inquiry investigated the family language planning in two distinctive socioeconomic communities in a Chinese metropolitan city. We followed a multilayered framework to probe into language beliefs, practices and management in the family domain as mediated by the interconnectivity of multiple contextual forces. We collected three type...

The study extends our understanding of the relationship between identity and Arabic learning in the Chinese context from a sociolinguistic perspective. Drawing on Darvin and Norton’s (2015) model of investment, the study explores the interplay between identity and investment in the context of Chinese learners’ motivation to learn Arabic. The sample...

The study of motivation based on non-English languages has attracted increasing attention in recent years, but related research in China is still limited. In an attempt to address this situation and with Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) as a framework, this paper studied seventeen Chinese university students’ motivational disposition t...

The last fifteen years have witnessed a burgeoning interest in multilingual learning, particularly the simultaneous learning of more than one foreign language, but related research in China is limited. This paper conducted a Q-methodology investigation into a group of Chinese university students who chose to learn Spanish as their L3 in parallel wi...

Students' dissatisfaction with peer assessment has been widely documented. While most relevant literature places focus on the cognitive (content and uptake of feedback) or structural (feedback design) dimensions, students' emotions in peer assessment have received scant attention. This study investigates the social-affective impacts of peer assessm...

This study extends our understanding of Chinese university students’ motivation to learn languages other than English (LOTEs) by adding a contextual dimension to the L2 Motivational Self System. The study drew on Higgins’ ([1987]. “Self-discrepancy: A Theory Relating Self and Affect.” Psychological Review 94: 319–340.) original Own-Other standpoint...

This study closely examined the motivational language selves of Chinese university students in the process of multilingual learning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve Japanese specialist majors. The qualitative data revealed the complex interplay between the participants’ language selves and complicated contextual influences. Th...

There have been widespread concerns over the decline of modern languages and waning interest in learning languages other than English (LOTEs) around the world, thought to be partly due to recent political events including Brexit and Trump’s aggressive isolationism in the United States. By contrast, governments in Greater China have energetically re...

This paper reports on a qualitative inquiry into Chinese multilingual scholars’ language practices in academic publishing as the Chinese government develops higher education competitiveness and expands multilingual foreign language education. Fifteen Chinese multilingual scholars from five non-English language divisions were interviewed. Bourdieu’s...

International scholarly publishing is a multifaceted and interconnected activity around the globe. This paper critically examines the linguistic facet of scholarly publication as a global phenomenon. We investigated the distribution of languages in the Social Sciences Citation Index and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index lists to determine Chin...

Second language (L2) learners' awareness of first language-second language (L1–L2) semantic differences plays a critical role in L2 vocabulary learning. This study investigates the long-term development of eight university-level Chinese English as a foreign language learners' cross-linguistic semantic awareness over the course of 10 months. A longi...

Very recently, the former spokesman of China's Ministry of Education launched a public attack on the national fervor for English learning in his personal blog ( Xinhua News , 2013). He forcefully argued that too much time and energy has been spent on learning English as a foreign language, which has seriously jeopardized Chinese citizens’ first-lan...

Second language (L2) learners’ awareness of first language-second language (L1–L2) semantic differences plays a critical role in L2 vocabulary learning. This study investigates the long-term development of eight university-level Chinese English as a foreign language learners’ cross-linguistic semantic awareness over the course of 10 months. A longi...

2013 年 5 月 第 34 卷 第 3 期 外语教学 Foreign Language Education May． 2013 Vol． 34 No． 3 t 5 200433e 9 t 学习者个体差异一直是二语习得领域的热点， 然而传统认知视角下的个体差异研究常常忽视其波动性、 交互 性。近年来兴起的动态系统理论可提供新思路。本文从外语学能与语言动机两大主要个体差异因素入手， 详细阐释 个体差异的复杂动态系统特征， 并从理论和实践两个层面探讨从动态系统视角进行个体差异研究时应注意的问题， 提 出使用反溯法、 混合法进行动态系统理论框架下的个体差异研究。 动态系统理论; 个体差异; 外语学能; 二语学习动机 培H319 t A t 1000-554452013903-0054-05 A...

This study aimed to investigate the nature of epistemological beliefs, conceptions of collaboration, and strategy use in Project-based Learning among Chinese business English students and to explore the relations among epistemological beliefs, collaboration, strategy use, and academic performance. 25 year-three students in a Sino-British joint Engl...

This paper reports on findings of a qualitative study that aimed to explore the relevance of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) to English Language Teaching (ELT) practices by closely examining Chinese learners' English learning from the perspective of the L2 Motivational Self System. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted during an academic...

The paper reports on a longitudinal multiple-case study that probed into four advanced university-level Chinese EFL learners’ situated vocabulary learning experiences and explored the role of L2 motivation in their productive vocabulary development. In the study, Lexical Frequency Profile analysis and semi-structured interviews were conducted with...

This paper reports findings of a study that investigated the vocabulary depth knowledge of 87 postsecondary Chinese EFL learners from the perspective of L1 influence. By means of a set of self-designed Vocabulary Depth Knowledge Test, L1 influence was respectively examined on the meaning sense and collocation aspect of vocabulary depth. Results sho...