Biography

My work involves using a combination of computational modelling, behavioural studies, and corpus analysis to investigate various aspects of language processing and how the processes are related to education, learning, and memory. I have applied computational modelling to word reading in different populations including children, adults and patients, as well as how environmental and developmental factors affect learning to read and their implications for teaching practice. I am also interested in cross-linguistic differences in different reading systems (e.g., English versus Chinese).

Normal and impaired language processing

• What word properties are critical for visual word recognition?
• How do multiple reading pathways contribute to reading aloud and reading comprehension?
• How does the brain support normal language processing, and how does it change after damage (e.g., stroke)?
• What are the mechanisms underlying language recovery?

Language development and literacy acquisition

• What are the influences of oral language skills and learning experience on literacy acquisition?
• The effectiveness of early reading instruction

Psycholinguistic database and corpus analysis

• The development of psycholinguistic database for traditional Chinese word processing
• Corpus-derived semantic variables (e.g., semantic variability)

Cross-linguistic comparison and bilingualism

• The reading effects in English versus Chinese
• The influences of phonetic distance on L2 vocabulary learning