Centre for East Asian Studies

Profile

Dr Catherine Hua Xiang (M. Ed, PhD) is currently the Mandarin Chinese Co-ordinator at the Language Centre and she is responsible for setting up the Mandarin Chinese modules on the new MSc in East Asian Studies. Catherine is from Shanghai, China. She has extensive experience in Mandarin Chinese teaching both in the UK and China. Catherine completed her M.Ed in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) with commendation at the Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol.

She has recently completed her Ph.D. in the area of cross-cultural communication and pragmatics at the Open University, with a particular focus on the Chinese and British English language and culture. Catherine is interested in cultural impact on learners’ linguistic production and evaluation. Her research has extensive pedagogical implications in the new area of learning Chinese as a foreign language. Therefore, the social-cultural aspects are fully represented in the Chinese modules taught on the MSc. Catherine believes this is one of the strengths of the master degree and it will be highly beneficial for students who wish to work or study in China. Catherine has presented her research at many international conferences.

Catherine is also an executive member of the British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL). She is the representative of BAAL for the postgraduate Cambridge Linguistics Association. She works actively with postgraduate students and has organized several workshops on various issues involved in their studies or lives.