EDUCATION

 

1996 PhD in Linguistics
University of Edinburgh, UK

 

1982 MA in Chinese Linguistics
Liaoning University, China
Degree awarded by Sun Yat-sen University, China

 

1979 Bachelor’s-level Qualification in Chinese Language and Culture
Liaoning University, China

 

EMPLOYMENT

 

December 2020–present Emeritus Professor
Curtin University, Australia

 

2005–2020 Lecturer / Senior Lecturer / Associate Professor / Professor
Curtin University, Australia

 

1999–2004 Senior Lecturer
University of Auckland, New Zealand

 

1994–1999 Lecturer / Senior Lecturer
University of Otago, New Zealand

 

1991–1993 Teaching Fellow
University of Edinburgh, UK

 

1982–1989 Associate Lecturer / Lecturer
Sun Yat-sen University, China

 

I have approximately 40 years of tertiary teaching experience in Chinese language and culture at universities in China, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. In addition to teaching undergraduate courses, I have taught Honours and Master’s-level classes in Chinese language, linguistics, and translation. I have extensive experience in the design and development of new courses across different levels of study. During my time at the University of Otago, I was responsible for the planning and development of 12 new Chinese courses. At the University of Auckland, I was also actively involved in the development of new courses, including courses in translation and linguistics.

 

Throughout my teaching career, I have maintained a consistently high standard of teaching. My courses have received consistently strong evaluations from students. Drawing on my extensive teaching experience, I have also published one reference book and four textbooks, making a substantial contribution to scholarship and resources for Chinese language teaching.

 

I am a linguist by training and hold a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh. My primary research area is vague and elastic language across different cultures. The originality of my research lies in challenging the traditional ‘all-or-none’ approach to the interpretation of utterances and in developing an understanding of the ‘middle ground’ in meaning and interpretation. My research, beginning with my PhD thesis, The Semantics of Fuzzy Quantifiers (University of Edinburgh, 1996), and extending through my subsequent work on vague and elastic language and cross-cultural communication, has made significant contributions to the field and has attracted international recognition.

 

I have more than 20 years of research experience in Chinese language and pragmatics. My research has made significant contributions to the field. I have published eight research books and more than 40 additional scholarly publications with reputable academic publishers, including Cambridge University Press, and in prestigious international journals, including Applied Linguistics, The Modern Language Journal, and Journal of Pragmatics. My publications address effective cross-cultural communication, with particular attention to Chinese, as well as Chinese linguistics, Chinese language pedagogy, and linguistics more broadly.

 

I have supervised research students since 1999, with many successful completions, and have obtained a number of competitive research grants. These research activities have generated substantial outputs and demonstrate a sustained and productive contribution to the field.

 

Here is a list of my publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Grace-Zhang-16/publications