Research output

Research output

Language and Technology

This group investigates the role of technologies in linguistic research and language pedagogy, and the impact of technology, specifically Artificial Intelligence on language teaching and learning. It draws on existing strengths in AI and multilingualism, corpus linguistic technologies and language learning, and computer mediated communication, with potential collaborations with the School of Languages and the School of Advanced Technology, as well as further afield with the School of Science and XJTLU Entrepreneur College (Taicang).

The group builds on a track record of internal and external grant success including from MoE, XJTLU Key Programme Special Fund, Research Development Fund, Teaching Development Fund, Suzhou Science and Technology Project and HSK International Research Fund.

The members of the group also have a number of honors and titles, such as Deputy Chair of the Translation Technology Education Society and Vice Chair of the China EAP Association, plenary speaker at KATE International Conference 2022 (Dr Zou), and the Innovative Works prize in the 2021 Linghang Cup Jiangsu Multimedia Educational Software Competition (Dr Zou).

Health Humanities

The Health Humanities Research Group takes an interdisciplinary approach to topics such as the representation of health and illness in texts, the semiotics of health and illness, the interaction between health, culture and religion, and the language of health and illness. Its members span the fields of linguistics, literature, media studies, and public health.

The group additionally hosts research seminars, talks, and reading groups. Recent events include seminars on communication issues in medical encounters; disfigurement, discrimination, and the media; and applying corpus linguistics to healthcare communication.

The group builds on members’ previous successes in external funding (such as the National Natural Science Foundation project ‘Leveraging behavioral science to augment voluntary blood donation in China’) and publications on health and media (JOMEC: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies), mental health and literature (Modernist Cultures), healthcare and social context (Global Public Health; Ethnicity & Health), and historical perspectives on health and illness (English Studies; Neophilologus; Public Understanding of Science; Journal of Science Communication). The group is currently involved in editing a book titled Health Cultures in the Asian Global South.

Urban and Culture

The Urban and Culture Research Group explores diverse urban experiences in multiple ways. It highlights its interdisciplinary nature by engaging disciplines such as sociology, economics, history, geography, anthropology, management, public policy, cultural studies and other related areas. With a particular focus on the East Asian Region, especially Greater China Region studies (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), this research group highlights its particularities by comparatively conducting research by engaging existing research across different countries to push forward the theoretical boundary, it also carries out cross-disciplinary research to inform and influence debates on a broad range of issues on urban environments. The group’s three main strands of research are: urban development, which focuses on processes such as urbanization, economic growth, and social change; urban sustainability, addressing the environmental, social, and economic aspects of maintaining sustainable urban spaces; and cultural and economic transformations, which examine how tourism, culture, and economic activities influence and reshape urban environments and their management.

Heritage and Communication

The Heritage and Communication Research Group explores the preservation, representation, and utilisation of cultural heritage, including the built environment (e.g., conservation, regeneration and revitalisation, economic growth and sustainability), creative industries (e.g., film and TV industries, new media technologies/social media) and identity-building through cultural representation (e.g., cultural diplomacy and nation-branding). This intersects with questions of identity, agency, and ownership in intellectual, political or economic terms.

Members’ recent and current research includes revitalising rural communities, the heritage sites in Suzhou Historical City, and the role of China’s creative industries in the nation’s attempt to refresh its image and to build international soft power.

The group builds on existing expertise in cultural heritage, including a strong track record in external funding both locally and internationally. This includes projects funded by the British Academy, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Chiang-ching Kuo Foundation, the British Council, National Social Science Fund of China, and funding through municipal and provincial governments in Ningbo, Suzhou, Wuxi, and Fujian.”