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Dr Weihua Zhu

Education: PhD in Linguistics

Affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Address:

1264 Van Hise Hall

1220 Linden Drive

Madison, WI 53706

USA

Phone: +1-608-262-9218

Fax: +1

Mobile: +1

Email: wzhu34@wisc.edu

Web: https://alc.wisc.edu/staff/weihua-zhu/


Vita

Dr Weihua Zhu has great passion for teaching and research. She received a PhD degree in linguistics from the University of Florida and is an applied linguist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Teaching is her lifelong career. She has taught diverse courses at various universities, such as English Composition, Intermediate Chinese, Business Chinese, Introduction to Linguistics, Language Use in Society, Second Language Acquisition, and TESOL Methods.

Weihua strongly believes that research can inform teaching. She has conducted research in discourse analysis, Chinese pragmatics, pedagogy, and English as a multilingual franca. She has reviewed articles for nine academic journals including Pragmatics, Journal of Pragmatics, Australian Journal of Linguistics, International Journal of Chinese Linguistics, Acta Linguistica Academica, and Journal of Politeness Research. She has reviewed book proposals and manuscripts for the prestigious publisher Routledge. She has also published articles in Multilingua, Acta Linguistica Academica, Pragmatics, Text & Talk, Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict, and Journal of Pragmatics. The articles focus on salient communicative acts performed by native Chinese speakers in Mandarin Chinese and English as a multilingual franca, such as strong disagreement, extended current speech, and unexpected topic switching. In addition, Weihua proposes a model of context, practice, and perception and raises awareness of the importance of understanding language use and perception in context in order to avoid intercultural communication misunderstandings in her book, Interaction in Mandarin Chinese and English as a Multilingua Franca: Context, Practice, and Perception. The book has theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical implications. It is a meaningful addition to the fields of discourse analysis, pragmatics, and applied linguistics.

Selected Publications

Boxer, D., & Zhu, W. (2017). Discourse and second language learning. In S. Wortham, D. Kim & S. May. (Eds.), Discourse and education (pp. 297-309). Springer.
Chen, X. & Zhu, W. (2023). Exploiting language affordances in Chinese–mediated intercultural communication. Intercultural Pragmatics, 20(5), 495–519.
Zhu, W. (2014a). Managing relationships in everyday practice: The case of strong disagreement in Mandarin. Journal of Pragmatics, 64, 85-101.
Zhu, W. (2014b). Rapport management in strong disagreement: An investigation of a community of Chinese speakers of English. Text & Talk, 34(5), 641-664.
Zhu, W. (2016). Extended concurrent speech and Guanxì management in Mandarin. Text & Talk, 36(5), 637-660.
Zhu, W. (2017a). How do Chinese speakers of English manage rapport in extended concurrent speech? Multilingua, 36(2), 181-204.
Zhu, W. (2017b). Perceptions of extended concurrent speech in Mandarin. Pragmatics, 27(1), 144-170.
Zhu, W. (2019a). Interaction in Mandarin and English as a multilingua franca: Context, practice, and perception. Routledge.
Zhu, W. (2019b). The practice and perception of unexpected topic switching in Mandarin Chinese. Acta Linguistica Academica, 66(2), 165-188.
Zhu, W. (2023a). Cultural norms of turn–taking in English and Chinese conversations. In M. Berkland & A. G. Buxbaum (Eds.), Intercultural communication for the global business professional. Taylor Francis/Routledge.
Zhu, W. (2023b). Developmental pragmatics. In M. Aronoff (Ed.), Oxford bibliographies in linguistics. Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780199772810-0314
Zhu, W., & Boxer, D. (2012). Disagreement and sociolinguistic variables: English as a lingua franca of practice in China. In J. C. Félix-Brasdefer & D. Koike (Eds.), Pragmatic variation in first and second language contexts: Methodological issues (pp. 113-140). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Zhu, W., & Boxer, D. (2013). Strong disagreement in Mandarin and ELFP: Aggressive or politic? Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict, 1(2), 194-224.
Zhu, W., & Boxer, D. (2021). Turn-taking and disagreement: A comparison of American English and Mandarin Chinese. Contrastive Pragmatics, 2, 227-257.
Zhu, W., & Chen, X. (2023). Topic initiation by Korean and Chinese speakers on reality dating shows. Contrastive Pragmatics, 1, 1–35.
Zhu, W., & Wang, J. (2022). Disagreement by Chinese speakers of English: Evidence of pragmatic transfer. Language Sciences, 93, 101487

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