CV
I am a W1-Professor for Empirical English Linguistics (EEL) at the Department of English and American Studies of the HU Berlin.
Academic background:
I studied English (with a focus on English Linguistics and American Studies), General Linguistics and French in Nanjing and Göttingen, and completed my Ph.D. in English Linguistics in Göttingen. During my Ph.D., I have worked as a researcher (wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin) at the University of Tübingen and the University of Göttingen. In the summer term of 2012, I functioned as a substitute Professor for Syntax at the English Department of the University of Göttingen. From 2013-2018, I held a lecturer (wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin) position in linguistics at the Institute of Cognitive Science of Osnabrück University, and from 10.2018-03.2019 a senior lecturer (Akademische Rätin auf Zeit) position there. I was a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago from 12.2017-04.2018, and at the University of Amsterdam from 02.-04.2023. Göttingen trained me in English and general linguistics, Tübingen introduced me to experimental linguistics, and Osnabrück taught me how to conduct interdisciplinary research on linguistics and the other subfields of cognitive science; this unique career path has a formative effect on my scientific perspectives and skills.
Research areas, topics and methods:
Broadly speaking, my research lies at the interface of lexicon/syntax/semantics/pragmatics, and their bearing on questions in language processing, acquisition and use. More specifically, I have worked on issues including structural dependencies (polarity sensitivity, obligatory relative clauses), logical vs. non-at-issue/ social meanings (negation, modality, adverbs, conditionals), as well as doubling phenomena and Register (negative concord, modal concord) with a focus on varieties of English, German and Chinese. For my research, I use a combination of cross-, theoretical-, socio- and psycholinguistic methods.