Hello! 

I'm a PhD candidate in linguistics at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). I approach linguistics from the functional-typological tradition, which means I see the patterns within and across human languages as emerging from the ways language is used in communicative contexts. As much as possible, I base my research on observing language as used by speakers in actual communication, whether spoken or written, face-to-face or digitally mediated, and I ground my claims in quantitative data and analysis, including corpus-based approaches and statistical modeling. I am interested in description of all levels of language structure (phonetics, phonology, prosody, morphology, syntax, discourse), and also things like language typology, contact and change, and maintenance and revitalization.

Most of my research focuses on Uyghur, a language from the Turkic family spoken in northwest China and also in diaspora communities around the world. I have published research on Uyghur phonetics and intonation, and I'm involved in supporting the efforts of Uyghur families to pass on their language and culture to the next generation growing up in US communities. I also work to bring Uyghur voices to a wider audience through Uyghur-English translation of literary and academic works that deserve to be recognized and appreciated on a broader scale.

I have 13 years of experience teaching at the college level at Zhejiang Normal University (China) and at UCSB, as both TA and instructor of record. My teaching  has spanned a variety of classes in linguistics, English as a foreign language, and English literature. I enjoy working with students of all backgrounds to facilitate learning of content and skills.