Educational Background & Work Experience

YUAN, Boping (Ph.D. in theoretical and applied linguistics, University of Edinburgh, 1992) is Professor Emeritus in Language and Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. He joined Shanghai Jiao Tong University as a Distinguished Professor in Linguistics in 2020 after nearly 30 years of teaching, researching and supervising Master and PhD students at the University of Cambridge. He continues to be a Ph.D. supervisor at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Churchill College, University of Cambridge.

Teaching and Research

Main research areas:

Linguistic approaches to second language acquisition, bilingualism, multilingualism, particularly within the framework of formal linguistics; bilingualism and human wellbeing.

Representative publications of the past ten years:

He has published over 80 articles in refereed international journals as well as in journals published in China, which include: Language, Linguistics, Transactions of the Philological Society, Second Language Research, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Language Learning, International Review of Applied Linguistics, EUROSLA Yearbook, International Journal of Bilingualism, Lingua, Journal of Chinese Linguistics, Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 《外语教学与研究》，《世界汉语教学》, 《现代外语》, etc.  He compiled two Chinese-English dictionaries, which were published by Oxford University Press. His representative publications in the past 10 years include:

Yuan, B. and Zhao, Y. (2011) “Asymmetrical syntactic and thematic reconfigurations in English speakers’ L2 Chinese resultative compound constructions”. International Journal of Bilingualism, 15: 38-55.

Yuan, B. and Dugarova, E. (2012) “Wh-topicalization at the syntax-discourse interface in English speakers’ L2 Chinese grammars”. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 34, 533-560.

Yuan, B. (2013) “Is Chinese ‘daodi’ ‘the hell’ in English speakers’ L2 acquisition of Chinese daodi … wh … questions? Effects and recoverability of L1 transfer at L2 interfaces”. International Journal of Bilingualism, 17, 403-430.

Yuan, B. (2014) “Wh-on-earth” in Chinese Speakers’ L2 English: Evidence of Dormant Features. Second Language Research 30: 515-549.

Yuan, B. (2015) The effect of computational complexity on L1 transfer: Evidence from L2 Chinese attitude-bearing wh-questions. Lingua 167: 1-18.

Mai, Z. and Yuan, B. (2016) Uneven reassembly of tense, telicity and discourse features in L2 acquisition of the Chinese shì … de cleft construction by adult English speakers. Second Language Research 32: 247-276.

Yuan, B. (2017) Can L2 sentence processing strategies be native-like? Evidence from English speakers' L2 processing of Chinese base-generated-topic sentences. Lingua, 191-192:42-64.

Yuan, B. and Lin, Y. (2019) Directionality and complexity of L1 transfer in L2 acquisition: Evidence from L2 Chinese discourse. International Review of Applied Linguistics 57(4), 377-416

Yuan, B. and Zhang, L. (2020) An incremental model of second language speech production mechanisms: Developmental evidence from object ellipsis in second language Chinese speech production. International Journal of Bilingualism, 24, 783-810.

Guo, Y. and Yuan, B. (2020) Facilitative Transfer Only? L3 Acquisition of Mandarin Sentence-Final Particle Clusters by English-Cantonese Bilinguals. Journal of Second Language Studies 3.2, 262-291.

Huang, Y., & Yuan, B. (2021). English and Spanish speakers’ interpretations of L2 Chinese applicative double object constructions. International Review of Applied Linguistics. On-line-first

Guo, Y., & Yuan, B. (2021). Asymmetric transfer and development of temporal-aspectual sentence-final particles in English-Cantonese bilinguals’ L3 Mandarin grammars. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism. On-line-first.

Yan, S., & Yuan, B. (2022). Asymmetric form-meaning mappings in L2 acquisition of Chinese sentence-final particles BA. Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 50(1), 1-38

Yuan, B. (2022). 论二语习得中第一语言迁移的方向性及经济性原则——以二语句法和二语语篇为例 (Directionality of first language transfer and economy principle in second language acquisition: Evidence from L2 syntax and discourse). 《世界汉语教学》, 36(3), 379-398.

Xu, L. &Yuan, B. (2022). Dependency resolutions of null and overt subjects in English speakers’ L2 Chinese: evidence for the cue-based model. Second Language Research, On-line first: DOI: 10.1177/02676583221135189

Zhang, L., & Yuan, B. (2022). The role of L1 in L2 speech production at different stages of L2 development: Evidence from L2 Chinese oral production of verb-phrase ellipsis by English and Korean speakers. Frontiers in Psychology: Language Sciences. DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.954217

Professional Service

• General Editor of Journal of Second Language Studies (published by John Benjamins)
• Members of Editorial Boards of Second Language Research, International Review of Applied Linguistics, Journal of Chinese Linguistics, Lingua, 《外语教学与研究》，《世界汉语教学》, 《现代外语》, etc.  
• An executive committee member of the International Society of Chinese Language Teaching