Dr Ruying Qi

• Biography
• Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise
• Grants / Current Projects
• Awards and Recognition
• Selected Publications
• Contact Details

Biography

Dr Ruying Qi is a senior lecturer in Bilingualism and Chinese with the School of Humanities and Languages, Leader of the China Liaison Unit (Language and Culture) and a member of MARCS Auditory Laboratories. She holds a PhD in Linguistics (University of Western Sydney), Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education (University of Sydney), NAATI Level III Translation (NAATI Australia), as well as qualifications from China: MA (Wuhan University) and BA (Anhui University). Ruying Qi has been an invited speaker at international conferences in Bilingualism and Applied Linguistics. She has been awarded a UWS Research Grant (2006-2007) and two UWS IRIS Grants (2004 and 2008/2011) for investigating early Mandarin and English bilingual children. Her work has led to her achieving an Honorary Research Fellow of the Centre for Multilingual and Multicultural Research at Birkbeck College, University of London and she holds an appointment as Visiting Research Fellow of the China Centre for Linguistic and Strategic Studies, Nanjing University, China (2010-2013).

In 2009 she was awarded an Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Citation Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Her activities as visiting scholar embrace the Key State Lab of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the University of Hong Kong; the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre, the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Guangzhou University, the Capital Normal University, Beijing and Nanjing University. Her teaching experiences range from undergraduate to postgraduate and PhD programs at tertiary institutions in Australia for over 10 years, as well as previous tertiary and industry experiences in China. She is a key developer of the Chinese Language and Culture Program since its inception at the University of Western Sydney. She also holds NAATI Level III professional accreditation as an English-Chinese translator.

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Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

With expertise in bilingualism and biculturalism, language acquisition, Chinese language and cultural teaching and learning, intercultural communication and translation, Ruying Qi’s research focuses on bilingual first language acquisition, in particular Chinese and English children’s bilingual first language acquisition, pronoun and person identification, lexical and tone development. The practical application of her research addresses ways of helping bilingual families understand early bilingual language differentiation and manage possible interaction in language contact and ways of maximising bilingual experiences, improving speech perception and production in Mandarin-English bilingual children including children with hearing impairment.

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Grants / Current Projects

Grants

2008 - 2010 Leading researcher, UWS IRIS Grant on Collaboration with ARC Linkage Application: Language Development Milestones in Chinese Mandarin Children (project code: 20131-71840).

2007 Spring – 2009 Autumn Chief investigator of Chinese, UWS Learning and Teaching Action Plan (LTAP) project on Development of Online Level 1 Language Resources in: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Spanish for the implementation of blended learning with five colleagues in the School of Humanities and Languages (project code: P7256).

2006 – 2007 Project leader, Department of Education, Science and Training of Australian Government (UMAP) Funding on Student Exchange in Language with Hong Kong Baptist University.

2005- 2006 Leading researcher, UWS Research Scheme Grant on The nature of phonology and the weaker language in a bilingual Mandarin-English Child with Stuart Campbell and Zhu Hua (project code: 20211 80541).

2004 - 2005 Leading researcher, UWS IRIS Grant on Chinese and English Bilingual Teaching and Research with Bruno Di Biase and Stuart Campbell. (project code: 20211.71614).

Current Project

An acoustic phonetic analysis of stop production by young Mandarin-English bilingual children: Mandarin-English bilingual children’s VOT, with Kimiko Tsukada Department of Asian Studies, Macquarie University, Australia and Zhu Hua, School of Languages, Linguistics and Culture, Birkbeck, University of London, UK. (Paper under review in Asia-Pacific Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing).

Is the Weaker Language weaker in bilingual children? With Bruno Di Biase. (Paper to be submitted to Bilingualism: Language and Cognition).

Chinese Language and Culture E-Materials for the Early Childhood Education Students, with Xiaoying Qi. (Online Dynamic E-Materials on UWS Blackboard).

Bilingual and Multilingual Children’s Person Identity and Matrix Language Turn-over.

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Awards and Recognition

2009 Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Citation Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.

2009-present. An Honorary Research Fellow,Centre for Multilingual and Multicultural Research at Birkbeck College, University of London.

2010-2013 Visiting Research Fellow,China Center for Linguistic and Strategic Studies, Nanjing University, China.

2005 CAESS Publication Subsidy Scheme 2005- 2006.

1988 Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship.

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Selected Publications

Book

Qi, R. (Forthcoming 2011). One Child Two Languages: Mandarin-English Bilingual Acquisition. New York: Cambria Press.

Book Chapter

Qi, X. & Qi, R. (2011). Foreign Languages Education in China. In Zha, Q (Ed.). Education in China: An Encyclopedic Handbook of Educational History, Models, and Initiatives. MA:  Berkshire Publishing Group.

Refereed Journal

Qi, R. & Qi, S. X. (in press). Learning Outcomes and Assessment of Chinese Language and Culture in Higher Education in Australia. China Language Planning, Vol 1. No1. Beijing: Commercial Press.

Qi, R. (2010). Pronoun acquisition in Mandarin-English bilingual children. The International Journal of Bilingualism. Vol 14. No 1. pp. 37-64.

Qi, R., Di Biase, B. & Campbell, S. (2006). The transition from nominal to pronominal person reference in the early language of a Mandarin-English Bilingual child, the International Journal of Bilingualism, Vol 10. No 3, pp. 301-329.

Refereed Conference Proceeding

Qi, R. (2005). From nominal to pronominal person reference in the early language of a Mandarin-English Bilingual child.  The Proceedings of the 4^th International Symposium on Bilingualism.  Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. pp. 1893-1909.

Peer-reviewed Conference Proceeding

Qi, R. & Qi, X. (1999). Language maintenance & shift of Chinese-born children in Sydney.  The conference proceedings of the Bilingual Children’s Interest Group and the Language Acquisition Research Centre: Bilingualism: Building Blocks for Biliteracy.  Sydney:  LARC University of Western Sydney.

Report & Review

Campbell, S. & Qi, R. (1999). Evaluation of the Mandarin access to satellite (ALS) primary program.  Presented at the 24th Annual Congress of ALAA, Perth, April 1999 and published as a report to NSW Department of Education and Training, Australia.

Published Abstracts – Conference Papers

Qi, R. Tsukada, K. & Hua Zhu (2009). Phonological acquisition of Mandarin-English simultaneous bilingual children – the case of stop voicing contrasts. Abstract published and paper presented at the 7^th International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB7). Utrech: Utrecht University, the Netherlands, 8-11 July.

Qi, R. & Di Biase, B. (2008).  The Weaker Language of a Mandarin-English Bilingual Child: L1 or L2?  Abstract published and paper presented at Conference on Bilingual Acquisition in Early Childhood. Hong Kong: the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 11-12 Dec.

Qi, R. (2007) Pronoun Acquisition in two Mandarin and English bilingual children (Abstract). Abstract published and paper presented at the Sixth International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB6). Hamburg: University of Hamburg, 29 May and 2 June.

Qi, R. & Di Biase, B. (2007) (Invited paper).  Does the ‘weak language’ in bilingual children develop like L1 or L2? A case study of a Mandarin-English speaking child. Abstract published and paper presented at The 5th International Conference on ELT in China & the 1st Congress of Chinese Applied Linguistics, May 16-21, 2007, Beijing.

Qi, R. & Di Biase, B. (2005).  L1 and L2 patterns in the bilingual language development of a Mandarin-English child. Abstract published and paper presented at the Fifth International Symposium on Bilingualism. Barcelona: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in May.

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