Personal background

I am Manchu-Chinese born in Beijing, China. I have a Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and a BA in English Language and Literature from Beijing Normal (Teachers) University.

I taught English at high school level for two and a half years and at university level for one year and spent a year on a Master’s degree programme in 20th-century American poetry when an opportunity arose for me to go to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England to teach Chinese in the then newly-established East Asian Centre at the University there.

I did a part-time MA in English Language Studies (with TESOL) while teaching Chinese language, politics and society. I was then awarded a Ridley Fellowship to pursue a PhD in Speech Sciences. I later became a Research Associate working with Professor Lesley Milroy. Together we worked on a series of sociolinguistic projects on language choice and language shift in the Chinese community in the North East of England.

I was made Professor of Applied Linguistics at Newcastle University in 1998. I was Director of the University's Centre for Research in Linguistics between 1999 and 2002 and Head of the School of Education, Communication & Language Sciences between 2002 and December 2006.

Since January 1st 2007, I have been Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Applied Linguistics and Communication at Birkbeck College, University of London. I am also Pro-Vice-Master for Research of the College and Director of the Birkbeck Graduate Research School.

Outside my academic life, I enjoy reading non-fiction, travelling, and eating out. I am married to Zhu Hua, another Manchu-Chinese, and we have two sons, Andrew and Timothy, both pupils at the University College School in Hampstead.