Dr Saihong Li

Lecturer in Interpreting and Translation Studies, Chinese

• Maxwell 812
• T: +44 (0)1612953666
• E: s.rasmussen@salford.ac.uk
• SEEK: Research profile

Office Hours:

Tuesdays: 12:00 – 13:00

Wednesdays: 13:00 – 14:00

Please e-mail me to make an appointment.

In 2010 I was appointed Lecturer in Interpreting and Translation Studies in the Chinese section of the School of languages at the University of Salford.

In 2003, Dr. Saihong Li was appointed as Associate Professor of Linguistics at Dalian Maritime University, China. From 1991 to 2003, I taught English and linguistics in Liaoning University, Beijing Foreign Studies University and Dalian Maritime University.

Between 2005 and 2010 I worked in Denmark while pursuing my doctoral research. I taught English Grammar and Linguistics, Business Chinese, Chinese language and linguistics, Chinese History and Cultural Studies, in various Danish universities: the University of Copenhagen, the Copenhagen Business School, and the University of Southern Denmark. My experiences have straddled diverse cultures, languages and disciplines; they have informed both my theoretical reflections on language and my practices in teaching.

In 2006 I was awarded a doctoral stipend, by the Danish Government, for research in Translation and Lexicography. I held a post in the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies at the University of Copenhagen; my Ph.D. was awarded in 2009.

Since September 2010, when I was appointed Lecturer at the University of Salford I have been actively engaged in research and research administration. In 2011 I was nominated as Chair of Research Ethics Committee at College of Art and Social Science. I also serve as Programme Leader for UWLP (the University-wide language programme) at Salford.

In the past two years, I have built up a strong record in obtaining funding for research. I have been successful with applications to the British Academy, to the UCCL (University China Committee London), to the VC-early Career Scholarship at Salford, and to the Carlsberg Foundation.

Apart from all aspects of language learning, Dr. Li teaches interpreting and translation studies, research methodology, and terminology and lexicography, at the MA level and also with responsibility of coordinating UG level Chinese teaching.

Dr. Li’s PhD supervision specializes in Chinese studies, Translation and Interpreting, lexicography, Second Language Acquisition and applied linguistics.

My diverse research interests fall broadly within the fields of Applied Linguistics, Interpreting and Translation Studies, lexicography and Second Language Acquisition. My doctoral research focused on comparative studies in Translation and Lexicography, working with English, Chinese and Danish. I have recently published a book with Cambridge Scholars Press:  To Define and Inform – An Analysis of Information Provided in Dictionaries Used by Learners of English.

Currently, I am involved in four research projects:

1. A Study of Learning Chinese as a Second Language making use of Eye-Tracking technology. This interdisciplinary research investigates how different graphic systems might be a variable factor in second language acquisition (SLA). Most SLA research ignores writing systems: this research examines how learners of Chinese, who are familiar with the Roman alphabet, respond to and negotiate an alien script. By combining eye-tracking technology — which has yielded data impossible to come by in any other way — with more established research procedures, of controlled experiments and statistical analysis, I am investigating a hitherto unacknowledged barrier for all western learners of Chinese.

2. A study of food labels and the possibility of inter-cultural confusion; differing expectations of accuracy and detail in the description of what’s in the jar; and some of the commercial and ethical issues raised by this extremely important but little-studied field of translation and cultural exchange.

3. Global English Communication Gap: this research investigates how Chinese business persons use English and tests whether the use of English by non-native English speakers is always effective — in accuracy, in rhetoric, in idiom — in business negotiations.

4. A socio-linguistic study of the bilingual policies implemented by the Chinese Government in the Xinjiang region. This is a volatile region, politically and socially, with tension between the Han Chinese and the Uighur (Muslim) population. It is a region that I know well. The research aims to find out whether the current bilingual policy leads to greater social harmony (as is its intention) or whether it fuels the tension by creating suspicion and resentment of policies imposed from Beijing. This project involves comparative study of other societies and nations in which bilingualism is official policy.

Qualifications:

Ph.D (2009) in Translation and Lexicography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

PGDip (2011),  Higher Education Practice and Research, University of Salford

M.A. (1997) in Applied Linguistics and Maritime English, Dalian Maritime University, China

B.A. (1991) in English, LiaoNing Normal University, China

Memberships:

Chair, CASS Research Ethics Committee, Salford

Member, International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies (IATIS)

Member, European Society for Translation Studies

Member, European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS)

Member, British Association for Chinese Studies

Member, European Association for Lexicography

Member, Asian Association for Lexicography