Yongcan Liu
Biographic Data
| ID | 4068433 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Yongcan Liu |
| GIVEN NAMES | Yongcan |
| FAMILY NAME | Liu |
| SIGNATURE | LIU Y |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cambridge |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5987-6240 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 147 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Individual Network of Linguistic Practice (INoLP)
Study abroad (SA) programs are widely recognized for their role in enhancing students’ language skills through immersive environments. However, there remains a gap in understanding how social interaction within these contexts influences their pragmatic development. This study examines the relationship between international students’ social networks and their pragmatic competence, introducing a novel individual network of linguistic practice (INoL…
Designing ChatGPT-mediated feedback activities in EFL writing
With the rise of GenAI-assisted English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing, chatbots such as ChatGPT have shown potential both as formative feedback providers and interactive partners, offering new possibilities for dialogic feedback. However, little research has explored how educational practitioners can design and implement ChatGPT-mediated dialogic feedback activities. Addressing this gap, this study adopted a design-based research (DBR) appr…
Narrating translingual teacher cognition
I feel like I have a superpower’
an identity-based pedagogical intervention
Language learner well-being in heritage language learning
This paper reports on the process of developing an original framework for conceptualising and measuring language learner well-being within the context of heritage language (HL) learning. Drawing on a quantitative validation study with 545 young Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners, aged 7–18, in the UK, this paper presents an empirically validated model alongside a self-report instrument designed to measure learner well-being. A comprehensive…
Mind the gap
This study investigates the perception-practice gap among English teachers in China concerning the integration of social media into teaching, blending the Language Teacher Cognition (LTC) framework with the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model. A mixed methods approach, including the adoption of online questionnaires, instructional documents and semi-structured interviews was utilised to investigate these research questions f…
A “positive” turn in heritage language education
This paper presents the first empirical attempt to understand language learner well-being in the context of heritage language (HL) learning. Adopting a positive psychology perspective, the research investigates the well-being experiences of Chinese heritage language (CHL) children to explore what flourishing means in HL learning. Data were collected from multimodal focus groups with 40 young CHL learners in the UK, involving a well-being exercise…
Theorising the dynamics of heritage language identity development
This article examines the dynamics of heritage language (HL) identity development by analysing the life history accounts of three Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners growing up in the UK. Drawing on narrative data, the study contributes to the growing body of HL identity research by capturing the individual trajectories of CHL learners engaging with different interlocutors, at multiple sites, and across the lifespan. We report the various wa…
Emergent Lote motivation? The L3 motivational dynamics of Japanese-major university students in China
This study explores language other than English (LOTE) learners’ third language (L3) motivational dynamics within the framework of the L2 motivational self-system theory. Analytical primacy is given to the role of the language learning experience in generating individual variances and non-linearities in motivational development. Four Japanese-major university students depicted their distinct L3 motivational fluctuations on a Motivational Timeline…
Written corrective feedback, learner-internal cognitive processes, and the acquisition of regular past tense by Chinese L2 learners of English
This article reports on a mixed methods study that investigated the extent to which written corrective feedback (WCF) contributes to L2 learners’ acquisition of regular past tense in English and the cognitive processes that underpin the corrective feedback provided. The study adopted a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design and involved 113 intermediate-level Chinese learners of English who were assigned to four conditions: indirect WCF, direct…
Language experiences, evaluations and emotions (3Es)
Researchers have traditionally relied on institutionally-defined, native speaker conceptions of linguistic competence to define whether or not individual learners are multilingual. However, to better understand the relationship between language and identity in the context of additional language learning, there is a need to widen the definition of multilingualism by including a larger repertoire of semiotic competences and a wider range of levels …
Theorising language learning experience in Lote motivation with Perma
While the influence of learning experiences on foreign language learning motivation has been widely recognised, there is very little empirical research examining its role. To fill this lacuna, the current study theorises language learning experience from a positive psychology (PP) lens with reference to the PERMA model. Analytical primacy is given to how various dimensions of the experience contributed to language other than English (LOTE) learne…
Multilingualism, Multilingual Identity and Academic Attainment
Multilingualism is highly prevalent in schools around the world. Yet, the relationship between multilingualism and academic attainment is not well understood. Where research on this topic exists, it has predominantly focused on how home language background impacts on academic success, lacking in a broader view of multilingualism which extends beyond home languages and also considers the identity component of being multilingual. This paper explore…
Situated teacher learning as externalising and mobilising teachers’ tacit knowledge through talk in a language teacher professional community
This paper reports on a study that looks at the micro-processes of teacher learning in a language teacher professional community in China. Following the tradition of ethnomethodology, teacher learning in this paper is conceptualised as interactional accomplishment of negotiation of practice through talk. Based on a purposively selected discourse sample, this paper illustrates the trajectory of how the differences in the understandings of creativi…
The Unfamiliar and the Indeterminate
Research into the language socialisation of migrant-background children in new educational contexts has pointed to a complex relationship between language, identity, and social integration. This article helps us to further define this relationship in two main ways. Firstly, through focusing on the specific (and largely neglected) context of the experiences of newly-arrived migrant school children from disadvantaged backgrounds and with little ini…
Participative multilingual identity construction in the languages classroom
Multilingual identity is an area ripe for further exploration within the existing extensive body of identity research. In this paper we make a case for a conceptual framework that defines multilingual identity formation in terms of learners’ active involvement, and proposes the classroom as the hitherto underused site for participative identity (re)negotiation. After reviewing three key theoretical perspectives on identity (the psychosocial, soci…
Reaching the world outside
Research on the representation of culture in language textbooks rarely incorporates the concept of global citizenship, despite its increasing relevance to language education in our globalising world. To address this critique, a mixed-method study was conducted to investigate cultural representation in Japanese elementary school English textbooks, and the degree to which students feel connected to the concept of global citizenship. Content analysi…
The knowledge base of teaching in linguistically diverse contexts
This paper aims to define the knowledge base of teaching in linguistically diverse secondary schools in England. Based on extensive interviews with the teachers across two schools, the paper identifies a range of good practices centred on flexibility and differentiation. These include diversifying teaching resources by using bilingual materials and dialogic tasks, as well as making adjustments to teaching by simplifying input and including cultur…
From problem-orientedness to goal-orientedness
The social organisation of talk-in-interaction at work in a language teacher professional community
The trajectory of learning in a teacher community of practice
A major criticism of the Community of Practice theory is that it mainly focuses on the inward induction process of learning while neglecting the outbound trajectory. Yet, this criticism still remains at the hypothetical level in most of the literature. This paper aims to advance the theory by addressing this criticism on an empirical basis. The research highlights a language teaching reform context where the traditional and liberal pedagogies co-…
Inclusion or exclusion
Teacher Assessment Knowledge and Practice
This article explores teachers' assessment knowledge and practice through a narrative inquiry of a college EFL teacher, Betty (pseudonym), in the People's Republic of China. Drawing on Crites' (1971) notions of sacred stories and secret stories in teachers' professional knowledge landscapes (Connelly & Clandinin, 1995), it examines Betty's account of her experience of assessment reform. This account comprises three stories involving her colleague…
Participative multilingual identity construction in the languages classroom
Multilingual identity is an area ripe for further exploration within the existing extensive body of identity research. In this paper we make a case for a conceptual framework that defines multilingual identity formation in terms of learners’ active involvement, and proposes the classroom as the hitherto underused site for participative identity (re)negotiation. After reviewing three key theoretical perspectives on identity (the psychosocial, soci…
Inclusion or exclusion
Language experiences, evaluations and emotions (3Es)
Researchers have traditionally relied on institutionally-defined, native speaker conceptions of linguistic competence to define whether or not individual learners are multilingual. However, to better understand the relationship between language and identity in the context of additional language learning, there is a need to widen the definition of multilingualism by including a larger repertoire of semiotic competences and a wider range of levels …
Reaching the world outside
Research on the representation of culture in language textbooks rarely incorporates the concept of global citizenship, despite its increasing relevance to language education in our globalising world. To address this critique, a mixed-method study was conducted to investigate cultural representation in Japanese elementary school English textbooks, and the degree to which students feel connected to the concept of global citizenship. Content analysi…
Theorising language learning experience in Lote motivation with Perma
While the influence of learning experiences on foreign language learning motivation has been widely recognised, there is very little empirical research examining its role. To fill this lacuna, the current study theorises language learning experience from a positive psychology (PP) lens with reference to the PERMA model. Analytical primacy is given to how various dimensions of the experience contributed to language other than English (LOTE) learne…
Multilingualism, Multilingual Identity and Academic Attainment
Multilingualism is highly prevalent in schools around the world. Yet, the relationship between multilingualism and academic attainment is not well understood. Where research on this topic exists, it has predominantly focused on how home language background impacts on academic success, lacking in a broader view of multilingualism which extends beyond home languages and also considers the identity component of being multilingual. This paper explore…
I feel like I have a superpower’
an identity-based pedagogical intervention
The trajectory of learning in a teacher community of practice
A major criticism of the Community of Practice theory is that it mainly focuses on the inward induction process of learning while neglecting the outbound trajectory. Yet, this criticism still remains at the hypothetical level in most of the literature. This paper aims to advance the theory by addressing this criticism on an empirical basis. The research highlights a language teaching reform context where the traditional and liberal pedagogies co-…
The knowledge base of teaching in linguistically diverse contexts
This paper aims to define the knowledge base of teaching in linguistically diverse secondary schools in England. Based on extensive interviews with the teachers across two schools, the paper identifies a range of good practices centred on flexibility and differentiation. These include diversifying teaching resources by using bilingual materials and dialogic tasks, as well as making adjustments to teaching by simplifying input and including cultur…
Teacher Assessment Knowledge and Practice
This article explores teachers' assessment knowledge and practice through a narrative inquiry of a college EFL teacher, Betty (pseudonym), in the People's Republic of China. Drawing on Crites' (1971) notions of sacred stories and secret stories in teachers' professional knowledge landscapes (Connelly & Clandinin, 1995), it examines Betty's account of her experience of assessment reform. This account comprises three stories involving her colleague…
Language learner well-being in heritage language learning
This paper reports on the process of developing an original framework for conceptualising and measuring language learner well-being within the context of heritage language (HL) learning. Drawing on a quantitative validation study with 545 young Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners, aged 7–18, in the UK, this paper presents an empirically validated model alongside a self-report instrument designed to measure learner well-being. A comprehensive…
A “positive” turn in heritage language education
This paper presents the first empirical attempt to understand language learner well-being in the context of heritage language (HL) learning. Adopting a positive psychology perspective, the research investigates the well-being experiences of Chinese heritage language (CHL) children to explore what flourishing means in HL learning. Data were collected from multimodal focus groups with 40 young CHL learners in the UK, involving a well-being exercise…
The Unfamiliar and the Indeterminate
Research into the language socialisation of migrant-background children in new educational contexts has pointed to a complex relationship between language, identity, and social integration. This article helps us to further define this relationship in two main ways. Firstly, through focusing on the specific (and largely neglected) context of the experiences of newly-arrived migrant school children from disadvantaged backgrounds and with little ini…
Situated teacher learning as externalising and mobilising teachers’ tacit knowledge through talk in a language teacher professional community
This paper reports on a study that looks at the micro-processes of teacher learning in a language teacher professional community in China. Following the tradition of ethnomethodology, teacher learning in this paper is conceptualised as interactional accomplishment of negotiation of practice through talk. Based on a purposively selected discourse sample, this paper illustrates the trajectory of how the differences in the understandings of creativi…
Teacher Assessment Knowledge and Practice
This article explores teachers' assessment knowledge and practice through a narrative inquiry of a college EFL teacher, Betty (pseudonym), in the People's Republic of China. Drawing on Crites' (1971) notions of sacred stories and secret stories in teachers' professional knowledge landscapes (Connelly & Clandinin, 1995), it examines Betty's account of her experience of assessment reform. This account comprises three stories involving her colleague…
Inclusion or exclusion
The social organisation of talk-in-interaction at work in a language teacher professional community
The trajectory of learning in a teacher community of practice
A major criticism of the Community of Practice theory is that it mainly focuses on the inward induction process of learning while neglecting the outbound trajectory. Yet, this criticism still remains at the hypothetical level in most of the literature. This paper aims to advance the theory by addressing this criticism on an empirical basis. The research highlights a language teaching reform context where the traditional and liberal pedagogies co-…
From problem-orientedness to goal-orientedness
The knowledge base of teaching in linguistically diverse contexts
This paper aims to define the knowledge base of teaching in linguistically diverse secondary schools in England. Based on extensive interviews with the teachers across two schools, the paper identifies a range of good practices centred on flexibility and differentiation. These include diversifying teaching resources by using bilingual materials and dialogic tasks, as well as making adjustments to teaching by simplifying input and including cultur…
The Unfamiliar and the Indeterminate
Research into the language socialisation of migrant-background children in new educational contexts has pointed to a complex relationship between language, identity, and social integration. This article helps us to further define this relationship in two main ways. Firstly, through focusing on the specific (and largely neglected) context of the experiences of newly-arrived migrant school children from disadvantaged backgrounds and with little ini…
Participative multilingual identity construction in the languages classroom
Multilingual identity is an area ripe for further exploration within the existing extensive body of identity research. In this paper we make a case for a conceptual framework that defines multilingual identity formation in terms of learners’ active involvement, and proposes the classroom as the hitherto underused site for participative identity (re)negotiation. After reviewing three key theoretical perspectives on identity (the psychosocial, soci…
Reaching the world outside
Research on the representation of culture in language textbooks rarely incorporates the concept of global citizenship, despite its increasing relevance to language education in our globalising world. To address this critique, a mixed-method study was conducted to investigate cultural representation in Japanese elementary school English textbooks, and the degree to which students feel connected to the concept of global citizenship. Content analysi…
Situated teacher learning as externalising and mobilising teachers’ tacit knowledge through talk in a language teacher professional community
This paper reports on a study that looks at the micro-processes of teacher learning in a language teacher professional community in China. Following the tradition of ethnomethodology, teacher learning in this paper is conceptualised as interactional accomplishment of negotiation of practice through talk. Based on a purposively selected discourse sample, this paper illustrates the trajectory of how the differences in the understandings of creativi…
Multilingualism, Multilingual Identity and Academic Attainment
Multilingualism is highly prevalent in schools around the world. Yet, the relationship between multilingualism and academic attainment is not well understood. Where research on this topic exists, it has predominantly focused on how home language background impacts on academic success, lacking in a broader view of multilingualism which extends beyond home languages and also considers the identity component of being multilingual. This paper explore…
Written corrective feedback, learner-internal cognitive processes, and the acquisition of regular past tense by Chinese L2 learners of English
This article reports on a mixed methods study that investigated the extent to which written corrective feedback (WCF) contributes to L2 learners’ acquisition of regular past tense in English and the cognitive processes that underpin the corrective feedback provided. The study adopted a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design and involved 113 intermediate-level Chinese learners of English who were assigned to four conditions: indirect WCF, direct…
Language experiences, evaluations and emotions (3Es)
Researchers have traditionally relied on institutionally-defined, native speaker conceptions of linguistic competence to define whether or not individual learners are multilingual. However, to better understand the relationship between language and identity in the context of additional language learning, there is a need to widen the definition of multilingualism by including a larger repertoire of semiotic competences and a wider range of levels …
Theorising language learning experience in Lote motivation with Perma
While the influence of learning experiences on foreign language learning motivation has been widely recognised, there is very little empirical research examining its role. To fill this lacuna, the current study theorises language learning experience from a positive psychology (PP) lens with reference to the PERMA model. Analytical primacy is given to how various dimensions of the experience contributed to language other than English (LOTE) learne…
Theorising the dynamics of heritage language identity development
This article examines the dynamics of heritage language (HL) identity development by analysing the life history accounts of three Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners growing up in the UK. Drawing on narrative data, the study contributes to the growing body of HL identity research by capturing the individual trajectories of CHL learners engaging with different interlocutors, at multiple sites, and across the lifespan. We report the various wa…
Emergent Lote motivation? The L3 motivational dynamics of Japanese-major university students in China
This study explores language other than English (LOTE) learners’ third language (L3) motivational dynamics within the framework of the L2 motivational self-system theory. Analytical primacy is given to the role of the language learning experience in generating individual variances and non-linearities in motivational development. Four Japanese-major university students depicted their distinct L3 motivational fluctuations on a Motivational Timeline…
Mind the gap
This study investigates the perception-practice gap among English teachers in China concerning the integration of social media into teaching, blending the Language Teacher Cognition (LTC) framework with the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model. A mixed methods approach, including the adoption of online questionnaires, instructional documents and semi-structured interviews was utilised to investigate these research questions f…
A “positive” turn in heritage language education
This paper presents the first empirical attempt to understand language learner well-being in the context of heritage language (HL) learning. Adopting a positive psychology perspective, the research investigates the well-being experiences of Chinese heritage language (CHL) children to explore what flourishing means in HL learning. Data were collected from multimodal focus groups with 40 young CHL learners in the UK, involving a well-being exercise…
I feel like I have a superpower’
an identity-based pedagogical intervention
Language learner well-being in heritage language learning
This paper reports on the process of developing an original framework for conceptualising and measuring language learner well-being within the context of heritage language (HL) learning. Drawing on a quantitative validation study with 545 young Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners, aged 7–18, in the UK, this paper presents an empirically validated model alongside a self-report instrument designed to measure learner well-being. A comprehensive…
Individual Network of Linguistic Practice (INoLP)
Study abroad (SA) programs are widely recognized for their role in enhancing students’ language skills through immersive environments. However, there remains a gap in understanding how social interaction within these contexts influences their pragmatic development. This study examines the relationship between international students’ social networks and their pragmatic competence, introducing a novel individual network of linguistic practice (INoL…
Designing ChatGPT-mediated feedback activities in EFL writing
With the rise of GenAI-assisted English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing, chatbots such as ChatGPT have shown potential both as formative feedback providers and interactive partners, offering new possibilities for dialogic feedback. However, little research has explored how educational practitioners can design and implement ChatGPT-mediated dialogic feedback activities. Addressing this gap, this study adopted a design-based research (DBR) appr…
Narrating translingual teacher cognition
EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (20 works) · Pedagogy (18 works) · Psychology (17 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Linguistics (13 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (13 works) · Mathematics education (11 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (9 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Identity (music (7 works)