Agnes Weiyun He

Associate Professor, Department of Asian and Asian American Studies

Director, China Studies

Degrees:

Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics, UCLA, 1993 (USA)

Research Interests:

Discourse linguistics, language education, heritage language development

Current Project:

My research has in recent years focused on the modes of discourse in Chinese language classrooms and their impact on the linguistic and cultural development of Chinese language students. My short term objective is to use discourse linguistic tools to articulate a discourse model for Chinese heritage language (CHL) development. 

Major Research Grants/Fellowships:

  • The National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship. Research project: Discourse and socialization in Chinese heritage language classes.
  • The Spencer Foundation. Research project: Language socialization of Chinese American children.

Representative Publications:

Books and Monographs

  • He, Agnes Weiyun. (1998). Reconstructing Institutions: Language Use in Academic Counseling Encounters. Greenwich, CT and London, UK: Greenwood.
  • Young, Richard & He, Agnes Weiyun. (Eds.) (1998). Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Language Proficiency. Philadelphia: Benjamins.

Refereed Journal Articles

  • He, A. W. (2004a). CA for SLA: Arguments from Chinese language classes. The Modern Language Journal, 88(4):568-582. Special Issue: Classroom talks.
  • He, A. W. (2004b). Identity construction in Chinese heritage language classes. Pragmatics, 14(2/3): 199-216. Special Issue: Relationality: Discursive constructions of Asian Pacific American identities.
  • Chen, Y. & He, A. W. (2001). Dui bu dui as a pragmatic marker: evidence from Chinese classroom discourse. Journal of Pragmatics 33:1441-1465.
  • He, A. W. (2001). The language of ambiguity: practices in Chinese heritage language classes. Discourse Studies, 3(1): 75-96.
  • He, A. W. (2000). Grammatical and sequential organization of teachers' directives. Linguistics and Education 11(2):119-140.
  • He, A. W. & Lindsey, B. (1998). ou know as an information status enhancing device: arguments from grammar and interaction. Functions of Language, 5(2): 133-155.
  • He, A. W. & Tsoneva, S. (1998). The symbiosis of choices and control: a discourse-based account of CAN. Journal of Pragmatics, 29(5): 615-637.
  • He, A. W. (1997). Learning and being: identity construction in the classroom. Pragmatics and Language Learning, 8, 201-222.
  • He, A. W. (1996). Narrative processes and institutional activities: recipient guided storytelling in academic counseling encounters. Pragmatics, 6(2), 205-216.
  • He, A. W. (1996). Stories as academic counseling resources. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 6(2), 107-121.
  • He, A. W. (1995). Co-constructing institutional identities: the case of student counselees. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 28(3), 213-231.
  • He, A. W. (1994). Withholding academic advice: institutional context and discourse practice. Discourse Processes, 18(3), 297-316.
  • He, A. W. (1994). Constructing facts and stances through voicing. Pragmatics and Language Learning, 5, 146-162.
  • He, A. W. (1993). Exploring modality in institutional interactions: cases from academic counseling encounters. TEXT, 13(4), 503-528.
  • He, A. W. (1993). Language use in peer review texts. Language in Society, 22(3), 403-420.

Book Chapters

  • He, A. W. (2005). Discipline, directives, and deletions: grammar and interaction in Chinese heritage language classes. In C. Holten and J. Frodesen (eds.) The power of context in language teaching and learning: a Festschrift for Marianne Celce-Murcia (pp. 115-126). Boston: Thomson Heinle.
  • He, A. W. (2003a). Novices and their speech roles in Chinese heritage language classes. In R. Baley and S. Schecter (eds.) Language socialization in bilingual and multilingual societies (pp. 128-146). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
  • He, A. W. (2003b). Linguistic anthropology and language education. In S. Wortham and B. Rymes (eds.) Linguistic anthropology of education (pp. 93-119). Westport, CT and London: Praeger.
  • He, A. W. (2000). Discourse analysis. In M. Aronoff and J. Rees-Miller (eds.) The Handbook of Linguistics (pp. 428-445). Oxford: Blackwell.
  • He, A. W. (1998). Answering questions in LPIs: a case study. In R. Young & A. W. He (eds.) Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Language Proficiency (pp.101-116). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • He, A. W. (1995). Constructing discourse identities in the openings of academic counseling encounters. In H. B. Mokros (ed.), Interaction and identity (pp. 119-143). New Brunswick (USA) and London (UK): Transaction Publishers.
  • He, A. W. & Young, R. (1998). Language proficiency interviews: a discourse approach. In R. Young & A. W. He (eds.) Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Language Proficiency (pp.1-24). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Courses Taught:

Languages, Linguistics and Culture (undergraduate level)

  • Elementary Chinese (SUNY-SB)
  • Elementary Chinese for Chinese Speakers (SUNY-SB)
  • Intermediate Chinese (SUNY-SB)
  • Advanced Chinese (SUNY-SB)
  • Traditional China (SUNY-SB)
  • Modern China (SUNY-SB)
  • Communication between Chinese and Americans (SUNY-SB)
  • Introduction to Chinese Linguistics (SUNY-SB)
  • Freshman Composition (U. of Arizona)
  • ESL Composition (U. of Arizona)

(Applied) Linguistics (graduate level)

  • Theory & Methods of Second/Foreign Language Teaching (Southern Illinois U.)
  • Discourse Analysis (SUNY-SB)
  • Developmental Pragmatics (SUNY-SB)
  • Pragmatics (Southern Illinois U.)
  • Conversation Analysis (Southern Illinois U.)
  • Sociolinguistics (Southern Illinois U.)
  • Language and Context (Southern Illinois U.)
  • Pedagogical Grammar (U. of Arizona)