![Yi Wang](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/1850?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Yi Wang
(she/her)
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Yi Wang
Overview
I have a background in psycholinguistics and cognitive science, with experience spanning second and multiple language acquisition, language and cognition, bilingual language processing, and the interplay between language learning and cognitive development in bilingual and multilingual populations (e.g., Welsh-English bilinguals). I investigate these questions using an interdisciplinary approach that integrates offline and online measures (e.g., eye-tracking and EEG) with advanced statistical modelling, focusing in particular on how linguistic variation may influence language acquisition and processing in the domain of motion events.
Drawing on this experimental foundation, I am also interested in applying these cognitive mechanisms to language teaching and learning in educational settings. Specifically, from a Translanguaging perspective, I investigate how learners' flexible use of their full linguistic repertoire relates to motivation and engagement, with the broader goal of informing pedagogical practice in bilingual and multilingual classrooms.
Publication
2026
- Tai, K. W. H. et al., 2026. Translanguaging, medium of instruction and LX learning motivation. International Journal of Applied Linguistics (10.1111/ijal.70301)
2025
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2025. How verbal labels modulate early Cantonese-English bilinguals' perception and categorization of motion events. International Journal of Bilingualism (10.1177/13670069251386699)
- Tusun, A. , Wang, Y. and Abulajiang, A. 2025. Moving in L2 Chinese from childhood to adulthood: Developmental and crosslinguistic factors in bilingual event construal. International Journal of Bilingualism 29 (5), pp.1389-1407. (10.1177/13670069241286423)
- Zhang, H. et al., 2025. Translanguaging for the construction of instructional immediacy in a Mandarin–Japanese crosslinguistic class. Review of Applied Linguistics 16 (3), pp.1153-1176. (10.1515/applirev-2024-0128)
2022
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2022. Thinking and speaking in a second language. Elements in Second Language Aquisition Cambridge University Press. (10.1017/9781009075053)
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2022. Multilingual learning and cognitive restructuring: The role of audiovisual media exposure in Cantonese-English-Japanese multilinguals' motion event cognition. International Journal of Bilingualism (10.1177/13670069221085565)
- Zhang, H. , Wang, Y. and Vanek, N. 2022. Negation processing in Chinese-English bilinguals: insights from the Stroop paradigm and an orientation task. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 25 (10), pp.3711-3728. (10.1080/13670050.2022.2074274)
2021
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2021. Cognitive restructuring in the multilingual mind: language-specific effects on processing efficiency of caused motion events in Cantonese-English-Japanese speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 24 (4), pp.730-745. (10.1017/S1366728921000018)
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2021. Two languages, one mind: the effects of language learning on motion event processing in Cantonese-English bilinguals. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society 43 , pp.2169-2175.
2020
- Wang, Y. 2020. Encoding motion events in Mandarin Chinese. Chinese Language and Discourse. An International and Interdisciplinary Journal 11 (1), pp.164-168. (10.1075/cld.00028.wan)
- Wang, Y. 2020. Cognitive restructuring in the multilingual mind: motion event construal in Cantonese-English-Japanese multilingual speakers. PhD Thesis , University College London.
2019
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2019. Cognitive restructuring in the bilingual mind: motion event construal in early Cantonese-English bilinguals. Language and Cognition 11 (4), pp.527-554. (10.1017/langcog.2019.31)
2018
- Wang, Y. 2018. [Book Review] L3 Syntactic Transfer: Models, new developments and implications, Tanja Angelovska, Angela Hahn (Eds.), Benjamins, Amsterdam (2017). System 76 , pp.244-246. (10.1016/j.system.2018.06.016)
2017
- Wang, Y. 2017. [Book Review] Tsang, Wai Lan (2016) Cross-linguistic Influence in Multilinguals: An Examination of Chinese-English-French Speakers. Chinese Language and Discourse. An International and Interdisciplinary Journal 8 (2), pp.271-273. (10.1075/cld.00003.wan)
Articles
- Tai, K. W. H. et al., 2026. Translanguaging, medium of instruction and LX learning motivation. International Journal of Applied Linguistics (10.1111/ijal.70301)
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2025. How verbal labels modulate early Cantonese-English bilinguals' perception and categorization of motion events. International Journal of Bilingualism (10.1177/13670069251386699)
- Tusun, A. , Wang, Y. and Abulajiang, A. 2025. Moving in L2 Chinese from childhood to adulthood: Developmental and crosslinguistic factors in bilingual event construal. International Journal of Bilingualism 29 (5), pp.1389-1407. (10.1177/13670069241286423)
- Zhang, H. et al., 2025. Translanguaging for the construction of instructional immediacy in a Mandarin–Japanese crosslinguistic class. Review of Applied Linguistics 16 (3), pp.1153-1176. (10.1515/applirev-2024-0128)
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2022. Multilingual learning and cognitive restructuring: The role of audiovisual media exposure in Cantonese-English-Japanese multilinguals' motion event cognition. International Journal of Bilingualism (10.1177/13670069221085565)
- Zhang, H. , Wang, Y. and Vanek, N. 2022. Negation processing in Chinese-English bilinguals: insights from the Stroop paradigm and an orientation task. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 25 (10), pp.3711-3728. (10.1080/13670050.2022.2074274)
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2021. Cognitive restructuring in the multilingual mind: language-specific effects on processing efficiency of caused motion events in Cantonese-English-Japanese speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 24 (4), pp.730-745. (10.1017/S1366728921000018)
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2021. Two languages, one mind: the effects of language learning on motion event processing in Cantonese-English bilinguals. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society 43 , pp.2169-2175.
- Wang, Y. 2020. Encoding motion events in Mandarin Chinese. Chinese Language and Discourse. An International and Interdisciplinary Journal 11 (1), pp.164-168. (10.1075/cld.00028.wan)
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2019. Cognitive restructuring in the bilingual mind: motion event construal in early Cantonese-English bilinguals. Language and Cognition 11 (4), pp.527-554. (10.1017/langcog.2019.31)
- Wang, Y. 2018. [Book Review] L3 Syntactic Transfer: Models, new developments and implications, Tanja Angelovska, Angela Hahn (Eds.), Benjamins, Amsterdam (2017). System 76 , pp.244-246. (10.1016/j.system.2018.06.016)
- Wang, Y. 2017. [Book Review] Tsang, Wai Lan (2016) Cross-linguistic Influence in Multilinguals: An Examination of Chinese-English-French Speakers. Chinese Language and Discourse. An International and Interdisciplinary Journal 8 (2), pp.271-273. (10.1075/cld.00003.wan)
Books
- Wang, Y. and Wei, L. 2022. Thinking and speaking in a second language. Elements in Second Language Aquisition Cambridge University Press. (10.1017/9781009075053)
Thesis
- Wang, Y. 2020. Cognitive restructuring in the multilingual mind: motion event construal in Cantonese-English-Japanese multilingual speakers. PhD Thesis , University College London.
Research
Research summary
Language and cognition
My research expertise lies in language and cognition, motion event processing, and experimental psychology. By taking an experimental approach, my research aims to uncover 1) how linguistic typological preferences interact with cognitive processing and 2) how typological differences between first and second language affect one's cognitive development.
Before joining Cardiff, I held an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Institute of Education (IOE), University College London (UCL). The postdoctoral project, "Exploring the Dynamics of Language and Thought in the Multilingual Mind: Effects of Multiple Language Learning" (ES/V012274/1, £107,394), continues my research on language acquisition and cognition by using a novel, multidisciplinary approach that combines production, comprehension, categorisation, and perception of spatial concepts with eye-tracking. These efforts aim to transform the study of language and cognition into a thoroughly interdisciplinary field. For more details on the project please click [here].
Cognitive benefits of being bilingual
A further line of my research focuses on the general cognitive benefits that language learning brings to domain-general abilities, such as creative cognition and executive functions. I have collaborated with scholars worldwide to explore whether learning additional languages may facilitate cognitive development in bilingual and multilingual populations, with a particular focus on the Welsh-English and Cantonese-English bilingual contexts.
Research collaborations
PI (2026–2027): Code-Switching and Creative Behaviour among Cantonese-English Bilinguals in Hong Kong (AH3350IP14, £4,000). International Co-authorship Funding Award, Cardiff University.
Co-PI (2025–2026): Investigating the Impacts of Welsh-English Bilingual Experience on Adults' Adaptive Development in Proactive Control and Prospective Memory, in collaboration with Dr Xuran Han, University of Greenwich, London.
Co-I (2021–2023): Plurilingual Intercultural Creative Keys (PICK): Keys to Multilingual, Intercultural and Creative Education. For more details on the project please click [here]. [PI: Professor Anatoliy V. Kharkhurin, HSE University, Moscow, Russia]
Translanguaing and language teaching pedagogy
Another strand of my research engages with applied linguistics, focusing on language teaching and learning from a translanguaging perspective. I examine how learners' flexible use of their full linguistic repertoire shapes motivation, anxiety, and engagement in bilingual and multilingual classrooms, with the goal of informing pedagogical practice.
Research collaborations
Co-I (2024-2027): Transitioning from Primary Chinese Medium Instruction to Secondary English Medium Instruction: The Role of Translanguaging in Contributing to English as a Foreign Language Students’ Motivational Development. General Research Fund (GRF), Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong (Project Number: 17620024, HKD $930,221). [PI: Professor TAI, Kevin W. H (The University of Hong Kong); Co-Investigators: Professor Li Wei (University College London), Professor Josh Prada (University of Groningen)]
Co-I (2023-2025): The Affordance of an Emotionally Safe Translanguaging Space for Supporting Hong Kong Ethnic Minority Students in Managing Second Language Classroom Anxiety: A Study of Chinese as an Additional Language Classrooms. Early Career Scheme (ECS), Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong. (Project Number: 27616923, HKD $898,200). For more details on the project please click here.
[PI: Professor TAI, Kevin W. H (The University of Hong Kong); Co-Investigators: Professor Li Wei (University College London), Professor James Simpson (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)]
Teaching
I am currently teaching the following modules:
- SE1111 Language and the Mind
- SE1418 Experimental Approaches to Psycholinguistics
- SE1312 Children, Language and Communication
- SE1422 First and Second Language Acquisition
Biography
I completed my MA in Linguistics at the University of Hong Kong and obtained a PhD in Psycholinguistics from University College London (UCL) in 2020. Prior to joining Cardiff University as a lecturer in 2022, I held an ESRC post-doctoral fellowship at UCL Centre for Applied Linguistics (https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FV012274%2F1).
Supervisions
I am interested in supervising doctoral projects broadly related to the fields of psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics, including topics such as language and cognition, motion event processing, bilingualism and multilingualism, and the cognitive benefits of language learning.
Contact Details
+44 29208 70774
John Percival Building, Room Room 3.36, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU