Zhaole Yang is a University Lecturer of Chinese language and language pedagogy at the Institute for Area Studies.

More information about Zhaole Yang

Fields of Interest

Chinese syntax and semantics; syntax–semantics interface; syntax–pragmatics interface; language pedagogy and second language acquisition.

Research

My research focuses on two distinct but interconnected areas. The first is theoretical and descriptive linguistics, with a particular interest in how cross-linguistic and language-internal variation can inform our understanding of linguistic structure and universals. My work primarily investigates the syntax, semantics, and their interfaces with pragmatics in Mandarin and other Sinitic languages and varieties.

My second area of research concerns language pedagogy and second language acquisition. I am particularly interested in how insights from linguistic research and authentic language use can inform the teaching and learning of Chinese and other less commonly taught languages. In 2026, together with Eline Sikkema, I was awarded a Comenius Senior Fellowship for the project From Textbook to Real Talk: Authenticity in Language Acquisition.

CV

I received a double BA degree in English and Education from Shandong University, China, in 2009, and completed my MA in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language at the same university in 2012. I moved to the Netherlands in 2011 to teach Mandarin at the Confucius Institute at Leiden University. I have been affiliated with the Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) since 2017. I obtained my PhD in Linguistics from Leiden University in 2020 and was awarded the Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO) in 2026.

Teaching and Supervision

I teach a range of linguistics courses in the BA Chinese Studies, MA Asian Studies, and MA Linguistics programmes. I also teach Mandarin language courses and content-based language courses in the BA Chinese Studies and BA International Studies programmes.

I supervise BA and MA theses and PhD research in Chinese linguistics, as well as research on foreign language teaching and acquisition.

Key Publications

Meixiang Chang and Zhaole Yang. 2026. “From motion to speech act: The discourse function of luai-k^hə in Ji’an Gan Chinese.” Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 44: 34.

Zhaole Yang. 2025. “Three yěs in Mandarin.” International Journal of Chinese Linguistics 12(1): 1–37.

Zhaole Yang. 2024. “Mandarin shì as a complementizer.” Journal of Chinese Linguistics 52(2): 362–384.
 
Yang, Zhaole. 2019. Mandarin yě and scalarity. Studies in Chinese Linguistics 39 (2), 155-178. 

Other publications can be found under “Publications”.

Other Activities

I co-chair the ChiLL (Chinese Linguistics in Leiden) lecture series and the TEAL (Teaching East Asian Languages) workshop at Leiden University. I am a board member of the European Association of Chinese Linguistics (EACL) and serve on the Education Committee (Opleidingscommissie) for Chinese Studies at Leiden University.

Publications