Department of English and Communication

Research Assistant Professor

Dr Molly Xie Pan holds a PhD in Linguistics from the Department of English and Communication at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Previously, she served as a lecturer at Fudan University. Her research interests revolve around the application of metaphor theories in the social world, encompassing public health communication, advertising, second language acquisition and political discourse. She conducts empirical research to investigate the manifestation, pragmatic roles, and effectiveness of metaphorical phenomena. By employing data analytics techniques, her research delves into the latent connections between metaphorical phenomena and social psychology, comprising emotions, personal concerns, stigma and decision-making processes. Her work has been published in journals such as Lingua, Metaphor and the Social World, and Cognitive Linguistics Studies, among others. She is the co-editor of the book Data Analytics in Cognitive Linguistics: Methods and Insights, published by De Gruyter Mouton in 2022. Furthermore, she serves as the editorial assistant of Metaphor and the Social World.

Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies

Assistant Professor

Dr Pelzl’s research program investigates the second language learning of spoken and written forms of Mandarin Chinese. For second language learners of Mandarin, both the sounds (tones) of the language and the writing system (Chinese characters) often present considerable learning challenges. Dr Pelzl aims to better understand the source(s) of these challenges and to find practical ways to improve language learning and teaching. He received his PhD in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2018, and served as a postdoctoral scholar in the Center for Language Science at Penn State University from 2018-2023. His research is primarily done using behavioral and neuroimaging methods. Previous studies have investigated how speakers of English and Vietnamese perceive and use tones for comprehending Mandarin speech; how native Mandarin speakers perceive and adapt to tonal mispronunciations in second language speech; and whether the use of variability in visual presentation (fonts) might improve Chinese character learning. His research has been published in journals such as Language Learning, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, and Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. Along with teaching and research at PolyU, he also looks forward to improving his own Mandarin and Cantonese skills.

Department of Chinese History and Culture

Assistant Professor

Dr Dongxin Zou is a historian of modern China, with interests in the study of medicine, science, and technology within the Global South throughout the 20th century. Her research focuses on the interplay of medicine and politics, technology and (post)colonialism, and knowledge production within transnational contexts. Currently, she is developing a book manuscript on China’s medical engagements in postcolonial Algeria since the 1960s, scrutinizing the transfer of technology and the broader implications of China’s approach to socialist medicine and humanitarian aid. Her work, supported by prestigious bodies such as the Social Science Research Council (U.S.) and the American Council of Learned Societies, aims to shed light on the effects of alternative health models in shaping the health landscape of the Global South. She has published in journals including Technology and Culture, the Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, and Urban Studies. She received her PhD in History from Columbia University. She held a postdoctoral fellowship at the National University of Singapore’s Asia Research Institute and a subsequent lecturing position at Columbia, prior to her current appointment at PolyU.