Yi Liu
Associate Lecturer

Profile

Biography

Yi joined the department in 2025 as an Associate Lecturer. She works primarily in first and second language acquisition. Her research interests also lie in sociolinguistics and safeguarding studies. She is currently working on a large corpus of media portrayals of child abuse in the UK.

Career

Associate Lecturer

University of York (2025-)

Visiting Research Fellow

Aston University (2024-)

Researcher Developer

University of Bradford (2024-2025)

Postdoc Research Associate

Aston University (2022-2024)

PhD in English Language and Linguistics

University of Sheffield (2018-2022)

MA in Applied Linguistics with TESOL

University of Sheffield (2016-2017)

BA in German Language and Linguistics

China University of Mining and Technology (2010-2014)

Teaching

Undergraduate

Language Acquisition

Postgraduate

External activities

Overview

Yi is also a researcher at the CLASS Centre (Centre for Corpus linguistic and Legal Approaches to Safeguarding Studies), led by Lancaster University to improve aspects of safeguarding for vulnerable families in the family justice system.

Invited talks and conferences

Liu, Y., Gil, K.H., & Tsoulas, G. (2023) Mandarin Chinese plurals: an experimental investigation, at the Linguistics Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (LAGB) Annual Meeting 2023. Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
Liu, Y. & Hammond, T. (2023) Epicene pronouns in L2 writing: antecedent individuation and L1 transfer, at the Linguistics Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (LAGB) Annual Meeting 2023. Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
Liu, Y. & Hammond, T. (2023) English epicene pronouns and their antecedents in Chinese learners’ EFL academic writing, at the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) Annual Conference 2023. University of York, York, UK.
Liu, Y. & Hammond, T. (2023) Epicene pronouns in L2 writing: evidence from learner corpora. The Annual Meeting of the North Acquisition Research Group, Department of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York, York, UK.
Liu, Y. & Hammond, T. (2023) A corpus-based approach to 'singular they' in L2 writing, at the 2023 conference of the European Second Language Association (EuroSLA). University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Gil, K.H. & Liu, Y. (2022) Interpretations of Plurals: A Crosslinguistic Case of L1-Chinese and L2- English. Seminars of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Core-to-Core Programme.
Liu, Y. & Gil, K. H. (2022). Second Language Acquisition of English Plurals by Chinese ESL Speakers, at GASLA 16 – Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26564.71041
Liu, Y. (2022). The FAIR Data Checklist – A Case from the School of English. Open for discussion: embedding open research practice in the Arts and Humanities. University of York, York, UK.
Liu, Y. & Gil, K.H. (2021). The Interpretations of Chinese Plurals, at the 46th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD), with Paula Menyuk Award in recognition of one of the top-rated abstracts authored by a student. Boston University, USA.
Liu, Y. & Gil, K.H. (2021). Chinese plurals are not exclusively exclusive: experimental evidence by Chinese children, at the Linguistics Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (LAGB) Annual Meeting 2021. Northumbria University, UK.

Publications

Devine, L., Parker, S., Gerigk, K., Liu, Y., et.al. (2025) The Centre for Corpus Linguistic Approaches to Safeguarding Studies Evidence Submission responding to The Education Committee. Children’s Social Care – Call for Evidence. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/136263/html/
Liu, Y. & Hammond, T. (2025). Chinese EFL learners’ use of epicene pronouns in English writing: a corpus-based approach. Under review.
Liu, Y. & Gil, K.H. (2024) Second Language Acquisition of English Plurals by Chinese Learners. Language Acquisition and Language Disorders (LALD). John Benjamins. DOI: https://chooser.crossref.org/?doi=10.1075%2Flald.70.04liu
Liu, Y. & Gil, K.H. (2022). The Interpretation of Chinese Plurals: Experimental Evidence by Chinese Children and Adults. BUCLD 46: Proceedings of the 46th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development. http://www.lingref.com/bucld/46/BUCLD46-37.pdf

Yi Liu Associate Lecturer