Defense Language Institute

Mingzhe Zheng Foreign Language Center

Monterey, CA 93944
郑明喆 mingzhe.zheng@dliflc.edu
785-979-2248

Employment
2021 - present Defense Language Institute - Monterey, CA
Assistant Professor in Chinese
Foreign Language Center

2019 - 2021 University of California, Berkeley

Lecturer in Chinese
Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures

2017 - 2019 Earlham College - Richmond, IN

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Chinese
Department of Language and Cultures,
Comparative Languages and Linguistics

2011 - 2016 Michigan State University - East Lansing, MI

Graduate Teaching Assistant
Department of Linguistics and Languages

Education
2011 - 2018 Michigan State University - East Lansing, MI
Ph.D. in Linguistics
o Dissertation: You Have to Learn to Adapt:
A Sociolinguistic Study of Chinese Americans in “the Asian
city” of Southeast Michigan
o Committee: Suzanne Evans Wagner (Advisor),
Karthik Durvasula, Yen-Hwei Lin, Anne Violin-Wigent

2008 - 2011 Beijing Language and Culture University - Beijing, China

M.A. in Chinese Philology
o Thesis: Urban Immigrants in Beijing: Language Attitude
and Linguistic Practice of Immigrants in Northeast China
o Advisor: Dejin Sun (孙德⾦)

2001 - 2005 Beijing Language and Culture University - Beijing, China

B.A. in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language

Publications
Zheng, M. & Liu, J. (2021). Are pants clothes or long objects: Exploring the L2
acquisition of Chinese classifiers. Proceedings of the 32th North American
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 Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL‐32).

Zheng, M. & Liu, J. (2017). Language attitude and linguistic practice of northeastern
migrants in Beijing, China. Proceedings of the 29th North American Conference on
Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-29).

Zheng, M. & Durvasula, K. (2015). English loanwords in Mandarin Chinese: A

perception experiment approach. Proceedings of the 27th North American Conference
on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-27).

Zheng, M. & Liu, J. (In preparation). The Mandarin classifier is changing: How and
why. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America.

Zheng, M. (In revision for resubmission). Accommodation and ethnic identity

construction: Chinese American English in Troy, Michigan. American Speech.

Zheng, M. & Liu, J. (In revision for resubmission). Linguistic knowledge and language
teaching: An experimental approach to the role of tone sandhi rules in Chinese class.
Chinese as a Second Language.

Durvasula, K., Xu, C., Zheng, M., Wang, X. & Lin, Y.-H. (Revised and Resubmitted).
Phonological knowledge beyond the word-domain: the case of illusory consonants.
Laboratory Phonology.

Selected Presentations
2023 The Mandarin classifier is changing: How and why (with Liu, J.) Poster
presented at the Linguistic Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver,
Colorado, January 5-8, 2023.

2022 The social motivation of Mandarin classifier change (with Liu, J.) Paper
presented at New Ways of Analyzing Variation (NWAV 50), Stanford
University, October 13-15, 2022.

2022 Using Fine-grained Information to Learn about Students’ Comprehension

(with Liu, J.) Defense Language Institute Chinese Language Specific Seminar.
January 11.

2021 One-ge person or One-wei person: Exploring the use of Mandarin classifier
across time (with Liu, J.) Paper presented at New Ways of Analyzing
Variation (NWAV 49), University of Texas at Austin, October 19-24 (Online).

2021 Accommodation and ethnic identity construction: Chinese American English

in Troy, Michigan Paper presented at the Linguistic Society of America
Annual Meeting, organized session on “VariAsian: Contact and Change in Asian
North American Speech Communities” San Francisco, January 7-10 (Online)

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2020 Language change and language teaching (with Zhang, L.). Paper presented at
the University of California Symposium on Inclusive Chinese as a Second
Language, University of California Los Angeles, December 12 (Online)
2020 Are “pants” clothes or long objects: Exploring the L2 acquisition of Chinese
Classifiers (with Liu, J.) Paper to be presented at The 32nd North American
Conference on Chinese linguistics (NACCL-32), University of Connecticut,
September 18 – 20 (Online).

2019 Classifier teaching: Learning from learners’ performance in a production

And comprehension experiment (with Liu, J.). Paper presented at The
Fifth International Forum on Linguistics and Chinese Education (IFOLCE-5),
Columbia University and University of California, Davis, October 4-7.

2018 Linguistic Knowledge and Language Teaching: An Experimental Approach

to the Role of Tone Sandhi Rules in Chinese Classes (with Liu, J.). Paper
presented at The ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo, New
Orleans, LA, November 16-18.

2018 Embrace it or Resist it? Internet Language in Second Language Teaching.

Paper presented at the 2018 Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association
Conference (IFLTA), Indianapolis, IN, November 1-3.

2018 Reconsidering Mandarin Tone 3 Sandhi Teaching: Evidence from

Production (with Liu, J.). Paper presented at the 26th Princeton Conference on
Chinese Language Instruction, Princeton University, April 27-28.

2017 Why the Fluctuation: Understanding the Complex Process of L2 Acquisition

(with Liu, J.). Paper presented at The ACTFL Annual Convention & World
Languages Expo, Nashville, TN, November 17-19.

2017 Ethnic Identity Construction: The Interlocutor Effect on TOOTH

in Chinese American English. Paper presented at New Ways of Analyzing
Variation (NWAV 46), University of Wisconsin-Madison, November 2-5.

2017 Language Attitude and Linguistic Practice of Northeastern Migrants in

Beijing, China (with Liu, J.). Paper presented at The 29th North American
Conference on Chinese linguistics (NACCL-29), Rutgers University, June 16-18.

2017 Chinese Americans’ stylistic variation of the Northern Cities Shift in Troy,
Michigan. Poster presented at Georgetown University Round Table (GURT)
2017, Georgetown University, March 10-12.

2016 Phonological Knowledge beyond the Word-domain: The Case of Illusory

Consonants (with Durvasula, K., Xu, C., Wang, X. and Yen-Hwei Lin). Paper
presented at The Manchester Phonology Meeting (MFM 24), Manchester, UK,
May 26-28.

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2015 Chinese American accommodation to the Northern Cities Shift in Southeast
Michigan. Poster presented at New Ways of Analyzing Variation (NWAV 44),
University of Toronto, October 22-25.
2015 English loanwords in Mandarin Chinese: A perception experiment approach.
(with Durvasula, K.). Paper presented at the 27th North American Conference on
Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-27), University of California, Los Angeles, April 3-
5.

2015 Chinese is not difficult, just different. (with Liu, J.). World Languages Day.
Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR), Michigan State
University, March 28.

Invited Talk
2020 Accommodation and ethnic identity construction: Chinese American English
in Troy, Michigan. Sociolinguistics Lab at Berkeley. University of California
Berkeley, May 1.

2018 Sociolinguistics: A very short introduction. Earlham Seminar 150-6: The

Psychology of Language. Earlham College, March 29.

Teaching
Lecturer in Chinese, UC Berkeley
Spring 2021 Elementary Chinese II (Chinese 1B)
Advanced Chinese II (Chinese 100B)
Fall 2020 Elementary Chinese II (Chinese 1B)
Advanced Chinese I (Chinese 100A)
Spring 2020 Elementary ChineseI (Chinese 1A)
Advanced Chinese II (Chinese 100B)
Fall 2019 Elementary Chinese I (Chinese 1A)
Advanced Chinese I (Chinese 100A)

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Chinese, Earlham College

Spring 2019 Advanced Chinese II (CHIN302)
Elementary Chinese II (CHIN102)
Fall 2018 Introduction to Chinese Linguistics (CHIN358/CLL358)
Chinese Through Extensive Reading (CHIN230/330)
Elementary Chinese I (CHIN101)
Spring 2018 Chinese Through Extensive Reading (CHIN230/330)
Intermediate Chinese II (CHIN102)
Fall 2017 Elementary Chinese I (CHIN101)

Instructor – Chinese (Graduate teaching assistant), Michigan State University

Fall 2015 Intermediate Chinese I (CHS201 online-hybrid)
Fall 2014 Intermediate Chinese I (CHS201 online-hybrid)
Fall 2013 Elementary Chinese I (CHS101)
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 Summer 2013 Elementary Chinese I (CHS101)
Spring 2013 Intermediate Chinese II (CHS202)
Fall 2012 Elementary Chinese I (CHS101)
Spring 2012 Elementary Chinese II (CHS102)
Fall 2011 Elementary Chinese I (CHS101)

Recitation Instructor – Linguistics, Michigan State University

Spring 2016 Roles of Language in Society (IAH231c)
Spring 2015 Roles of Language in Society (IAH231c)
Spring 2014 Roles of Language in Society (IAH231c)

Graduate Research Assistant

Chinese (Fall 2016)
Michigan State University, Department of Linguistics & Languages
Responsibilities: Assisted Professor Catherine Ryu with her research endeavors,
specifically on the Tone Perception and Production (ToPP) project.

Linguistics (Summer 2016)

Michigan State University, Department of Linguistics & Languages,
MSU Sociolinguistics Laboratory
Responsibilities: Assisted Professor Suzanne Evans Wagner, the MSU Socio Lab
director, with her research endeavors, specifically on the Greater Lansing Speech
& Society Project, and the Rochester Accent Project. Transcribed audio recorded
interviews with people from Lansing, MI., and Rochester, NY. Analyzed data for
individual differences and area differences in vowel production.

Linguistics (Summer 2014)

Michigan State University, MSU College of Arts and Letters &
MSU Sociolinguistics Laboratory
Responsibilities: Acted a fieldworker, participated in the "Immigrant experiences
in the global Midwest" project, which is a preliminary study of the Arab, Chinese,
and Nepalese communities in Michigan. Conducted recorded interviews and
collected photos of the target community in southeast Michigan.

Grants
2020 UC-AFT Professional Development Fund, University of California, Berkeley

2018 Academic Professional Development Fund, Earlham College.

2017 Dissertation Completion Fellowship, Graduate School, Michigan State

University.

2016 Dr. Delia Koo Global Scholarship, Asian Studies Center, Michigan State
University.

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SS15, FS15 & SS17 Graduate School Conference Grant, Michigan State University.

SS15, FS15 & SS17 Department of Linguistics & Languages Conference Grant,
Michigan State University

FS15 & SS17 College of Arts & Letters Conference Grant, Michigan State
University.

2014 & 2015 Summer Research Fellowship, College of Arts and Letters, Michigan
State University.

Service
2022 Reviewer for the Linguistic Society of America Annual Meeting (2023)

Reviewer for New Ways of Analyzing Variation (NWAV 50).

2021-present Unit Security Officer for Defense Language Institute Building 213

2021 Judge for the 45th Chinese Mandarin Speech Contest (2021)
- Chinese Language Teachers Association of California

2020 Panel Co-Chairs (with Zhang, L.)

- Panel 5 Curriculum & Instruction, The Chinese Language
Teachers Association of California (CLTA), CLTA California Fall
International Conference on Chinese Language Instruction

2017-2019 Coordinator of extra-curricular events

- Chinese Studies, Earlham College

Certifications
ACTFL OPI Tester of Chinese, Full Certification, 2022
- The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

Instructor Certification Course, 2022

- Defense Language Institute, Instructor Certification Course

Qualification Certificate of Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language, 2006

- The Ministry of Education of The People’s Republic of China

Certificate of Putonghua Proficiency Test Grade, Level 1-B, 2005

- State Language Commission of The People’s Republic of China

Professional Training
2021 American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral
Proficiency Interview (OPI) Assessment Workshop (Online)

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2014 Faculty Seminars in Research & Instructional Technology. Michigan State
University
Ÿ Data Management for Research
Ÿ Managing, Sharing, and Moving Big Data

Professional Membership
• Chinese Language Teachers Association of California (CLTAC), 2020-present
• Linguistic Society of America (LSA), 2020 - present
• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), 2017-present
• The Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association (IFLTA), 2018-2019

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