Wen Xin

I have taught a wide range of courses in both English Language Studies and Rhetoric and Composition. In all the courses, I develop an understanding in students that language is not about what is “right” or “wrong” but more about what is appropriate in a context. I also guide students to analyze how and why language variations occur in different contexts, particularly the academic context, where students are often involved. In addition, I cultivate students’ critical language awareness, with which students understand when and why language is used to empower them, but more importantly, when and why language is used against them.

My research lies at the intersection of English Language Studies and Rhetoric and Composition. I focus primarily on the use of pragmatic features, such as metadiscourse, stance, and hedges, and variations of those features in writing classrooms with a goal of cultivating a better work environment for writing instructors as well as helping students become better writers. To pursue my research, I often draw upon a variety of methods, techniques, and algorithms from statistics, data mining, and natural language processing.