Yang Xiao-DesaiView profile
Professor
Dr. Yang Xiao-Desai is a Professor in the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures at San Francisco State University (SFSU), where she has served since 2014. She holds a PhD in Chinese Linguistics and Pedagogy from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and has taught at institutions including the University of California, Davis, and Middlebury College. Her research focuses on heritage language development, second language acquisition (SLA), and Chinese sociolinguistics with emphasis on sociocultural factors like identity, anxiety, and pragmatics. She teaches graduate courses in applied linguistics, curriculum design, and technology in education. Education: PhD: Chinese Linguistics & Pedagogy, University of Hawaii at Manoa M.A.: Chinese Linguistics, Hunan Normal University B.A.: Chinese Language Education, Hunan Normal University Research Interests: Dr. Xiao-Desai explores heritage language learners' pragmatic development through mixed-methods approaches, including learner corpus analysis. She investigates how social/affective factors like ethnic identity and anxiety impact language maintenance. Her work bridges SLA theory with practical pedagogy, emphasizing curriculum design and teacher training in Chinese programs. Professional Roles: Associate Director of Chinese Flagship Program Editorial Board Member, Foreign Language Annals Board Member, Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA) Co-organizer, CLTA SIG in Chinese as a Second Language Research Recent Scholarship: Recent work includes studies on heritage language pragmatics, online writing effects on anxiety, and identity development. Her 2021 article in Applied Pragmatics challenges monolingual norms in heritage language education, while 2019 studies used Bayesian analysis to model online writing impacts. She consistently bridges technological innovation with pedagogical practice, evidenced in her social network language teaching research. Service Contributions: Beyond research, Dr. Xiao-Desai advises the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership at SFSU's College of Education and contributes to national language education initiatives, including AP Chinese assessment and teacher certification programs.











