Dr Yingnian Tao
Senior Research Associate - Reimagining Research PracticesProfile
I am currently working on a Welcome Trust-funded multi-disciplinary project on research culture, where I investigate ethics and sustainability policymaking in higher education institutions. My work employs corpus linguistics methods and participatory research design to critically examine institutional responses to societal challenges.
My broader research interests, shaped by my doctoral and postdoctoral projects, focus on three interconnected strands:
Strand 1: Institutional policy analysis
I am keen on examining how universities conduct policy frameworks to address pressing societal issues, with a particular focus on AI governance and net-zero strategies & initiatives. Using corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis, I uncover the implicit ideologies shaping institutional policymaking. For example, my ongoing study on university sustainability reporting reveals how institutions position themselves as primary agents of change while marginalising the roles of students and staff.
This strand of work builds on my previous leadership in institutional race equality initiatives, where I led the university-wide surveys and facilitated focus groups on barriers faced by racial and ethnic minorities. discussions around barriers faced by ethnic and racial minorities. The discussions on race equality, intersectionality between race, gender, sexuality, and disability have been an eye opener. These experiences highlighted the power of participatory methods in shaping equitable policies – an approach I now extend to AI ethics and sustainability governance.
Strand 2: Analysis of sustainability communication & greenwashing
This line of research is motivated by my personal interest and enhanced by the current research culture project. I analyse sustainability narratives across industries, including the fashion industry green claims (forthcoming in International Journal of Business Communication); media framing of green backlash (revised & resubmitted); and clean energy transition (in progress).
I work with Mark Ryan, who is an environmental marketing researcher with extensive experience in calculating the carbon impact of fashion firms through life-cycle analysis. In the context of global warming, major brands and corporations worldwide are responding to climate change by incorporating sustainable development practices to varying extents. These entities market their commitment to sustainability, emphasising social and environmental dimensions. However, some engage more in greenwashing than genuine commitment.
Strang 3: Media bias & interruptions in political settings
This is an extension of my doctoral study on interruption in everyday setting in Chinese. This strand investigates power dynamics in political interviews manifested through interruptions. My specific interest lies in investigating alleged media bias through a meticulous examination of interruptions initiated by both interviewers and interviewees in mainstream Western media outlets. This research initiative is prompted by my observation of netizens' expressions on Chinese social media platforms (see my previous paper on how netizens adopt innovative linguistic strategies to criticise public figures, it is Top 3 most cited article in Discourse & Society in recent 3 years). There is a prevalent sentiment that Western media display a substantial bias against China. Netizens often assert that interview hosts manipulate conversations by consistently interrupting guests whose perspectives diverge from the media's negative narrative about China. To empirically test this perception, I am conducting a pilot study analysing interruptions in political interviews.
Current Teaching
Seminars:
- LING103 Linguistics
- LING237 Pragmatics
Lectures:
- LING237 Pramgatics on Imitation and Resonance
- LING237 Pragmatics on Multimodality and Interruption
Autumn School in Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching:
- Research Methods in Linguistics (quantitative and qualitative)
- English Language
Supervised two master's students from Universiti Malaya - Corpus pragmatics of hedging words- Corpus linguistic analysis of sustainability reporting in utility between global north and global south (co-supervise with Mark Ryan)
Selected Publications
Washing dirty laundry: A corpus linguistic analysis of fashion firms’ webpage sustainability discourse
Tao, Y., Ryan, M. 6/03/2025 In: International Journal of Business Communication.
Journal article
Who should apologise: Expressing criticism of public figures on Chinese social media in times of COVID-19
Tao, Y. 1/09/2021 In: Discourse and Society. 32, 5, p. 622-638. 17 p.
Journal article
Annotation and Analysis of Interruption Speeches in Everyday Chinese Conversations
Tao, Y. 17/05/2020
Poster
Dynamic Resonance, Timing, and impoliteness of Interruptions in Chinese Everyday Conversations.
Tao, Y. 07/2019
Abstract
Do not interrupt while I am speaking: Interruption Design in Everyday Chinese Conversations
Tao, Y. 17/06/2020
Poster
Interruption Elicits Laughter: Cooperative and Intrusive Interruptions in a Chinese Talk Show Host’s Conversation
Tao, Y. 25/09/2018 In: Studies in English Language Teaching. 6, 4, p. 287-311. 35 p.
Journal article
All Publications
Reimagining research practices: towards a sustainable, ethical and inclusive future
01/05/2024 → 30/04/2026
Research
Impact of AI on sustainability, ethics and inclusion in research
Invited talk
British Academy: Sustainability Multidisciplinary Meet-up: SHAPEing Net Zero
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
SHE IS SUSTAINABLE early careers workshop on sustainability
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Lancaster University Research Culture Day
Symposium
International Journal of Applied Linguistics (Journal)
Editorial activity
Journal of Pragmatics (Journal)
Editorial activity
Talk at Lancaster University China Centre on interruptions in political talk
Invited talk
SAGE Open (Journal)
Editorial activity
Journal of Pragmatics (Journal)
Editorial activity
Pragmatics and Society (Journal)
Editorial activity
Global Media and China (Journal)
Publication peer-review
Discourse Studies (Journal)
Publication peer-review
Chinese journal of Communication (Journal)
Publication peer-review
How to conduct linguistic research: Conversation analysis
Invited talk
SAGE Open (Journal)
Publication peer-review
Information, Communication and Society (Journal)
Publication peer-review
LAEL Postgraduate Conference 2021 (Event)
Publication peer-review