Dr Yifang Xu

Associate Tutor

Biography

Background

Dr Yifang Xu is an Associate Tutor at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, where she contributes to postgraduate teaching and dissertation supervision. She has a background in English, TESOL and Education, and completed both her MSc in TESOL and PhD in Education at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests are broadly in language education and international higher education, with a particular interest in questions of language, identity, equity and inclusion. Her work has examined language attitudes, Global Englishes, English-medium instruction and internationalisation, and has more recently extended to racial equity, EDI policy and decolonising the curriculum. Alongside her teaching, Yifang has been involved in a range of collaborative research projects in the UK and China. These have included work on inclusive internationalisation, Global Englishes-informed language education, EMI teachers’ experiences and attitudes, racial equity in higher education, and international students’ understandings of decolonising the curriculum.

Qualifications

PhD in Education - The University of Edinburgh, UK

MSc in TESOL - The University of Edinburgh, UK

BA in English - Chongqing University, China

Postgraduate teaching

Research Method 1

The sources of knowledge: Understanding and analysing research literature

 

Language and the Learner

 

Research Method 2

Conceptualising research: Foundations, assumptions and praxis 

 

MSc Dissertation Supervision

Research summary

Yifang’s research sits at the intersection of language education, international higher education, and equity and inclusion. Her work explores how language, identity, institutional practices and wider social inequalities shape students’ and academics’ experiences of higher education. Her research interests include:

  • Attitudes and language attitudes
  • Language, identity, equity and belonging in higher education
  • Internationalisation and inclusive internationalisation
  • Global Englishes and English-medium instruction
  • Racial equity, EDI policy and institutional practice
  • Decolonising the curriculum and inclusive pedagogies
  • Mixed-methods research on higher education policy and practice

 

Current research interests

Yifang’s current research focuses on equity, inclusion and institutional practice in higher education. She is currently involved in research on racial equity in university EDI policy and on international students’ understandings of decolonising the curriculum in teaching and assessment. Alongside this, she continues to work on language attitudes, Global Englishes and English language norms in internationalised higher education contexts.

Past research interests

Language policy, internationalisation of Higher Education

Affiliated research centres

Project activity

  • Research Assistant – Racial Equity in EDI Policy in Universities

       Funder - U21 Collaborative Seed Fund

  • Research Assistant - Developing a framework for inclusiveness in internationalisation.

       Funder - Institute for Academic Development PTAS Award

  • Research Assistant - The effects of STEM and Sustainability on S5 and S6 learners' academic performance and on their attitudes towards STEM-related subjects.

       Funder - Regional Skills Program 

Papers delivered

Chen, Q., & Xu, Y. (2025). What Does It Mean to Be a Native Speaker? A Study of Chinese Pre-service English Teachers’ Attitudes Toward English Accents. Paper presented at The 10th Forum for Emerging Researchers in Language Studies.July 4th – 6th, 2025. Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China.

Xu, Y. & Chen, Q. (2023, August). The native-speaker myth: Chinese pre-service EFL teacher-students’ language attitudes towards English accents. Paper presented for the British Association for Applied Linguistics, 56th Annual Conference. August 23rd – 25th, 2023. The University of York, York, U.K.

Fakunle, O., Deluna, M., Xu, Y., & McCune V. (2022, July). A critical examination of staff perspectives on the connection between internationalisation and inclusiveness in a UK university. Paper presented for the Higher Education Close Up 10. July 4th – 6th, 2022. Lancaster University, Lancaster, U.K.

Fakunle, O., Xu, Y., Deluna, M., & McCune, V. (2022, June). L&T Staff perspectives on embedding inclusiveness in internationalised classrooms. Paper presented for the Learning and Teaching Conference 2022. June 14th – 16th, 2022. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.

Xu, Y. (2019, November). Working in an international environment: Exploring Chinese academics' language attitude. Paper presented at the Scottish Educational Research Association 44th Annual Conference. November 20th – 22nd, 2019. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.

Xu, Y. (2019, June). An Investigation of Chinese academics’ attitudes towards English language norms in the UK academic settings. Paper presented at the Annual Cutting Edges Conference. June 28th – 29th, 2019. Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, U.K.

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