Dr Long Li | UNSW Research

My Expertise

Chinese translation and interpreting; Translation Studies (TS); translation quality assessment (TQA); comparative linguistics between English and Chinese; Chinese diaspora writing; ideology and translation

Keywords

translation

interpreting

systemic functional linguistics

chinese

mandarin

multimodal discourse analysis

corpus linguistics

ideology

Fields of Research (FoR)

Translation and Interpretation Studies, Linguistics, English and Literacy Curriculum and Pedagogy (excl. LOTE, ESL and TESOL)

Biography

I am Lecturer (Research & Teaching, broadly equiv. to Assistant Professor in the U.S. system) in Interpreting & Translation in the School of Humanities and Languages. I worked as Assistant Professor in the Department of Translation at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK, QS 2027 #18) in 2022-2026.

My primary research interest is the cultural and ideological tensions in Chinese diasporic writing in English and its translation “back”...view more

My primary research interest is the cultural and ideological tensions in Chinese diasporic writing in English and its translation “back” into Chinese. I investigate these issues through bilingual discourse analysis informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics and complemented by corpus-linguistic methods. I have a forthcoming monograph contracted with the University of Toronto Press, titled Translating Chinese Émigré Memoirs – Narrative and Ideological Borders between English and Chinese. I received a General Research Fund (GRF) from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong for exploring the potential of diaspora writing & translation for enhancing cross-cultural communication. More recently, I have been advocating for greater translator visibility on book covers, drawing on multimodal semiotic analysis and eye-tracking studies of readers’ perceptions.

I am also passionate about exploring innovative pedagogies to inspire and empower learners in the 21st century. I have taught a wide range of courses in translation & interpreting theories and practice, NAATI certification preparation, discourse analysis and linguistics, and Personalised English Language Enhancement (PELE) at UNSW, CUHK, University of Wollongong, and Macquarie University. My teaching has consistently received highly positive student feedback, including receiving the 2025 Faculty of Arts Exemplary Teaching Award from CUHK.

I am an Examiner of the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) and a NAATI-certified interpreter and translator.

I'm interested in supervising MPhil and PhD projects in the fields of translation and interpreting studies that incorporate critical discourse analysis, comparative linguistics, multimodality, and empirical studies.

Other languages spoken:

Mandarin (native), Cantonese (proficient), Russian (intermediate)

My Grants

2027-2028: “Fostering Cross-Cultural Understanding: A Linguistic Comparison of Everyday Chinese Life in Chinese and English Autobiographies”, The General Research Fund (GRF), Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong, HK$188,078, Principal Investigator (PI) (Declined).

2025-26: “Empowering Novice Translators in Post-Editing of GenAI-generated Legal Translation’, CUHK Faculty of Arts Direct Grant for Research, A$12,000, PI

2025-26: “Advocate translator prominence on book covers”, Department Impact Support, Department of Translation, A$5,800, PI.

2024-25: “Unveiling the Linguistic Tapestry of Chinese Émigré Literature with Corpus Construction and Analysis in English and Chinese”, CUHK Direct Grant, A$18,000, PI

2023-24: “Investigating reader reaction to translated book covers: A case study of Wild Swans”, CUHK Direct Grant, A$18,000, PI

2025-26: “Bridging Cultures through Literary Translation”, Global Partnership Engagement Fund, The University of Adelaide, A$9,590, Co-Investigator (Co-I).

2022-23: “Interlingual reinstantiation and multimodality: Visual and verbal elements in translated works”, University of Indonesia, A$10,000, Co-I

2019: School of Humanities and Languages SEED Grant, UNSW Sydney, A$8,000, Co-I

My Qualifications

PhD in Linguistics (MQ)

M.A. in Translation and Interpreting (UQ)

GradDip in Education (Secondary) (USC)

B.A. in Translation and Interpreting (MPU)

My Awards

2025 Exemplary Teaching Award, Faculty of Arts, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

2025 Exemplary Teaching Award, Department of Translation, CUHK

MQ-FU-HAM Trilateral Conference Scholarship for Young Researchers (2018)

MQ Postgraduate Research Fund (PGRF), $5,000 (2017)

Australian Postgraduate Award (APA), Macquarie University (2014-2017)

Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Conference Scholarship

Endeavour Postgraduate Awards, Australian Department of Education, hosted by The University of Queensland (2010-2012)

My Research Activities

Li, L. Translating Chinese Émigré Memoirs – Narrative and Ideological Borders between English and Chinese. University of Toronto Press, under contract.

My Research Supervision

Supervision keywords