Agnes Weiyun He received her education in China (B.A. in English, Beijing Foreign Languages Institute, 1985), Singapore (Diploma in Education, National Institute of Education, 1986), and the U.S. (M.A. in English as a Second Language, University of Arizona, 1988; Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics, UCLA, 1993). Her research interests are centered on discourse linguistics and language education. Her major publications include Reconstructing Institutions: Language Use in Academic Counseling Encounters (Greenwood, 1998), Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Proficiency (co-edited with R. Young, John Benjamins, 1998) and over twenty research articles in edited volumes and refereed journals such as Discourse Processes (for which she is also a member of the Editorial Board), Language in Society, Linguistics and Education, Discourse Studies, Journal of Pragmatics, Text, Research on Language and Social Interaction, among others. In recent years, Dr. He's research has focused on the modes of discourse (i.e., how teachers and students communicate with each other) in Chinese language classrooms and their impact on the linguistic and cultural development of Chinese American students. Her work has been supported by a research grant from the Spencer Foundation (1998-1999) and a Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Academy of Education (1999-2001). Dr. He designed and developed a CHL (Chinese as a heritage language) track in the Chinese language curriculum at SUNY-Stony Brook, where she is presently the Director of China Studies Program.
