Chinese

Nianpo Su

Nianpo Su

Lecturer in Chinese

Office: 501 Kent Hall
Office Hours: MW 4:10-5:10 PM
Phone: TBD
Email: ns3834@columbia.edu

Educational Background

Ph.D. in Linguistics, Cornell University, 2026
B.A. in  Japanese Language and Literature, Tsinghua University, 2021

Research Interests

Theoretical syntax
Syntax-semantics interface
Experimental semantics
East Asian linguistics
Second language acquisition

Nianpo Su joined Columbia University as a full-time Lecturer in Chinese in the fall of 2026. She received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from Cornell University, with a minor in Cognitive Science. Her dissertation, titled “Classifiers and DP Structure: Marking Definiteness and Beyond”, investigates how classifier languages encode definiteness, using both theoretical and experimental approaches. She has conducted fieldwork on Nuosu Yi and Northern Qiang, two minority languages spoken in Southwest China. Her research on definiteness in Nuosu Yi was published in Glossa in 2025. Before joining Columbia, she taught Chinese language courses at Cornell University.

Publications

Nianpo Su & Helena Aparicio. (forthcoming). Two types of demonstratives: Experiments in Mandarin and Nuosu Yi. Proceedings of the 36th Semantics and Linguistic Theory.

Nianpo Su. (2025). Classifiers and DP structure in Nuosu Yi: Evidence from tone. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics 10(1).

Nianpo Su. (2025). A head movement analysis of Nuosu Yi CLF-D order. Proceedings of the 48th Annual Penn Linguistics Conference.

Nianpo Su & Helena Aparicio. (2023). NPI licensing and intrusion effects in Japanese. Proceedings of the 58th Chicago Linguistics Society Annual Meeting.

Nianpo Su & Yunchuan Chen. (2022). Can the head quantifier phrase reconstruct in doubly embedded Chinese relative clauses? Proceedings of the 45th Annual Penn Linguistics Conference.

Chun Chen

Chun Chen

Adjunct Lecturer in Chinese

Email: cc5502@columbia.edu

Educational Background

MA: Chinese Linguistics and Language Acquisition, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
BA: Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, Jinan University

Bio
Chun Chen has been teaching Mandarin Chinese to learners of diverse ages and proficiency levels in the United States and China since 2015. She taught in Columbia University’s summer language programs in Beijing in 2015 and 2016 and has since taught Chinese in university, study-abroad, and immersion settings. She joined Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures as an Adjunct Lecturer in Fall 2025. She is also the founder and director of Moxie Mandarin, a Mandarin education program in New York City.

Yaxi Zheng

Yaxi Zheng

Adjunct Lecturer in Chinese
Educational Background

MA: East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University
BA: Communications and Media Studies, Fordham University

Classes Taught

CHNS UN1010 Introductory Chinese A
CHNS UN1011 Introductory Chinese B
CHNS UN2201 Second Year Chinese I
CHNS UN2202 Second Year Chinese II
CHNS UN2221 Second Year Chinese W I
CHNS UN2222 Second Year Chinese W II

Research Interests

Chinese Language Pedagogy, Heritage Learner Instruction, Technology-Enhanced Teaching

Bio

Yaxi Zheng has been teaching Chinese language courses at all levels since 2014 at institutions including Columbia University, City College of New York, Fordham University, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She specializes in proficiency-based instruction for both heritage and non-heritage learners.