Yu (Joyce) Wu

Yu Wu
  • Associate Professor of Chinese, Chinese Flagship Director, Chinese Section Head
  • Phone: 401.874.4704
  • Email: yu_wu@uri.edu
  • Office Location: Swan Hall 129
  • Website

Biography

Dr. Yu (Joyce) Wu 吴瑜 is an Associate Professor, Director of the Chinese Flagship Program, and Chinese Section Head at the University of Rhode Island. She is the President of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA-USA), a board member of NECLTA, and the Higher Education Co-Chair for the AP Chinese Development Committee for the 2024-2025 academic year. Her research focuses on second language acquisition, proficiency-based teaching and assessment, individual differences, and the development of proficiency and intercultural communicative competence in immersion contexts. Dr. Wu has received the URI College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award and the Rhode Island Foreign Language Association Mary L. Borra Excellence Award. She regularly presents at national and international conferences and has conducted teacher training for institutions such as Middlebury College Chinese Summer School, NECLTA, Beijing Language and Culture University, etc. Her research has appeared in reputable venues such as Foreign Language Annals, Chinese as a Second Language, and book chapters published by Routledge and Springer. She is a co-author of the textbook series Progressive Chinese: An Intermediate Chinese Textbook, and a co-editor of the CLS Special Issue Seeking Change in a Challenging Time: New Perspectives for Proficiency-Oriented Chinese Teaching and Beyond. Dr. Wu is also an ACTFL Workshop facilitator and leads ACTFL teacher training workshops on the foundations of developing language proficiency, world-readiness standards, etc. 

Education

Ed.D. in Development Studies, Language Education Concentration, Boston University
M.A. in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
B.A. in English & B.S. in Computer Science, Shanxi University

Awards

2022 Rhode Island Foreign Language Association Mary L. Borra Excellence Award
2020 Cengage Learning Award for Innovative Excellence in the Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language, Chinese Language Teachers Association (as a member of the URI Chinese Flagship Program)
2019 College of Arts and Sciences Tenure-track Teaching Excellence Award
2014 Chinese Language Teachers Association Walton Presentational Award

Selected Publications

  1. Wu, Y. (2024). Exploring oral proficiency profiles of Advanced L2 Chinese speakers: A mixed-methods study. In I. Kecskes & H. Zhang (Eds.), Chinese as a Second Language Research from Different Angles, pp.265-292. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Publishers.
  2. Spino, L., Echevarria, M., & Wu, Y. (2022). Optimizing the OPIc test experience through assisted self-assessment. Foreign Language Annals, 55(3), 853-876.
  3. Berka, S. & Wu, Y.(2022). The Chinese International Engineering Program: History, development, and curriculum refinement. In C. Grosse & H. Wang (Eds.), Chinese for Business and Professionals in the Workplace: Reaching across Disciplines, pp.73-90. New York, NY: Routledge.
  4. Spino, L. & Wu, Y. (2021). Developing a growth mindset for language proficiency. Language Educator, Fall 2021 Issue, 26-29.
  5. Wu, Y. (2020). Using Technology to Enhance Interaction and Promote Development of Chinese Proficiency from the Intermediate to Advanced Level. Journal of International Chinese Teaching, 5(4), 35-49. Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press. [Written in Chinese]
  6. Wu, Y. (2019). Analysis of teacher Talk: How to effectively scaffold and push learners to proceed to the next proficiency level? Journal of Chinese Language Globalization Studies, 10, p.64-78.
  7. Wu, Y. (2019). The differential effects of recasts and metalinguistic feedback on the acquisition of Chinese Wh-questions and Classifiers. In F. Yuan & S. Li (Eds.), Classroom Research on Chinese as a Second Language, pp.45-76. New York, NY: Routledge.
  8. Sama, C. & Wu, Y. (2019). Integrating “Talk Abroad” into intermediate foreign language courses: Building learner Autonomy and engagement through video conversations with native speakers. In M. Carrió-Pastor (Ed.), Teaching Language and Teaching Literature in Virtual Environments, pp.73-94. Singapore: Springer Publishing Company.

Research-based Textbooks (Authors are listed alphabetically; each makes an equal contribution.)

  1. Progressive Chinese Volume 1:
    1. Chiu, H., Wu, Y., Yang, Y. & Yeh, H. (2022). Progressive Chinese: An Intermediate Chinese Textbook I. Taiwan: Cheng Chung Book Group. (Ebook link: https://ebook.hyread.com.tw/bookDetail.jsp?id=295787)
    2. Chiu, H., Wu, Y., Yang, Y. & Yeh, H. (2022). Teachers’ Manual for Progressive Chinese Textbook 1. Taiwan: Cheng Chung Book Group. (Ebook link: https://ebook.hyread.com.tw/bookDetail.jsp?id=320588)
    3. Chiu, H., Wu, Y., Yang, Y. & Yeh, H. (2023). Progressive Chinese: An Intermediate Chinese Textbook I (Traditional Character). Taiwan: Cheng Chung Book Group. (Ebook link: https://ebook.hyread.com.tw/bookDetail.jsp?id=364740 )
  2. Progressive Chinese Volume 2: (Student book and teachers’ manual forthcoming)