Graduate Researcher Series: an Interview with Menghan Wang

Hangyu Zhang

Menghan Wang is a second-year PhD student at the School of Languages and Linguistics of the University of Melbourne. Her research interests focus on embodiment and language processing. Her PhD project investigates the embodied mental simulation in Mandarin and English sentence processing under the supervision of Dr. Helen Zhao and Prof. Carsten Roever. Hangyu interviewed Menghan about her research experience at SOLL.

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Hi Menghan, thank you so much for joining this interview and sharing your research experience with us. To start us off, could you please introduce your research topic briefly?

Hi Hangyu, many thanks for inviting me to share my research experience. My research topic is grounded in the embodiment theory in cognitive linguistics. I design schematic diagrams to visually represent the image schemas and use psycholinguistic experiments to examine the mental simulation phenomenon through the integration of visual abstraction in first-language and second-language processing in Mandarin and English.

What motivated you to investigate this topic and field?

I was first introduced to cognitive linguistics in the subjects of Second Language Acquisition and Semantics when I was studying for my master’s degree at the University of Melbourne. Since then, I have been curious about human cognition, language and their interactions. Inspired by my supervisor Dr Helen Zhao’s previous pedagogical research that applies schematic diagrams to teach English prepositions, I devoted my master’s thesis to investigating the psychological reality of schematic diagrams in L2 processing, especially the extent to which schematic diagrams are cognitively facilitative or interfering in L2 learners’ processing of English prepositions. Based on the observed findings, my PhD topic extends the scope of this topic by adopting more advanced psycholinguistic methods to examine the extent to which embodied mental representations could account for the similarities and differences in bilinguals’ first and second language processing.

So, how did you collect your data? Would you like to talk about the data-collecting process?

Yes, sure. My data were collected from online experiments. Before the implementation of the experiments, I designed and programmed my experiments via an online web-based platform. I used programming language to operate experiments with each participant and record their behavioural data, including response times, accuracy rates and eye movements. Web-based platforms are very user-friendly and efficient for data collection.

What significance or impacts that your research findings may have on the horizon?

My research findings may contribute to the field of embodied mental simulation in two aspects. The primary contribution to the field is the refinement of the theoretical framework that underlies second-language mental simulation by identifying and comparing its similarities and differences with first-language mental simulation. Secondly, it is expected the implications of the study would contribute to the second language cognitive linguistics-inspired pedagogy. Given that visual imagery tools have been used to teach grammar and vocabulary with both facilitative (beneficial, with better learning outcomes) and inhibition (distractive, with worse learning outcomes) effects being observed, my research may provide empirical psycholinguistic evidence about the extent to which visual representations support or interfere with L2 processing by reducing or adding cognitive loads to language processing. Hopefully, my research findings could offer implications for applied cognitive linguistics inspired L2 education in the future.

As a PhD candidate, how do you balance your work and life?

I think balancing my work and life is not an issue for me. I devote the best years of my life to doing research in the areas that I have a passion for. In my spare time, I like to go to the Arts Centre Melbourne for symphonic concerts. Classic music is my favourite, and I am very sensitive to the sound of different instruments in an orchestra. I enjoy the process of decomposing the hierarchy of melodies within a piece. For the rest of the time, I enjoy playing musical instruments, such as the piano. I think music is another type of “language” that we can understand and use to communicate.

Menghan Wang Playing the Piano. Photo by Menghan

What’s your favourite memory of your research journey at the University of Melbourne so far?

My favourite memory of my research journey at the University of Melbourne is the exciting experience of learning new skills and technology. The Research Connect Program of the University of Melbourne provides free online and in-person training tutorials for graduate researchers to develop digital skills in research tools, such as R, Python, MATLAB, and LaTeX. These tutorials were delivered by proficient experts from our university with very clear and practical guidance. I attended these tutorials in the past and found all of them quite helpful and interesting. There is also an online community where researchers can ask for help if they come across any problems in using these tools later in their research. I am really keen on exploring these fascinating technologies that could be applied to my own research.

Do you have any suggestions for first-year PhD students who are preparing for their confirmation?

I have a few suggestions for first-year PhD students. Firstly, it is highly recommended to make a monthly plan and allocate all the tasks to each day, such as five research articles and 500 words a day. I always find making plans to do things bit by bit gives me less pressure and leads to better quality, compared to piling things up and procrastinating until a few days before the deadline.

Secondly, physical and mental health are equally important. When your eyes are fatigued, please feel free to leave your computers for a while and breathe the fresh air outside. Besides, it is not uncommon to feel anxiety during a bottleneck period of your PhD journey. If you are experiencing mental internal friction, it is really helpful to spend some time talking with your supervisor, family members or friends to get some encouragement and energy from them.

Finally, I want to say, believe in yourself, enjoy your PhD journey, and live life with no regrets.

Thank you, Menghan, for sharing with us your exciting research journey and all those useful tips!

Thank you, Hangyu!

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