About us

Our mission

SOLL Talk aims to become the platform that allows in-depth showcasing of the amazing variety of work that happens at the School of Languages and Linguistics (SOLL). It will feature staff and student profiles, snapshots of school life including academics, staff and student-related matters, as well as collaboration with partners beyond SOLL. It presents a great opportunity for staff and students to be more connected by getting involved in the life of SOLL and engaging in public dialogues about their research.

We welcome contributions from SOLL students, academics and staff. To contribute, please refer to the submission guidelines.

Our people

The SOLL Talk blog is an initiative of the SOLL Partnerships Committee. The Committee Chair, Matt Absalom, the School Manager and the School Operations Coordinator oversee the operations of the blog.

Previous Production Team Members

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Rena Gao

Felicia Lee

Felicia is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests include interactional sociolinguistics, style, stance and identity, and discourse analysis. She enjoys working with adolescents, so to understand these occasionally pesky (but loveable, nonetheless) teenagers through their linguistic habits for effective communication, she embarked on her PhD project exploring style and identity amongst Singaporean teenagers when they play online collaborative games.

Xiaoyi Zhang

Xiaoyi Zhang is a second-year PhD candidate in the School of Languages and Linguistics. Her PhD research focuses on the linguistic citizenship of young Chinese Malaysian migrants in Australia. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, language policy, and language education. Xiaoyi is passionate about promoting linguistic diversity and advocating for language rights.

Chenyang Zhang

Chenyang is a third-year PhD candidate in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests include language testing (impact), agency, language education, and language policy. Her PhD study investigates multiple agents’ perceptions of and responses to non-common foreign language (foreign languages other than English) policies, testing regimes, and education practices pertaining to senior secondary education in China.

Hangyu Zhang

Hangyu Zhang is a third-year PhD candidate in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. Her PhD research examines the development of second language interactional competence in the stay-abroad context and the application of conversation analysis in second language pragmatics. Her research interests include second language pragmatics, language teaching, and second language acquisition.

Jarrad Merlo

Jarrad Merlo spent his twenties teaching English and studying languages in Indonesia, India, South Korea and North Eastern Arnhem Land before returning to Melbourne where he co-founded E2Language, an education technology company that has since prepared over 1.8 million students for their IELTS, PTE, OET and TOEFL English exams. Jarrad is also a popular YouTube teacher. To date, his videos on English exam prep have amassed over 100 million views and almost 3 million subscribers. He holds an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Melbourne where he specialized in technology and language learning and the role of purpose-built video.

Valeria Morelli

Valeria is a third-year PhD candidate in the German studies department of the School of Languages and Linguistics. Her research explores the representation of memory of the Nazi period in postwar German literature, focusing on the contemporary author Uwe Timm. She serves as a student representative on the SOLL Research and Research Training Committee. Valeria is also a language teacher and she enjoys sharing with her students her passion for languages and literature.

Monica Sestito

Monica is completing a Masters of Arts (Thesis Only) in the Italian studies department of the School of Languages and Linguistics. Her research explores the interplay between the fiction of Nanni Balestrini and the radical Italian political scene in the late 1960s and 1970s. She also serves as a student representative on SOLL’s Research and Research Training Committee and is highly active in student-led activism and advocacy on campus. 

Catherine Roberts

Catherine is a PhD candidate in the School of Languages and Linguistics at Melbourne University under the supervision of Professor Lesley Stirling. She is a member of the Conversational Interaction in Aboriginal and Remote Australia (CIARA) research project investigating conversational style in Australia. Her research interests include narratives, epistemics, and discourse/conversation analysis. Her PhD topic is on “Talk about absent others in conversation”.

Juerong Qiu

Juerong Qiu is a doctoral candidate in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. She works on audiovisual translation and intercultural communication. Her PhD project is on the audience’s reception of subtitled TV shows under the supervision of Professor Anthony Pym.

Niles Zhao

Yan (Niles) Zhao is SOLL Talk Blog’s first production team lead. He is the recipient of the International Research Foundation’s Doctoral Dissertation Grant and the Duolingo English Test Doctoral Dissertation Award. He was a student representative on the SOLL Research & Research Training Committee (2020-2022), vice chair of the International Language Testing Association Graduate Student Assembly (2022) and co-chair of the Asian Association for Language Assessment Student Committee (2022).

Dr Nicole McLean

Nicole McLean holds a PhD from The University of Melbourne, School of Languages and Linguistics. Her research interests include right-wing political movements, mass protests, counter publics, culture wars, and Brazilian and French studies. She is the founder and facilitator of the two SOLL-based political discussion groups, ‘Living The French Elections 2022’ and ‘Brazilian Protests & Politics’.