My name is Xijia Zhang and I am from China. I am interested in the psychology of language learners, especially how their language learning is affected by their motivation, how their motivation may be influenced by social factors such as acculturation, and how students’ motivation may interact with language teachers’ teaching motivation. I am also interested in the role of psychology and social contexts in Chinese heritage language learning.

Email: xijia1@ualberta.ca

I am Jingyi Zhang, a senior graduate student. Benefiting from travelling and volunteering, I have interacted with numerous international people, especially diverse families, which strengthened my research interest in immigration families’ acculturation and family bicultural socialization. I enjoy cooking without recipes, skiing, hiking, and camping at leisure.

Leah is a master’s student at the IC Lab. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta’s Augustana Campus, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with distinction. Her research interests of family language policies and heritage language maintenance were influenced by growing up in a bilingual household and having to manage both languages. In her spare time, Leah enjoys ballroom dancing, reading, and travelling.

Bilan is a second-year student in the Master of Arts program. She began in the Intercultural Communication Lab in 2021 during her undergraduate honours degree. Bilan’s parents are Somali immigrants, and she was born and raised in a small town; those aspects of my identity have shaped her research focus. She is interested in examining the experiences and identities of first- and second-generation Black Canadians, such as how they cope with discrimination.  In her free time, she enjoys reading, knitting, and volunteering.