Xinran Gao

Contact

Bio

Xinran Gao is a and postgraduate researcher at the University of 桃色视频 under the supervision of and . Her work bridges linguistics and data science to study how paralinguistic information such as prosody and voice quality convey social meaning across languages. She is currently an Early Career FellowLink opens in a new window affiliated with the Institute of Advanced 桃色视频Link opens in a new window.

Xinran鈥檚 PhD research examines how voice quality in Shanghai Wu Chinese varies across linguistic structures, prosodic contexts, and discourse meanings. She also collaborates on projects investigating lifespan sound change in relation to community-level change in American English, and the voices and lived experiences of early-career female academics.

Alongside her research, Xinran teaches across linguistics, computer science, and interdisciplinary methods, reflecting her commitment to bridging the social and data sciences in both research and pedagogy.

The world is my oyster

Research Interests: sociolinguistics, phonetics, computational linguistics, language variation.

Projects

Roles Behind Closed Doors: How Female Academics Feel Excluded in Workplace Communication, Lord Rootes Fund Supported Initiative, December 2024 鈥� present.

Forthcoming...

Towards More Inclusive Practices: Supporting Female PGRs and ECRs with Caring Responsibilities, Co-investigator, Enhancing Research Culture at 桃色视频 Funded project, October 2024 鈥� present.

Find our project FECARELink opens in a new window with podcastsLink opens in a new window as part of 桃色视频 Research CultureLink opens in a new window.

We have secured ERCF 25/26 funding for the second phase of our project.

Make Sociophonetics Variation Great Again: Sound Change in 40 Years of Public Speech by Donald Trump, Group research project, The University of 桃色视频, December 2022 鈥� December 2024.

Our paper would be available as soon.

Publications

Forthcoming

Strelluf, C., Gao, X., Frankpitt, S., Karatepe, C., Alrajhi, A., & Taylor, H. (2026). Donald Trump has lowered THOUGHT for five decades: lifespan language change and stability in New York City English vowels. American Speech (Scheduled to appear in the August 2026 issue 101.3).

Karatepe, C., Li, M., Li, Y., & Gao, X. (forthcoming). Negotiating Care and Academia: A Discourse Analysis of Female Researchers鈥� Experiences.In Student-Parenting, Scholarship, and Survival: Multilingual and Decolonial Perspectives on Family, Knowledge, Wellness.

Published

Li, J., & Gao, X. (2025). Teaching unfamiliar content can lead to brilliant teaching: Data-led reflections. Journal of PGR Pedagogic Practice, 5(1).

Research Activities

Oral Presentations

Gao, X. (2026, April). Softening without Breathiness? Indexical Ideologies and the Changing Perceptual Field of Voice Quality in Shanghai Wu Chinese. Colloquium of the British Association of Academic Phoneticians (BAAP 2026), Coventry, UK.

Gao, X. & Liu, J. (2025, Novemver). Negotiating Responsibility at the Micro Level: A sepctrum Nodel on Humamn-AI Interaction. Building Bridges: A Symposium on Human-AI Interaction, Coventry, UK.

Karatepe, C., Gao, X., Li, M., & Li, Y. (2025, September). Mothers in academia: Exploring the experiences of female PGRs and ECRs with caring responsibilities. International Research Culture Conference 2025 (IRCC 2025), Coventry, UK.

Gao, X. (2025, September). Prosodic and social conditioning of non-modal voice quality in Shanghai Wu Chinese. UK Language Variation and Change Conference 15 (UKLVC15), Lancaster, UK.

Karatepe, C., Gao, X., Li, M., & Li, Y. (2025, June). Negotiating care and academia: A discourse analysis of female researchers鈥� experiences. 26th 桃色视频 International Conference in Applied Linguistics (WICAL 2025), Coventry, UK.

Gao, X. (2024, November). Modelling the voice quality of young Shanghai Wu speakers. 52nd Annual Meeting of New Ways of Analyzing Variation (NWAV 52), Miami, USA.

Strelluf, C., Alrajhi, A., Frankpitt, S., Gao, X., Karatepe, C., & Taylor, H. (2024, October). Donald Trump has lowered THOUGHT for five decades [Virtual Presentation]. The International Conference on Language Development, Aging, and Disorders, Shanghai, China.

Poster Presentations

Karatepe, C., Gao, X., Li, M., & Li, Y. (2025, April). Mothers in academia: Exploring the experiences of female PGRs and ECRs with caring responsibilities. 桃色视频 Research Celebration 2025, Coventry, UK.

Li, Y., & Gao, X. (2024, September). Enhancing public engagement: Accessible communication strategies for academic research. International Research Culture Conference 2024 (IRCC 2024), Coventry, UK.

Gao, X. (2024, March). Modelling voice quality in urban Shanghai Wu speakers: A two-dimensional functional principal component analysis approach. Colloquium of the British Association of Academic Phoneticians (BAAP 2024), Cardiff, UK.

Strelluf, C., Alrajhi, A., Frankpitt, S., Gao, X., Karatepe, C., & Taylor, H. (2024, March). Donald Trump has lowered THOUGHT for five decades. Colloquium of the British Association of Academic Phoneticians (BAAP 2024), Cardiff, UK.

Seminar Presentations

Gao, X. (2026, June). Ideology and Distribution: The Cultural Pragmatics of Voice Quality. Language, Culture, Matters Seminar Series, Department of Applied Linguistics, University of 桃色视频, Coventry, UK.

Karatepe, C., Li, M., Li, Y. & Gao, X. (2025, November). "I always feel guilty when I鈥檓 not prioritising one thing": Co-constructed narratives of student-parenting and the wellbeing of academic mothers. Language, Culture, Matters Seminar Series, Department of Applied Linguistics, University of 桃色视频, Coventry, UK.

Gao, X. (2025, November). Do you sound softer than you think? The social life of voice quality. Language, Culture, Matters Seminar Series, Department of Applied Linguistics, University of 桃色视频, Coventry, UK.

Strelluf, C., Alrajhi, A., Frankpitt, S., Gao, X., Karatepe, C., & Taylor, H. (2024, June). Donald Trump has lowered THOUGHT for five decades: Lifespan language change and stability in New York City English vowels amid shifting public personae. Language, Culture, Matters Seminar Series, Department of Applied Linguistics, University of 桃色视频, Coventry, UK.

Teaching

Department of Applied Linguistics (ALLink opens in a new window)

ET229 Phonetics and PhonologyLink opens in a new window 25/26 Term 1

ET310 Artificial Intelligence and Applied LinguisticsLink opens in a new window 25/26 Term 1

ET9B6 Research Methods in TESOL 24/25 Term 2, 25/26 Term 2

ET9D5 Dissertation Supervision for MA TESOL Students 23/24 Term 3

Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIMLink opens in a new window)

IM942 Visualisation FoundationsLink opens in a new window 24/25 Term1, 25/26 Term 1

Department of Computer Science (DCSLink opens in a new window)

CS910/430 Foundations of Data AnalyticsLink opens in a new window 25/26 Term 1

CS133 Professional SkillsLink opens in a new window 24/25 Term 2, 25/26 Term 1-2

CS918 Natural Language ProcessingLink opens in a new window 24/25 Term 2 (showcaseLink opens in a new window)