Xinran Gao
Bio
Xinran Gao is a sociophoneticianLink opens in a new window and postgraduate researcher at the University of Warwick under the supervision of Dr. Christopher StrellufLink opens in a new window and Prof. Steve MannLink opens in a new window. Her work bridges linguistics and data science to study how paralinguistic information such as prosody and voice quality convey social meaning across languages.
Xinran’s 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.
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 – present.
Forthcoming...
Towards More Inclusive Practices: Supporting Female PGRs and ECRs with Caring Responsibilities, Co-investigator, Enhancing Research Culture at Warwick Funded project, October 2024 – present.
Find our project FECARELink opens in a new window with podcastsLink opens in a new window as part of Warwick Research CultureLink opens in a new window.
Make Sociophonetics Variation Great Again: Sound Change in 40 Years of Public Speech by Donald Trump, Group research project, The University of Warwick, December 2022 – December 2024.
In Press
Strelluf, C., Alrajhi, A., Frankpitt, S., Gao, X., Karatepe, C., & Taylor, H. (in press). Donald Trump has lowered THOUGHT for five decades: lifespan language change and stability in New York City English vowels. American Speech.
Li, J. & Gao, X. (in press).Teaching Unfamiliar Content That Leads to Brilliant Teaching - A Reflection on GTA Practice. Journal of PGR Pedagogic Practice.
Under Review
Karatepe, C., Li, M., Li, Y., & Gao, X. (accepted). Negotiating Care and Academia: A Discourse Analysis of Female Researchers’ Experiences.In Student-Parenting, Scholarship, and Survival: Multilingual and Decolonial Perspectives on Family, Knowledge, Wellness. (Manuscript submitted Oct 2025).