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Dr. Yan Huang黄嫣

Associate Professor

School of Foreign Languages, ECUST

I am an Associate Professor at the School of Foreign Languages, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), and a core member of both the Cognitive Neurolinguistics Laboratory and the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence for Information Behavior. I have been recognized as a recipient of the ECUST "Young Talent Cultivation Program" (Class A) and was honored as "Researcher of the Year" by the School of Foreign Languages.

My research lies at the intersection of psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, and second language acquisition. It centers on individual differences in foreign language aptitude, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying vocabulary acquisition, and the dynamic relationships between bilingualism/multilingualism and cognitive development. My work is inherently interdisciplinary, integrating behavioral, neurophysiological, and computational approaches to advance a mechanistic understanding of language learning.

My research has been published in several prestigious international journals, including NeuroImage (SCI Q1 Top), Human Brain Mapping (SCI Q1), International Journal of Multilingualism (SSCI Q1), and Bilingualism: Language and Cognition (SSCI Q1), etc. I currently serve as Principal Investigator on several competitive research grants, including projects funded by the National Social Science Fund of China and the Ministry of Education, and have participated in major national projects supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. My co-authored work has received the Second Prize of the Shanghai Outstanding Achievement Award in Philosophy and Social Sciences. I also serve as a peer reviewer for multiple SCI/SSCI journals and am an international member of the American Psychological Association (APA).

Open Positions

I am currently seeking dedicated students to join my studies in neural bases of language learning, bi/multilingualism, and foreign language aptitude. If you are interested in learning and contributing to these fields, please feel free to reach me at hannahhuang2019@163.com.

如果您对心理语言学、神经语言学或认知科学充满好奇与学习热情，我们诚挚邀请您加入研究团队。我们特别欢迎那些拥有计算机科学、心理学、认知神经科学或统计学背景的学生。对于有意向继续深造，攻读语言学硕士学位的同学，请随时与我取得联系。

Projects

2025.09 - 2028.06
Neural Basis and Predictive Modeling of Individual Differences in Adolescent Language Aptitude
Funding: The General Project of NSSFC (National Social Science Fund of China)
Role: Principal Investigator
2025.01 - 2027.12
Cognitive Neurobiological Basis for Inferring Speaker's Traits and Attitude Orientation from Vocal Expressions in Speech
Funding: The General Project of NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of China)
Role: Core Researcher
2024.09 - 2027.09
Individual Differences in Foreign Vocabulary Learning Ability and its Cognitive Neural Basis among Chinese Adolescents
Funding: The General Project of MOE (Ministry of Education) Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences
Role: Principal Investigator
2024.01 - 2025.12
The Neuro-Cognitive Mechanisms of Individual Differences in Foreign Vocabulary Acquisition among Adults
Funding: The Open Project of the Key Laboratory of Language Science and Multilingual Artificial Intelligence
Role: Principal Investigator
2023.11 - 2024.11
Effects of Second Language Learning on the Age-related Cognitive Decline and its Neural Mechanisms
Funding: The General Project of China Foreign Language Strategy Research Center, Shanghai International Studies University
Role: Principal Investigator
2023.01 - 2024.12
The Mechanism of the Effects of Bilingual Experience on Cognitive Ability
Funding: The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, East China University of Science and Technology
Role: Principal Investigator

Selected Publications

Co-first author #, corresponding author *
Huang, Y., Deng, Y., Kong, L., Zhang, X., Wei, X., Mao, T., Xu, Y., Jiang, C., & Rao, H*. (2023). Vigilant attention mediates the association between resting EEG alpha oscillations and word learning ability. NeuroImage, 281, 120369.
SCI/Q1 Top, 5-year IF = 6.1
Zhang, J#., Huang, Y#., Jiang, C., Xu, Y., Rao, H*., & Xu, H*. (2023). Dynamic brain responses to Russian word acquisition among Chinese adult learners: An event-related potential study. Human Brain Mapping, 44(9), 3717-3729.
SCI/Q1, 5-year IF = 4.7
Huang, Y*., Li, D., Ma, J., Ji, X., & Zhou, C. (2024). Bilinguals outperform trilinguals in implicit language aptitude: the mediating role of selective attention. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-17.
SSCI/Q1, 5-year IF = 2.7
Huang, Y., Wang, M. M., & Rao, H*. (2021). Working Memory as a Partial Mediator of the Relationship between Multilingualism and Foreign Language Aptitude. International Journal of Multilingualism, 21(1), 18-35.
SSCI/Q1, 5-year IF = 2.5
Huang, Y., Li, D., Ma, J., Hou, Y., & Feng, Y*. (2026). Age-Related Differences in Explicit and Implicit Foreign Language Aptitude: A Dual-Pathway Model of Distinct Cognitive and Affective Mediators. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Advance online publication.
SSCI/Q1, 5-year IF = 2.1
Huang, Y., Deng, Y., Jiang, X., Chen, Y., Mao, T., Xu, Y., Jiang, C., & Rao, H*. (2022). Resting-state occipito-frontal alpha connectome is linked to differential word learning ability in adult learners. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 953315.
SCI/Q2, 5-year IF = 4.3
Hou, Y., Jiang, Y., Xie, W., Li, D., & Huang, Y*. (2026). Revisiting the moral foreign language effect: The interplay of cognitive control, emotional distress and victim vulnerability in bilingual moral judgment. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Advance online publication.
SSCI/Q1, 5-year IF = 3.6
Feng, Y., Zheng, Y., Huang, J., Qi, R., He, Y., Tang, P., & Huang, Y*. (2026). ERP evidence for the rhythmic priming effect in Mandarin grammatical processing and the role of individual differences. Brain and Language, 275, 105722.
SSCI/Q1, 5-year IF = 2.5
Zhang, C., Zhao, R., & Huang, Y*. (2023). The framework and features of language policies in global constitutional texts. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1064034.
SSCI/Q2, 5-year IF = 3.3
Zhang, C., Zhao, R., & Huang, Y*. (2025). A Bibliometric Analysis of Language Legislation Research From 2005 to 2023. SAGE Open, 15(1).
SSCI/Q1, 5-year IF = 2.6
Kong, L., Jiang, Y., Huang, Y., & Jiang, X*. (2023). Temporal shift length and antecedent occurrence likelihood modulate counterfactual conditional comprehension: evidence from event-related potentials. Brain Sciences, 13, 1724.
SCI/Q3, 5-year IF = 3.0
李霄翔, 黄嫣, 季月. (2018). 中国英语学习者英语虚拟语气加工的ERP研究: 以it引导的主语从句为例. 《外语教学与研究》, 50(4), 556-568.
CSSCI 权威
黄嫣, 陈艺苑, 徐永, 饶恒毅. (2022). 双语经验影响工作记忆的元分析研究. 《现代外语》, 45(1), 114-125.
CSSCI
黄嫣, 李霄翔. (2020). 人工语言在二语习得研究中的应用: 现状与展望. 《外语界》, 199(4), 54-62.
CSSCI
黄嫣. (2020). 社会语言学的新发展: 语言变异与认知科学的交叉研究. 《天津外国语大学学报》, 27(1), 24-34.
See my Google Scholar for more.

Professional Services

Peer Reviewer for Journals/Books
  • NeuroImage
  • Bilingualism: Language and Cognition
  • Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
  • Knowledge and Information Systems
  • Current Psychology
  • PLoS One
  • Brain Sciences
  • SAGE Open
  • Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
  • Frontiers in Psychology
  • Frontiers in Education
  • Forum for Linguistic Studies
  • Forum for Education Studies
  • Chinese Language and Literature
  • Bentham Science Publisher
Editorial Board Membership
  • Language Exploration
International Association Membership
  • American Psychological Association

Contact

  • hannahhuang2019@163.com
  • School of Foreign Languages, East China University of Science and Technology, No. 130 Meilong Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai