Academic Staff
- HHB729, Hung Hom Bay Campus
- +852 2766 6979
- xiaocong.chen@polyu.edu.hk
ORCID ID
SCOPUS IDBiography
Dr Xiaocong Chen is a research assistant professor of the Department of Language Science and Technology at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Before his current position, he worked as a research associate at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and later as a postdoctoral fellow at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His current research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying the sub-processes of speech production (lemma selection, grammatical encoding, phonological encoding, motor control) among monolingual and bilingual speakers (including young adults and children) by employing different neuroimaging methods (EEG and fNIRS). He is also interested in the acquisition and consolidation of speech motor learning, as well as the link between speech perception and speech production. He has published papers in international referred journals such as Brain and Language, Journal of Memory and Language, Neuropsychologia, Behavioral Research Methods, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition and Lingua.
Education and Academic Qualifications
- PhD in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics (Psycholinguistics), Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China
- MA in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics (Phonology and Phonetics), Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China
- BA in English (Linguistics), Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China
Academic and Professional Experience
- Sept 2020 - Jul 2024
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Apr 2020 - Aug 2020
Research Associate, Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Teaching Areas
- Phonetics
- Phonology
- Statistics
- Psycholinguistics
Research Interests
Selected Publications
- Chen, X., Yuan, T., Chen, Y., Huang, F., & Zhang, C. (2025). Neural substrates for the encoding of the contextual tonal alternation: An fNIRS study of Mandarin third-tone sandhi in word production. Brain and Language, 270, 105636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105636
- Lin, J., Chen, X., Huang, X., Wong, P. C. M., Chan, A., Ullman, M., & Zhang, C. (2025). Semantic overreliance as a suboptimal compensation for syntactic impairments in children with developmental language disorder. Brain and Language, 266, 105571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105571
- Chen, X., & Zhang, C. (2025). Setting the “tone” first and integrating into the syllable later: An EEG study of lexical tonal encoding in Mandarin word production. Journal of Memory and Language, 140, 104575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2024.104575
- Chen, X., & Zhang, C. (2023). Encoding of contextual sandhi tonal variants in Chaoshan Min: An implicit priming study. In G. Peng, J. Kong, Z. Shen, & F. Wang (Eds.), Inspirations from a Lofty Mountain: Festschrift in Honor of Professor William S-Y. Wang on his 90th Birthday (pp. 216-242). Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press.
- Chen, X., Zhang, C., Chen, Y., Politzer-Ahles, S., Zeng, Y., & Zhang, J. (2022). Encoding category-level and context-specific phonological information at different stages: An EEG study of Mandarin third-tone sandhi word production. Neuropsychologia, 175, 108367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022
- Zhao, N., Chen, X., & Cai, Z. G. (2022). Planning ahead: Interpreters predict source language in consecutive interpreting. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 25(4), 588-602. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1366728921001097
- Chen, X., Dong, Y., & Yu, X. (2018). On the predictive validity of various corpus-based frequency norms in L2 English lexical processing. Behavior Research Methods, 50(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-017-1001-8
- 2024 - 2026
Start-up Fund for RAPs under the Strategic Hiring Scheme (P0053697) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. “Investigating the neural bases of lexical selection and phonological encoding in word production among Cantonese-speaking children with typical language development and with developmental language disorders”
