Academic Staff
- HHB812a, Hung Hom Bay Campus
- +852 2766 7458
- dechao.li@polyu.edu.hk
ORCID ID
SCOPUS IDBiography
Prof. Dechao Li is Professor in the Department of Language Science and Technology at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He obtained his PhD in Translation Studies from PolyU and has since developed an internationally recognised research profile in Translation Studies and Interpreting Studies, with particular strengths in corpus-based approaches, cognitive translation and interpreting, translation technology, and translation pedagogy.
His research integrates empirical methods, including corpus linguistics, eye-tracking, key-logging, and experimental designs, to investigate translation and interpreting as cognitively constrained language activities. In recent years, his work has expanded to address human–AI interaction in translation, machine translation post-editing, and the implications of generative AI for translation education, assessment, and professional practice.
Prof. Li has published extensively in leading international journals such as Target, The Translator, Perspectives, Journalism Studies, System, Language Sciences, and International Journal of Applied Linguistics. He has also authored and edited influential books and handbook chapters with major publishers including Routledge, Springer, Elsevier, and Beijing Commercial Press. His research is supported by multiple General Research Fund (GRF) projects and other competitive grants.
Education and Academic Qualifications
- 2007
PhD in Translation Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University - 2001
MA in English Language and Literature (with a focus in Translation Studies), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou - 1998
BA in English Language and Literature, South China Normal University, Guangzhou
Academic and Professional Experience
- 2023 – Present
Professor, Department of Language Science and Technology, PolyU - 2012 – 2023
Associate Professor, Department of Language Science and Technology (formerly Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies), PolyU - 2008 – 2012
Assistant Professor, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies (formerly Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies), PolyU - 2005 – 2007
Instructor, City University of Hong Kong - 2001– 2002
Assistant Lecturer, Sun Yat-sen University
Teaching Areas
- Translation Studies
- Interpreting Studies
- Corpus-based Translation and Interpreting
- Translation Technology and AI
- Research Methods in Translation and Interpreting
- Translation Pedagogy
Research Interests
Selected Publications
- Huang, Y., Yin, Y., Liang, Y., & Li, D*. (2026). Disciplinary identity in translation: A cross-disciplinary study of author self-reference in ELF research article abstracts. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 79, 101628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2025.101628
- Yao, Y., Liu, K., Cheung, A., Li, D*. (2025). Syntactic complexity as a discriminator between machine and human interpreting: A machine-learning classification approach. Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series–Themes in Translation Studies, 24, 55–85.
- Liu, Y., Xu, H., & Li, D*. (2025). Formulaicity in simultaneous interpreting: examining lexical bundles in interpreted and non-interpreted English speeches at UN Security Council meetings. Perspectives, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676x.2025.2497783
- Zhang, W., Yao, Y., Xie, R., & Li, D*. (2025). Can artificial intelligence mirror the human’s emotions? A comparative sentiment analysis of human and machine interpreting in press conferences. Behaviour & Information Technology, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2025.2546975
- Yao, Y., Han, T., & Li, D*. (2025). Measuring translation trainees’ effort in AI-assisted post-editing: a multi-method approach. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 19(3-4), 357-378. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399X.2025.2535239
- Kwok, H. L., Shi, Y., Xu, H., Li, D., & Liu, K. (2025). GenAI as a translation assistant? A corpus-based study on lexical and syntactic complexity of GPT-post-edited learner translation. System, 130, 103618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2025.103618
- Li, D. (2024). Translation. In C. Rundle, A. Lange, & D. Monticelli (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of the History of Translation Studies, 373–386. Routledge.
- Wu, K., & Li, D. (2022). Are translated Chinese Wuxia fiction and western heroic literature similar? A stylometric analysis based on stylistic panoramas. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 37(4), 1376-1393. https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqac019
- Luo, J., & Li, D. (2022). Universals in machine translation? A corpus-based study of Chinese-English translations by WeChat Translate. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 27(1), 31-58. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.19127.luo
- Tang, F., & Li, D. (2016). Explicitation patterns in English-Chinese consecutive interpreting: Differences between professional and trainee interpreters. Perspectives, 24(2), 235-255. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2015.1040033
- 2026 - 2028
Principal Investigator, Assessing the Effectiveness of AI-Assisted Post-Editing: A Process and Product Study Using Eye-Tracking, Key-Logging, and Performance Evaluation. GRF (Project No. 15603225) - 2024 - 2026
Principal Investigator, A corpus-driven study of formulaic language in constrained English: A multimodal approach. GRF (Project No. 15603623) - 2022 - 2023
Principal Investigator, Convergence or Divergence? A Corpus-based Multidimensional Analysis of Learner Interpreting with Professional Interpreting and Non-native Language Variety. GRF (Project No. 15602621) - 2020 - 2022
Principal Investigator, A Comparative Enquiry into Cognitive Processes of Translation and Paraphrasing- -- Evidence from eye-tracking and keylogging. GRF (Project No. 15600419) - 2013 - 2015
Principal Investigator, Comparable and Parallel Corpus Approaches to the Third Code: English and Chinese Perspectives (Project Reference. ES/K010107/1). ESRC/RGC Joint Research Scheme
- 2022
Deputy President for Hong Kong Translation Society - 2022
Adjunct Professor for Guangdong University of Finance and Economics - 2021
Adjunct Professor for Henan University of Technology - 2019
Guest Supervisor for Master in Translation and Interpretation Studies, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies - 2014
Visiting Research Fellow of the Center for Intercultural Communications and Translation Studies, Jinan University
- 2019 - Now
Editor-in-Chief, Translation Quarterly, Hong Kong Translation Society. - 2011 - Now
Member by invitation, Editorial Board, Corpus-based Translation Studies Series (Book Series), Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press - 2005 - Now
Member by invitation, Editorial Board, Western Translation Theories (Book Series), Beijing Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press
- 2025
Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement 2025 (Team) - 2010
The President’s Awards for 2009/2010 (Individual Award) - 2010
Faculty of Humanities’ Award for Outstanding Performance/ Achievement 2009-10, PolyU - 2009
Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (Individual Award), Faculty of Humanities, PolyU
