Abner Zhang

Abner Zhang, an authentic dongbei ren from Northeast China, holds a B.A. in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language in 2015 and an M.A. in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics in 2018 from Heilongjiang University. He earned his Ph.D. in Second Language Studies with an emphasis on Applied Linguistics from the University of Mississippi in 2024.

From 2016 to 2018, Abner taught Chinese language and content courses at Heilongjiang University and contributed to teacher training in Chinese language pedagogy and modern Chinese for prospective international teachers. During this period, he also taught in the China–UK Chinese Bridge Mandarin Excellence Program in China. In 2018, he was selected by the British Council to teach Chinese language and culture in the United Kingdom for one year.

From 2019 onward, Abner worked with the Chinese Flagship Program at the University of Mississippi as a graduate instructor and domain mentor. He taught domain Chinese and intensive Chinese, led summer programs such as StarTalk and the pre-college Summer Language Institute, and coordinated a wide range of cultural activities. In the 2024–2025 academic year, he served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Lafayette College, where he taught intermediate and advanced Chinese courses, advised students, and directed cultural programming.

Abner’s research interests include second language phonology, second language fluency, and second language pedagogy. His work explores how learners develop a second language self, construct new identities through language learning, and advance their proficiency to a professional level.

By joining Middlebury, Abner hopes to contribute to the College’s global mission and to inspire students to use Chinese as a bridge to culture, identity, and international connection.