On April 1, 2026, Siyuan Dong successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, marking the final milestone in her PhD journey in East Asian Languages and Literatures. She extends her sincere gratitude to her advisor and dissertation committee for their guidance and support. DEALL proudly celebrates Siyuan’s accomplishments and commends her dedication and hard work. 

Throughout her time in the graduate program, she distinguished herself as a student leader, an exceptional teacher, and a gifted researcher. We look forward with excitement to what lies ahead in the next chapter of her life.

Congrats Siyuan!

Dissertation Title: From Self-repair to Co-repair: Co-constructing Conversation in Chinese as a Foreign Language

Committee Members: Galal Walker, Advisor,  Mark Bender, and Xiaobin Jian 

Abstract (for non-experts): My dissertation examines how understanding is negotiated in high-stakes academic interaction, focusing on American learners of Chinese during master’s thesis defenses conducted in Chinese. It explores how speakers clarify, repeat, hedge, and rephrase their responses to questions. These self-repair practices help them manage communication challenges, sustain their arguments, and present themselves as competent participants in Chinese academic discourse.

The project argues that these interactional skills are central to advanced language proficiency, especially in demanding situations. It shows that self-repair is a core, trainable component of advanced language use and should be more systematically integrated into the curriculum of Chinese as a Foreign Language.