Yimin ZHANG

Doctoral researcher at the Research Institute of Multilingualism

Yimin is a qualitative research enthusiast. She has been applying qualitative research methods such as interviews and ethnography to tackle different real-life issues. Her BA thesis discusses Chinese students’ strategies for saving face in classes at German universities. During her Master study at the University of Luxembourg, she has developed an interest in exploring the relationship between languages and identities. Her MA thesis focuses on the identity construction of second-generation migrants in Luxembourg. Her doctoral dissertation, ‘Exploring connections between environmental volunteers and nature: an ethnographic discourse analysis at an environmental NGO in Luxembourg’ (working title) explores how people talk and think about their connections with nature and how they interact with nature in their daily lives.

Yimin designed and taught courses in the Master Learning and Communication in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts:

Introduction to Environmental Humanities

Construire et analyser des données verbales (with I. de Saint-Georges)Poster Session (with V. Kemp)

Public talk at Luxembourg’s Science Slam 2024 (https://www.uni.lu/life-en/events/luxembourgs-science-slam-2024/). Let’s tell our stories with nature. (upcoming)

Yimin received the Translating Cultures Prize in 2021, which was awarded for the best thesis of the Master in Learning and Communication in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts at the University of Luxembourg. In 2024, she received the Research Support Grant which is allocated by the Doctoral School in Humanities and Social Sciences on a competitive basis.

Before joining the Research Institute of Multilingualism, Yimin worked as a peer tutor of German and English at the Language Centre of the University of Luxembourg (https://www.uni.lu/en/education/language-centre/peer-tutoring/). From May to June 2024, Yimin worked at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society (https://www.carsoncenter.uni-muenchen.de/index.html) (Munich, Germany) as a guest doctoral researcher.

Yimin holds a Bachelor of Arts diploma in German Studies from Beijing Foreign Studies University and a Master of Arts diploma in Learning and Communication in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts from the University of Luxembourg. She was an exchange Bachelor student at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Germany).

From September 2021 to September 2025, she pursues her PhD degree under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ingrid de Saint-Georges (https://www.uni.lu/fhse-en/people/ingrid-de-saint-georges/).