Hsiang-Hua Melanie Chang

张相华 . 張相華
Hsiang-Hua (Melanie) Chang
Associate Professor of Chinese

362 O'Dowd Hall
(248) 370-4248
[email protected]
Dr. Chang's website

DEGREE: Ph.D. in Linguistics, Michigan State University

RESEARCH INTERESTS: Chinese Linguistics; First and Second Language Acquisition; Foreign Language Pedagogy and Assessment; Foreign Language Program and Curriculum Development

YOUTUBE AND FACEBOOK: [Dr. Chang's Chinese Learning Resources], [Chinese Language (including China Study Abroad, China Club, Chinese Corner)]

Hsiang-Hua Melanie Chang joined Oakland University in 2008. She teaches Chinese language, literature, linguistics, culture, and civilization. She is the coordinator of the Chinese program and the director of the study abroad programs affiliated with China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing and National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan. She is also a faculty member of International Studies.

As the only full-time faculty member in the Chinese program, she has developed the Chinese program from a two-year program to a four-year program. She brought the two catalog-only Minors, Chinese Language and Chinese Language and Civilization, into fruition, and co-founded the Elementary and Secondary Teaching Minor in Chinese Language. She also constantly designs and supervises customized Business Chinese courses for the local professionals offered via Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) at OU.  She has served as the advisor or co-adviser for China Club since 2008.  She founded and advises the Chinese Corner (2013) and the National Collegiate Chinese Honor Society - OU Chapter (2016, the first of its kind in Michigan). She has been regularly selected to serve as Reader, Table Leader, and Question Leader for the Advanced Placement (AP) Chinese Exams since 2011. Prior to OU, her work experience includes serving as the coordinator/instructor of Chinese Outreach to middle and high schools at Michigan State University, and teaching graduate-level Chinese Linguistics and Chinese Grammar courses at Wayne State University. 

Her principal research interest is first and second language acquisition of syntax and semantics.  Much of her work concentrates on issues about aspect, existential sentences, and nominal phrases. Her most recent works including serving as the chief editor for "AP® Chinese Essential Reading Series" (published books), 2019-2021, which consists of 100 Chinese intermediate-high to advanced-low graded readers targeting high school Chinese learners published by iChineseReader.com. For this series, she also wrote 10 stories focusing on global challenge issues, such as urban poverty, immigrant gambling, elderly living alone, senior driving, sports industry, etc. In 2020-2021, she co-authored a monograph, "AP® Chinese Simulated Exams", which includes 10 sets of simulated exams published by iChineseAplus.com. The paper version of this book was published by Peking University Press in 2022. She also served as the chief editor and co-author for "AP® Chinese Pathway" published by iChineseEdu in 2021-2022. This project developed multimedia assessment of listening, speaking, reading, and writing for 60 selective graded readers, including sample answers for all of the writing and speaking prompts.

Dr. Chang's policy for Recommendation Letters and CHE 3920, CHE 4800, IS 4995, Capstone, Thesis Advising