Zheng Xuan (郑璇) is a Chinese Deaf scholar, professor of Education at Beijing Normal University, and a member of the National Research Center for Sign Language and Braille. Her research focuses on Chinese Sign Language linguistics, deaf education, and the interface of sign language and written language.
Early Life and Education
Zheng Xuan was born in Wuhan, Hubei Province. At approximately age 2½, she suffered deafness following an illness. Zheng entered regular mainstream schools. In class she relied heavily on reading lips and observing teachers’ lip-movements, and she would transcribe classmates’ notes during breaks.
She eventually entered the humanities pilot class at Wuhan University, where she majored in Chinese language and literature. During her undergraduate years, Zheng increasingly engaged with the Deaf community, learned sign language, and began to see communication access as a core concern. Motivated by this, she moved to Fudan University for doctoral studies in linguistics / applied linguistics—particularly to explore the expressive capability of sign languages for abstract, non-visual concepts[1][2].
Doctoral Thesis and Research Focus
In 2009, Zheng completed her PhD at Fudan University. Her dissertation is titled “上海手语非视觉概念表达研究” (“A Study of the Expression of Non-Visual Concepts in Shanghai Sign Language”). The thesis addresses how signers represent concepts without direct visual referents in Shanghai variety of Chinese Sign Language (CSL). After completing her doctorate, Zheng spent approximately 11 years teaching in higher education with deaf students, particularly at Chongqing Normal University, which is one of the few institutions in western China focusing on higher education for the deaf[1][2][3].
Academic Career and Institutional Affiliations
Zheng is currently a Professor at the Faculty of Education (教育学部) of Beijing Normal University (BNU)[1][6]. She also serves as a member of the National Research Center for Sign Language and Braille (国家手语和盲文研究中心), which is affiliated with or embedded in BNU’s educational faculty structure. She has been principal investigator on three national-level research projects, as well as multiple provincial or ministerial-level projects, and has published a number of academic articles, monographs, and teaching materials[4][5].
Recognition and Legacy
Zheng has received multiple honors for her perseverance, pedagogical dedication, and contributions to disability education[1]. In 2016, she became the deaf teacher sent abroad under China’s Confucius Institute program. She taught in Minnesota, USA (at the Metro Deaf School), where she used Chinese Sign Language, spoken Mandarin, English, and American Sign Language in instruction[3].
She has also spoken publicly on challenges such as the limited intelligibility for Deaf viewers of “sign translation frames” on televised news broadcasts — for example, how small framing boxes that show a signer can make subtle handshapes or facial expressions hard to perceive, thereby limiting comprehension[5].
Zheng Xuan stands out as one of China’s most prominent Deaf scholars, bridging rigorous linguistic inquiry and educational activism. Her trajectory—from overcoming early deafness, to studying linguistics, to dedicating over a decade to teaching Deaf students, and to now advancing sign language research at a national level—illustrates a deeply integrated life of scholarship and advocacy. Through her work in bilingual literacy, sign language standardization, and public access, she contributes to reshaping both academic discourse and social inclusion for Deaf communities in China.
- Zihan, X. (2021, January 5). BNU STORY | Zheng Xuan: limited hearing, unlimited life. Beijing Normal University.
- Lei, L. (2021, March 29). Deaf linguist drives acceptance of sign language. China Daily.
- Yingzi, T. (2017, January 26). Deaf professor carries smiles across the Pacific. China Daily
- Untitled — Zheng Xuan profile. (n.d.). CUHK linguistics / IACL28.
- CYOL (2023, January 18). 装在小框框里的世界 — 中国青年报
- Xinhuanet (2022, July 1). 聋人教授郑璇和伙伴们的梦：让听障孩子用手语读《论语》诵唐诗.
