About

Hansun Zhang Waring is a Professor of Applied Linguistics and TESOL at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she also serves as the Program Director for Applied Linguistics & TESOL. Her educational background includes a B.A. in English Literature from Beijing University, an M.A. in TESOL from the University of Central Missouri, and Ed.M. and Ed.D. degrees in Applied Linguistics from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her scholarly interests encompass interaction and conversation analysis, with a focus on how social life is constructed in micro-seconds of everyday conduct. Her work spans pedagogical interaction in various settings, communication with the public, parent-child interaction, and human-AI interaction. Waring investigates the micro-sequential resources that shape social interactions, aiming to influence teaching, learning, and communication practices. She actively contributes to the academic community through projects such as conversation analysis-based assessment of AI naturalness, language teacher education interventions, and the study of private piano lessons. She is also involved in the LANSI Language and Social Interaction Working Group, fostering analytical skills and dialogue among scholars and students in New York. Her extensive publication record includes research articles, edited volumes, and guides that advance understanding of conversation analysis, language education, and social interaction.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Psychology
• Linguistics
• Philosophy
• Computer Science
• Social psychology
• Political Science
• Pedagogy
• Medicine
• Medical education

Selected publications

• CA and language teacher education

  2026-04-07

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter introduces two ways for conceptualizing the relationship between conversation analysis (CA) and language teacher education (LTE): CA on LTE and CA for LTE, where CA is used either (1) as a methodology to investigate the work of LTE (applied CA) or (2) as a resource for reshaping LTE (interventionist CA). After a review of CA scholarship that illuminates the complexities of LTE, mostly in the context of post-observation meetings (CA on LTE), the bulk of the chapter documents how CA has played a pivotal role in respecifying language teaching targets and recalibrating language teacher practices (CA for LTE). The chapter concludes by outlining such future directions as synergizing different CA-informed teacher development frameworks and documenting the impact of adopting such frameworks.

  PublisherDOI

• Digital Conversation Analysis: The Case of Text-Messaging

  Studies in Applied Linguistics and TESOL · 2025-07-14

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This special issue contributes to an expanding body of work examining digital communication as a site where participants draw on both linguistic and technological resources to accomplish social actions. It brings together conversation analytic studies that examine how participants open, structure, and respond within text-based interactions across Mandarin Chinese and English messaging platforms. By focusing on naturally occurring data, these studies demonstrate how digital affordances, such as emojis, tapbacks, and quote-and-reply functions, mediate how participants open conversations, manage sequences, and achieve social actions. Together, these studies illuminate both the affordances of digital media and the enduring relevance of sequential analysis. This issue speaks to a growing recognition within CA that technologies do not merely transmit messages but fundamentally shape the organization of interaction.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Overview of Discourse Analysis

  2025-12-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Developing Professional Vision: A Conversation Analytic Intervention

  2025-01-01 · 3 citations

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Conversation Analysis

  Elsevier eBooks · 2025-01-01 · 2 citations

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Empirical Endeavors in Discourse and Identity

  2025-12-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Classics in Discourse and Ideology

  2025-12-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Discourse Analysis

  2025-12-09

  book1st authorCorresponding

  Now fully revised, Discourse Analysis: The Questions Discourse Analysts Ask and How They Answer Them, remains the only introductory text organized around the fundamental questions that drive discourse analysis research. This approach cultivates a principled understanding of this interdisciplinary field by examining how analysts of different empirical persuasions systematically address core issues: How is discourse structured? How are social actions accomplished in discourse? How are identities constructed in discourse? How are ideologies navigated in discourse? The answer to each question is illustrated with transcripts and analyses of actual discourse drawn from key studies in the field. Important concepts appear as boxed definitions throughout each chapter, while probing questions and analytical tasks guide readers through practical applications of discourse analysis methods. This second edition features reconceptualized, reorganized, and expanded content, with significant updates addressing analyses of multimodal texts in digital environments. A new final chapter offers practical guidance for using the book and showcases exemplary student work. With its unique question-based framework and range of helpful features, this comprehensive guide to the complex world of discourse is an ideal resource for undergraduate and graduate students encountering discourse analysis for the first time.

  PublisherDOI

• <i>Because</i>-Prefaced Utterances (BPUs) in Child Interaction

  Research on Children and Social Interaction · 2025-08-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  With a few notable exceptions (e.g., Li, 2016 ; Kyratzis et al, 1990 , 2010 ), language and social interaction scholarship on the discourse marker because has been scarce since Schiffrin's (1987) . Based on mealtime interaction that involves a child at the age 3 and then 8 in interaction with her parents, this conversation analytic study shows how because-prefaced utterances (BPU) are in part deployed to privilege the child's own knowledge, interests, and perspectives. Findings of this study contribute to the small body of literature on the discourse marker because by describing some of its previously undocumented use by children in naturally occurring interaction.

  PublisherDOI

• Navigating Affiliation and Disaffiliation in the Work of Co-parenting

  Human Studies · 2025-03-12

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Elizabeth Reddington

  10 shared

• Jean Wong

  10 shared

• Jean Wong

  College of New Jersey

  7 shared

• Nadja Tadic

  5 shared

• Gahye Song

  Northeastern University

  5 shared

• T. S. McRoberts

  4 shared

• Effector By

  Harvard University

  4 shared

• John L. Myres

  4 shared

Education

• B.A., English Literature

  Beijing University

• M.A., TESOL

  University of Central Missouri

• Other, Applied Linguistics

  Teachers College, Columbia University

• Other, Applied Linguistics

  Teachers College, Columbia University