She received her PhD in Culture, Literacy, and Language at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her dissertation is on the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence by learners of Chinese (Mandarin) as a second language, with a particular focus on the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation in the target language. She has also been doing research in Chinese language and culture, applied linguistics, and intercultural issues in second language teaching and learning. Xiaoshi Li has extensive teaching and research experiences in both China and the United States. Her research interests include second language learning/teaching; sociolinguistics; Chinese language and culture; intercultural communication.website