Your lucky number is 8.1 (An alternative look at the number 8.)
I was a student in Computational Linguistics group, Department of Computer Science, here at the u(t). Prof. Suzanne Stevenson was my thesis supervisor. You can find my thesis here.
My primary research interest includes, but not restricted to, language acquisition. I was, at one time, very interested in the transferability of verb properties from the one language to the other. This idea stems from various (psycho)linguistic observations that one's native tongue is useful in acquiring a new language.2 I have compiled a list, though not exhaustive, of Chinese verb features that may be useful (or hindering) the acquisition of coarse-grained semantic verb classes in English.
Besides multilinguality, I used to spend most of my time completely obsessed with ways of measuring semantic distance and the non-dual nature of various forms/manifestations of semantics. More recently, I have become more interested in language acquisition again because of my work on communication effectiveness with (or without) disability. I suspect that language learning is rooted in the ability and motivation to stretch one's expectation of relevance and plausibility. You can read about it here.
I also have u(w) a Double Honours Co-op in Combinatorics and Optimization and Computer Science. I worked briefly before coming to u(t). Currently, I am a post-doctoral fellow and pirate3 at Bloorview Research Institute.
Click here for my cv.
1 This is not my favorite translation. For the
curious, check out Bradford Hatcher's excellent
translation/commentary.
2 Note that the learning process is bi-directional. One's
native language is influenced by the second language as well. The
language interaction in learning can be seen in many Third Language
Acquisition studies as well.
3 Wow. You pay attention. I am impressed!
It happens when you least expect it.
My family name is 曾. (You can read Chinese? Check this out.3) Tsang is a British romanization. It is not pronounced "seng1". I do like to eat fish but I prefer the correct pronunciation of my name despite the funny romanization. For the correct pronunciation, see here (click on the loudspeaker icon under the "zang1" entry).
3 Disclaimer: I have no idea if the content of the site is reliable at all.
Snail mail: Why?
Flame mail: firstname_initial yc lastname_initial sang 圓圈(at) cs 點(dot) toronto 點(dot) educational