Professor TONG, Xiuli Shelley

Research Focuses:

As Director of the Speech, Language and Reading Lab (https://slrlab.edu.hku.hk/ ), I utilize cognitive-behavioral, eye-tracking, EEG, fNIRS, and computational modeling approaches to investigate (1) how human brains can automatically extract probablistic assocations from enviromental inputs (speech, objects and prints); (2) neurocognitive mechanisms that enables bilingual children to crack suprasegmental speech and orthographic codes in two different languages to formulate speech-print associations in the process of becoming biliterate; and (3) effective intervention strategies for leveraging the strength of children with developmental dyslexia, poor reading comprehension, and/or autism spectrum disorders.

Teaching Areas:

Research Methods and Statistics for Speech and Hearing Sciences, School-Age and Adolescent Language & Literacy Disorders

Selected Awards 

2021, RGC Inaugural Research Fellow (RFS) Award

2019, Fulbright Senior Research Scholar Award 

2011, Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow/US National Academy of Education

2008, The first recipient of U.S. Scientific Studies of Reading Society Rebecca L. Sandak Young Investigator Award

Current Editorship and Editorial Board Membership

2025 - present  Associate Editor,  Scientific Studies of REading. Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group, US. 

Research Funding as PI 

RGC General Research Fund (PI) 

RGC Research Fellow Scheme (PI)

Selected Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (* indicates graduate or undergradaute student author) 

1. *Zhang, P., & Tong, S. X. (2025). Dinstict neural mechanisms of probablistic processing in visual satistical learning, Brain Research,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2025.150027

2. *Lentejas, K, & Tong, S. X.. (2025). A missing piece of the reding comprehension puzzle: The roles of cognitive and lingustici skills in Filipino-English bilingual children. Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002095

3. *Zhou, M., & Tong, S. X. (2025). Statistical learning prioritizes abstract over item-specific repesenations.  Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-025-02757-8

4. Li, R., K, Cain., & Tong, S. X., (2025). The dimensionality of morphological awareness: Evidence from Hong Kong Chinese-English bilingual children. Bilingual Research Journal. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2025.2520225

5. Duan, R., Zhao, W., Tong, S. X., & Tong, X. (2025). Statistical learning of orthography-semantics regularities: A developmental neurophysiological study. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101576

6. *Deng, Q., Lentejas, K., & Tong, S. X. (2025). The primacy of prosody in bilingual reading comprehension: Uncovering morpho-lexical pathways in L1 Chinese and phono-lexical pathways in L2 English. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(9). https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00143

7. *Wang, X., Becker, B., & Tong, S. X. (2025). The power of pain: The temporal-spatial dynamics of empathy induced by body gestures and facial expressions. NeuroImage. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121148

8. Tong, X., Lv, Y. Wang, T., Duan, R., & Tong, S. X. (2025). Statistical learning of artificial orthographic regularity raises from coordinated activity across distinct brain regions. Neuroscience. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2025.01.023

9. *Lee, H. K., & Tong, S. X. (2024). Impaired inhibitory control when processing real but not cartoon emotional faces in autistic children: Evidence from an event-related potential study. Autism Research. 

https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.3176

10. *Wang, X., Lee, H. K., & Tong, S. X. (2024). Temporal dynamics and neural variabilities underlying the interplay between emotion and inhibition in autistic children. Brain Research. 1840, 149030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2024.149030

11. *Zhou, M., Zhang, P., & Tong, S. X. (2024). Unravelling the complex interplay between statistical learning and working memory in Chinese children with and without dyslexia across different ages. Child Development. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14121

12. *Liu, H. W., Wang, S., Tong, S. X. (2024). DysDiTect: Dyslexia identification ising CNN-positional-LSTM-attention modeling with Chinese dictation task. Brain Sciences. 14(5), 444. 

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14050444

13. *Lee, S. M-K., Law, N., S-H., & Tong, S. X. (2024). Unravelling temporal dynamics of multidimensional statistical learning in implicit and explicit systems: An X-way hypothesis. Cognitive Science, 48 (4). E13437. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cogs.13437

14. Tong, S. X., Tsui, R. K. Y., Law, N. S. H., Fung, L. S. C., Chiu, M. M., & Cain, K. (2024). The roles of prosody in Chinese-English reading comprehension. Learning and Instruction, 89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2023.101846

15. *Zhang, P., Chen, H., & Tong, S. X. (2023). Cue predictiveness and uncertainty determine cue representation during visual statistical learning. Learning & Memory, 21. https://www.learnmem.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/lm.053777.123   

16. Tong, S. X., Lentejas, K. G., Deng, Q., An, N, & Cui, Y. (2023). How prosodic sensitivity contributes to reading comprehension: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 35(78). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09792-8   

17. Tong, X., Deng, Q., & Tong, S. [Xiuli] (2023). Speech prosody and reading comprehension in Chinese-English bilingual children: The mediating role of syntactic awareness. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 66(7), 2362-2375. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00026

18. Tong, X., Chiu, M. M., & Tong, S.[Xiuli] (2023). Synergetic effects of phonological awareness, vocabulary and word reading on reading comprehension in bilingual children: A 3-year study. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2023.102153

19. Tong, S.[Xiuli], Duan, R., Shen, W., Yu, Y., & Tong, X. (2022). Multiple mechanisms regulate statistical learning of orthographic regularities in school-age children: Neurophysiological evidence. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2022.10119

20. Tong, X. & Tong, S.[xiuli] (2022). How vocabulary breadth and depth influence bilingual reading comprehension: Direct and indirect pathways. Learning and Individual Differences, 59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2022.102227

21. *Lee, S. M. K., Liu, H. W., & Tong, S. X. (2022). Identifying Chinese children with dyslexia using machine learning with character dictation. Scientific Studies of Reading, 27(1), 82-100. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2022.2088373

22. *Lam, J. H. Y., Chiu, M. M., Lee, S. M. K., & Tong, X-L. (2022). Psychosocial factors, but not professional practice skills, linked to self-perceived effectiveness of telepractice in school-based speech and language therapists during COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12773

23. *Lam, J. H-Y., & Tong, X-L. (2022). Development and validation of the online learning process questionnaire (OLPQ) at home for primary-school children and their caregivers. Learning Environments Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-022-09443-9

24. *Lentejas, K-G., Lam, J. H-Y., & Tong, S. X-L. (2022). Professional training and therapeutic resources needed for the adoption of telepractice in the Philippines. Communication Disorders Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/15257401221119969   

25. Tong, X-H., Deng, Q., & Tong, S. X-L. (2022). Syntactic awareness matters: Uncovering reading comprehension difficulties in Hong Kong Chinese-English bilingual children. Annals of Dyslexia, 72(3), 532-551. https://10.1007/s11881-022-00268-y  

26. Tong, X., Kwan, J. Y-K., Tong, X. (Xiuli), & Deacon, H. (2022). How Chinese-English bilingual fourth graders draw on syntactic awareness in reading comprehension: Within- and cross-language effects. Reading Research Quarterly, 57(2), 409-429. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.400   

27. *Lee, H. K., Chan, W. S. & Tong, X-L. (2022). The heterogeneity and interrelationships among theory of mind, executive function, and reading comprehension deficits in Hong Kong Chinese children with autism. Reading and Writing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-022-10298-y  

28. *Lam, J. H-Y., & Tong, X-L. (2022). Development and validation of the online learning attitude questionnaire (OLAQ) among primary school children and caregivers. Interactive Learning Environments. https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/nile20

29. *Lee, M-K. S., Cui, Y., & Tong, X., (2022). Toward a model of statistical learning and reading: Evidence from a meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 92(4), 651-691. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543211073188 

30. *Deng, Q. & Tong, X. (2021). Understanding text reading comprehension in Chinese students who are d/deaf and hard of hearing: The roles of segmental phonological awareness and suprasegmental lexical tone awareness. American Annals of the Deaf, 166(4), 462-477. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/aad.2021.0039

31. *Lam, J. H.-Y. & Tong, X. (2021). Drawing a new picture: Children with developmental dyslexia exhibit superior nonverbal creativity. Research in Developmental Disabilities. 116, 104036.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2021.104036

32. *Deng, Q., & Tong, S. X-L. (2021). Linguistic but not cognitive weaknesses in deaf or hard-of-hearing poor comprehenders. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 26(3), 351-362. https://10.1093/deafed/enab006   

33. *Deng, Q., & Tong, S. X.-L. (2021). Suprasegmental but not segmental phonological awareness matters in understanding bilingual reading comprehension difficulties in Chinese and English: A 3-year longitudinal study. Annals of Dyslexia, 71(1), 150-169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-021-00213-5

34. James, E., Currie, N., Tong, S. X-L., & Cain, K. (2021). The relations between morphological awareness and reading comprehension in beginner readers to young adolescents. Journal of Research in Reading, 44(1), 110-130. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12316

35. *Lam, J. H-Y., Lee, S. M-K, & Tong, X-L. (2021). Parents’ and students’ perceptions of telepractice services for speech-language therapy during the Covid-19 pandemic: Survey study. JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, 4(1), e25675. https://pediatrics.jmir.org/2021/1/e25675/

36. *Deng, Q., Gu, F., & Tong, S. X.-L. (2020). Lexical processing in sign language: A visual mismatch negativity study. Neuropsychologia, 148, 107629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107629

37. Hu, A, Gu, F., Wong, L. N., Tong, X., & Zhang, X. (2020). Visual mismatch negativity elicited by semantic violations in visual words. Brain Research, 1746, 147010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2020.147010

38. *Lee, S. M-K. & Tong, X. (2020). Spelling in developmental dyslexia in Chinese: Evidence of deficits in statistical learning and over-reliance on phonology. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 37(7-8), 494-510. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/02643294.2020.1765754  

39. Tong, X., Deng, Q., Deacon, S.H., Saint-Aubin, J., & Wang, S. (2020). To see or not to see: The roles of item properties and language knowledge in Chinese missing logographeme effect. Applied Psycholinguistics, 41(5), 1113-1139. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0142716420000466

40. Tong, X., Wang, Y., & Tong, S.[Xiuli] (2020a). Neurocognitive correlates of statistical learning of orthographic-semantic connections in Chinese adult learners. Neuroscience Bulletin, 38(8), 895-906. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12264-020-00500-y

41. Tong, X., Wang, Y., & Tong, S.[Xiuli] (2020b). The neural signature of statistical learning of orthography. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 14(26). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00026

42. Tong, X., Zhang, P., & He, X. (2020). Statistical learning of orthographic regularities in Chinese children with and without dyslexia. Child Development, 91(6), 1953-1969. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13384

43. *Choi, W., Tong, X., & Deacon, S. H. (2019) From Cantonese lexical tone awareness to second language English vocabulary: Cross-language mediation by segmental phonological awareness. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(6), 1875-1889. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-17-0323

44. *Choi, W., Tong, X., & Samuel, A. (2019). Better than native: Tone language experience enhances English lexical stress discrimination in Cantonese-English bilingual listeners. Cognition, 189, 188-192. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2019.04.004

45. *Deng, Q., Choi, W., & Tong, X. (2019). Bidirectional cross-linguistic association of phonological skills and reading comprehension: Evidence from Hong Kong Chinese-English bilingual readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 52(4), 299-311. http://doi.org/10.1177/0022219419842914

46. Gu, F., Wong, L., Hu, A., Zhang, X., & Tong, X. (2019). A lateral inhibition mechanism explains the dissociation between mismatch negativity and behavioral pitch discrimination. Brain Research, 1720: 146308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2019.146308  

47. Hulme, C., Zhou, L., Tong, X., Lervag, A., & Burgoyne, K. (2019). Learning to read in Chinese: Evidence for reciprocal relationships between word reading and oral language skills. Developmental Science, 22(1), e12745. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12745

48. Tong, X., Leung, W. W-S., & Tong, X.[Xiuli] (2019). Visual statistical learning and orthographic awareness in Chinese children with and without developmental dyslexia. Research in Developmental Disabilities. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2019.103443

49. Tong, X., Shen, W., Li, Z., Xu, M., Pan, L., & Tong, X. [Xiuli] (2019). Phonological, not semantic, activation dominates Chinese character recognition: Evidence from a visual world eye-tracking study. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(4), 617-628. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021819887956

50. Tong, X., Wong, R. W-Y., Kwan, J. Y-K., & Arciuli, J. (2019). Theory of mind as a mediator of reading comprehension differences between Chinese school-age children with autism and typically developing peers. Scientific Studies of Reading, 24(4), 292-306. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2019.1666133  

51. *Tsui, R. K.-Y., Tong, X., & Chan, S.-K. (2019). Impact of language dominance on phonetic transfer in Cantonese-English bilingual language-switching. Applied Psycholinguistics, 40(1), 29-58. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716418000449

52. Zhao, J., Chen, S., Tong, X., & Yi, L. (2019). Advantage in character recognition among Chinese preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(2), 4929-4940. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04202-x

53. *Choi, W., Tong, X., Law, K. K.-S., & Cain, K. (2018). Within- and cross-language contributions of morphological awareness to word reading development in Chinese-English bilingual children. Reading and Writing, 31(8), 1787-1820. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-017-9770-0  

54. Tong, X., Choi, W., & Man, Y. Y. (2018). Tone language experience modulates the effect of long-term musical training on musical pitch perception. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 144(2), 690-697. http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.5049365

55. Tong, X., & McBride, C. (2018). Toward a graded psycholexical space mapping model: Sublexical and lexical representations in Chinese character reading development. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 51(5), 482-489. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219417718199

56. *Choi, W., Tong, X., & Deacon, H. (2017). Double dissociations in reading comprehension difficulties among Chinese-English bilinguals and their association with tone awareness. Journal of Research in Reading, 40(2), 184-198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12077

57. *Choi, W., Tong, X. [Xiuli], Gu, F., Tong, X., & Wong, L. (2017). On the early neural perceptual integrality of tones and vowels. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 41, 11-23.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2016.09.003 

58. *Choi, W., Tong, X., & Singh, L. (2017). From lexical tone to lexical stress: A cross-language mediation model for Cantonese children learning English as a second language. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(492). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00492

59. Deacon, S. H., Tong, X., & Francis, K. (2017). The relationship of morphological analysis and morphological decoding to reading comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading, 40, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12056  

60. *He, X., & Tong, X. (2017). Statistical learning as a key to cracking Chinese orthographic codes. Scientific Studies of Reading, 21(1), 60-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2016.1243541

61. *He, X., & Tong, X. (2017). Quantity matters: Children with dyslexia are impaired in a small, but not large, number of exposures during implicit repeated sequence learning. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 26(4), 1080-1091. https://doi.org/10.1044/2017_AJSLP-15-0190

62. Tong, X., & Deacon, S. H. (2017). Understanding poor comprehenders in different orthographies: Universal versus language-specific skills. Journal of Research in Reading, 40(2), 119-124. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12112

63. Tong, X., He, X., & Deacon, H. (2017). Tone matters for Cantonese-English bilingual children’s English word reading development: A unified model of phonological transfer. Memory & Cognition, 45(2), 320-333. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-016-0657-0  

64. Tong, X., Tong, X [Xiuli], & McBride, C. (2017). Unpacking the relation between morphological awareness and Chinese word reading: Levels of morphological awareness and vocabulary. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 48, 167-178. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.07.003

65. Tong, X., Tong, X. [Xiuli], & McBride, C. (2017). Radical sensitivity is the key to understanding Chinese character acquisition in children. Reading and Writing, 30(6), 1251-1265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-017-9722-8

66. Tong, X., Tong, X. [Xiuli], & Yiu, F. K. (2017). Beyond auditory sensory processing deficits: Lexical tone perception deficits in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 51(3), 293-301. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219417712018

67. *Choi, W. T.-M., Tong, X., & Cain, K. (2016). Lexical prosody beyond first-language boundary: Chinese lexical tone sensitivity predicts English reading comprehension. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 148, 70-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2016.04.002  

68. Tong, X., Kwan, J. L.-Y., Wong, D. W.-M., Lee, S. M.-K., & Yip, J. H.-Y. (2016). Toward a dynamic interactive model of non-native Chinese character processing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(5), 680-693. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000083

69. Tong, X., Lee, S. M.-K., Lee, M. M.-L., & Burnham, D. (2015). A tale of two features: Perception of Cantonese lexical tone and English lexical stress in Cantonese-English bilinguals. PLoS ONE, 10(11), e0142896. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0142896

70. Tong, X. [Xiuli], McBride, C., & Tong, X. (2015). Tune in to the tone: Lexical tone identification is associated with vocabulary and word recognition abilities in young Chinese children. Language and Speech, 58(4), 441-458. https://doi.org/10.1177/0023830914562988

71. Tong, X. [Xiuli], Tong, X., & McBride-Chang, C. (2015). A tale of two writing systems: Double dissociation and metalinguistic transfer between Chinese and English word reading among Hong Kong children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48(2), 130-145. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219413492854

72. Tong, X., & Yip, J. H.-Y. (2015). Cracking the Chinese character: Radical sensitivity in learners of Chinese as a foreign language and its relationship to Chinese word reading. Reading and Writing, 28(2), 159-181. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-014-9519-y

73. Tong, X., Deacon, S. H., & Cain, K. (2014). Morphological and syntactic awareness in poor comprehenders: Another piece of the puzzle. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 47(1), 22-33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219413509971

74. Tong, X., & McBride, C. (2014). Chinese children’s statistical learning of orthographic regularities: Positional constraints and character structure. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18(4), 291-308. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2014.884098

75. Tong, X., McBride-Chang, C., & Burnham, D. (2014). Cues for lexical tone perception in children: Acoustic correlates and phonetic context effects. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 57(5), 1589-1605. https://doi.org/10.1044/2014_JSLHR-S-13-0145

76. Tong, X., Tong X. [Xiuli], Shu, H., Chan, S. F., & McBride-Chang, C. (2014). Discourse-level reading comprehension in Chinese children: What is the role of syntactic awareness? Journal of Research in Reading, 37(S1), S48-S70. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12016

77. Tong, X., McBride, C., Zhang, J., Chung, K. H., Lee, C.-Y., Shuai, L., & Tong, X. [Xiuli]. (2014). Neural correlates of acoustic cues of English lexical stress in Cantonese-speaking children. Brain and Language, 138, 61-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2014.09.004  

78. Zhang, J., McBride-Chang, C., Tong, X., Wong, A., Shu, H., & Fong, Y.-C. (2012). Reading with meaning: The contributions of meaning-related variables at the word and subword levels to early Chinese reading comprehension. Reading and Writing, 25(9), 2183-2203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-011-9353-4 

79. Tong, X., Deacon, S. H., Kirby, J., Cain, K., & Parrila, R. (2011). Morphological awareness: A key to understanding poor reading comprehension in English. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(3), 523-534. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023495

80. Tong, X., McBride-Chang, C., Wong, A. M.-Y., Shu, H., Reistma, P., & Rispens, J. (2011). Longitudinal predictors of very early Chinese literacy acquisition. Journal of Research in Reading, 34(3), 315-332. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.2009.01426.x

81. Tong, X., Ting, K.-T., & McBride-Chang. (2011). Shyness and Chinese and English vocabulary skills in Hong Kong kindergartners. Early Education and Development, 22(1), 29-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409280903507253

82. Tong, X., & McBride-Chang, C. (2010). Developmental models of learning to read Chinese words. Developmental Psychology, 46(6), 1662-1676. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0020611

83. Tong, X., & McBride-Chang, C. (2010). Chinese-English biscriptal reading: Cognitive component skills across orthographies. Reading and Writing, 23(3), 293-310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-009-9211-9

84. Tong, X., McBride-Chang, C., Shu, H., & Wong, A. M.-Y. (2009). Morphological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and spelling errors: Keys to understanding early Chinese literacy acquisition. Scientific Studies of Reading, 13(5), 426-452. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888430903162910

85. McBride-Chang, C., Tong, X., Shu, H., Wong, A. M.-Y., Leung, K., & Tardif, T. (2008). Syllable, phoneme, and tone: Psycholinguistic units in early Chinese and English word recognition. Scientific Studies of Reading, 12(2), 171-194. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888430801917290

Selected:

2021-present  Member, Board of Association for Reading and Writing in Asia (ARWA)

2021-present  Member, The Society for Research in Child Development Asian Caucus 

2020-present  Member, Publication Commitee of Society for the Scientific Study of Reading

2018-present  Member, Membership Commitee of Society for the Scientific Study of Reading