Ding Yaping graduated from the English Department of Anhui University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language in 1988. From 1988 to 1991 she worked in the library at Hefei University of Technology. In 1994 she graduated from the Foreign Languages School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) with a Master of Arts degree in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. In March 1994 she began teaching English to graduate students who are not English majors at SJTU. She was promoted to associate professor in December 1998. From Sept. 2000 to May 2002 she served as a visiting scholar in the United States, teaching Chinese language and culture to American college students.

Ding Yaping’s research interests cover testing, presentation skills, and writing in English. She is a co-author of several textbooks. Her four most recent textbooks include these titles: Presentation Skills, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, March 2009; New Horizon College English: Listening and Speaking 3, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, May 2008; New Perspective Graduate Series: Reading, Speaking, and Writing 2, Higher Education Press, September 2007; and Graduate (ME) English for the 21st Century: Integrated Skill 2, Xi’an Jiao Tong University Press, March 2005.