Teacher Research

For one research proposal in the MAFLT program, I focused on explicit instruction and responses to negative yes-no interrogatives from Korean learners of English. Pragmatic error was an area that I wanted to focus on and found that responses to negative yes-no interrogatives were different in English and Korea. I found that for many Korean learners of English, their L1 was transferring into the L2 when responding to negative yes-no interrogatives in English. I wanted to learn more about the effects of explicit instruction and communicative tasks when teaching pragmatics of a language such as how to correctly respond to negative yes-no questions.

Both directly and indirectly, culture plays a paramount role in language learning and sense of identity in and outside the classroom. As a result, for research in interculturality, I interviewed and analyzed a colleague of mine with experience in studying, working, and living in both the U.S. and South Korea in order to observe a variety of intercultural themes. The research showed many instances of Othering and Self-Othering, and how the perception of culture and identity influence these aspects.

Due to many factors such as drastic industrialization and economic boom, South Korea has recently shown high demand for greater education and language language--thus, a high demand for language teachers as well.

For research in program development, I mainly focused on the importance of teacher onboarding and professional development in private language academies in South Korea during and after recruitment processes. To do so, I conducted interviews of fellow English teachers teaching in private academies as well as a former supervisor with extensive experience in teaching training and management.