Dr Mi Yung Park is Associate Professor of Korean Studies in the School of Humanities at the University of Auckland. She is a sociolinguist, specializing in the language maintenance of the East Asian languages both in origin and diasporic contexts. As an interdiscplinary scholar researching language, migration, and identity, she uses qualitative methodologies (including discourse analytic, narrative, and ethnographic approaches) to examine the relationship between heritage language practices and identity construction. She has extensive experience in working with understudied and underrepresented East Asian and Southeast Asian speaking communities, including their mixed-heritage children. Her current research focuses on sociolinguistics, heritage language maintenance, language and identity, and linguistic diversity and discrimination in higher education.

Her work has appeared in such journals as International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Language and Education, Language, Culture and Curriculum, Journal of Language, Identity & Education, Applied Linguistics Review, International Multilingual Research Journal, Language and Intercultural Communication, Language Awareness, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Multilingua, Classroom Discourse, Journal of Pragmatics, and Australian Review of Applied Linguistics.

She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Multilingual Theories and Practices and editorial board member of Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, Korean Linguistics, and Hallyu: The Korean Wave. 

She served as the Chair of Asian Studies from 2023 to 2025. She is currently serving as the Vice President of The Korean Studies Association of Australasia (KSAA). 

Academic/Professional Awards/Recognition 

2025 Fellowship, Fudan University, China
2024 Fellowship, Academy of Korean Studies, South Korea
2023 Sustained Excellence in Teaching Award, Faculty of Arts, University of Auckland

Academic/Professional Responsibilities 

2023-2025   Major/Specialisation Leader (Chair), Asian Studies, University of Auckland 

2025–           Chair of the Resolutions Committee, The American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)

2025              Academic Leaders Programme, University of Auckland 

2024–2025  Mentor, Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC) Mentoring Program 
2024–2025  Mentor, Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Asia Pacific Women in Leadership Mentoring Program
2024–           Grant Review Committee, The Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASREC)
2023–           Executive Committee, The Korean Studies Association of Australasia (KSAA)


Recent books:

• Barkhuizen, G., Park, M. Y., & May, S. (Eds.). (2026). Mobilizing multilingual identities: Language policy, teaching, and learning. Routledge. 
• Fraschini, N., & Park, M. Y. (Eds.). (in press). Language and identity in Korean and diasporic contexts. Multilingual Matters. 

Recent articles/chapters: 

• Park, M. Y., Lim, D, & Le, T. (accepted/2026). Negotiating legitimacy: Language teacher identity construction of non-native and heritage-background Korean graduate teaching assistants. International Journal of Applied Linguistics.  
• Huang, J., & Park, M. Y. (accepted/2026). Joseonjok (Korean-Chinese) as an internal normative center: Perceptions of linguistic ownership among Chinese learners of Korean. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 
• Park, M. Y., Ha, P., Jee, M. J., & May, S. (2026). Popular culture, language learning, and (de)motivation: The experiences of Korean as a foreign language students in Australia and New Zealand. International Multilingual Research Journal.
• Park, M. Y. (2026). The role of university peer mentoring in heritage language identity construction in diasporic contexts. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 
• Ruane, C., & Park, M. Y. (2026). Exploring linguistic diversity in a globalising world: Korean bilinguals' perspectives on varieties of English. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics. 
• May, S., Keegan, P., & Park, M. Y. (2026). Countering colonialingualism and promoting Indigenous language revitalization in higher education. In P. Meighan & L. Veliz (Eds.), Countering colonialingualism: Research practices and pedagogies from the Global South. Routledge. [Invited chapter]
• May, S., & Park, M. Y. (2026). Linguistic racism and discrimination in higher education. In L. Veliz, P. Meighan, W. Shah, & X. Gao (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of racial and epistemic inequities in TESOL and Applied Linguistics. Routledge. [Invited chapter]

Forthcoming publications

• Park, M. Y., & Brown, L. (in press/2026). Linguistic discrimination and subordination: North Korean refugees in South Korea. In Brown, L., & Chen, X. (Eds.), Toxic language in East Asia. Routledge. [Invited chapter]
• Cho, H., & Park, M. Y. (in press/2026). Heritage language education and social change: Prioritizing identity and agency for minoritized individuals and communities. In V. Tavares (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of language education and social change. Routledge. [Invited chapter]
• Park, M. Y., & May, S. (in press/2026). Experiences of linguistic discrmination in Korea. In Fraschini, N., & Park, M. Y. (Eds.), Language and identity in Korean and diasporic contexts. Multilingual Matters.