My research has focused on language learning and identity construction among diverse Korean language learners in and outside the classroom. I use qualitative research methods combined with ethnographic and discourse analytic approaches in order to shed light on the relationship between language use and identity in the context of migration.

Areas of expertise:

Teaching Korean as a second/foreign Language
Language and identity
Language maintenance and shift
Multilingualism and mobility

Research Grants:

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) – Insight Grant (2026-2030)

Voices from the Margins: Examining Linguistic Discrimination and Advancing Linguistic Justice in Higher Education              

Co-Investigator with A/P Angelica Galante (PI), McGill University and A/P Ruth Fielding (Co-I), Monash University

Korean Studies Grant, The Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) 2024-2025 (Principal Investigator)
Project title: Korean as a foreign language (KFL) learners’ motivation, demotivation, and language achievement: The Australian and New Zealand context

The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) - Research Development Funding 2024-2025 (Principal Investigator)
Project title: Linguistic diversity and linguistic discrimination in higher education: Opportunities and challenges
https://wun.ac.uk/wun/research/view/linguistic-diversity-and-linguistic-discrimination-in-higher-education-opportunities-and-challenges/

Korean Studies Strategic Research Institute Grant (2022-2032), Academy of Korean Studies

Korean Studies Beyond Oceania. 

Co-Investigator with Dr Changzoo Song (PI), Dr Sun Hee Koo (Co-I), Dr Irene Lee (Co-I)

Faculty Research Development Fund 2024-2025 (UoA Faculty of Education)
Project title: Linguistic diversity and linguistic discrimination in higher education
Co-investigator with Prof. Stephen May, Dr Peter Keegan, Lincoln Dam
https://www.lingdisc.com/

Faculty Research Development Fund 2021-2022 (UoA Faculty of Arts, Principal Investigator)
Project title: Family language policy and heritage language development among Korean migrant families in New Zealand

Korean Studies Grant, The Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) 2021-2022
Project title: Language use, language maintenance, and ethnic identity among Korean heritage speakers in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii)
Co-investigator with Dr Min Jung Jee (PI), University of Queensland, and Dr Sang Yee Cheon (Co-I), University of Hawaii at Manoa