Dr Mi Yung Park

PhD, Korean Linguistics, University of Hawaii; MA, Second Language Studies, University of Hawaii

Senior Lecturer

In: Asian Studies » Cultures, Languages and Linguistics » Faculty of Arts

Biography

Dr Mi Yung Park is a Senior Lecturer in Korean at the University of Auckland. She received her MA in Second Language Studies and PhD in Korean Linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2014. She has taught Korean at the University of Auckland since 2014 and spearheaded an overseas partnership with Korea University that has become integrated into the Korean programme as a study abroad option. Before joining the University of Auckland, she has taught all levels of Korean language courses from beginning to advanced at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her current research focuses on sociolinguistics, heritage language maintenance, and language and identity. Her work has appeared in such journals as International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Language and Education, Language and Intercultural Communication, Classroom Discourse, and Journal of Pragmatics.

Research | Current

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. I am currently working on two research projects: (1) heritage language use and development among Korean New Zealanders and (2) linguistic adaptation and identity construction among North Korean refugees in South Korea.

Current and previous projects:

Language practices, investment, and identity among 1.5-generation Korean New Zealanders (2019-)

This project explores 1.5-generation Korean migrants' heritage language use in different linguistic domains and their attitudes toward bilingualism and heritage language maintenance. It also examines how they construct their identities as reflected in their language attitudes and choices.

Linguistic adaptation and identity re-construction among North Korean refugees in South Korea (2019-)

This study looks at how North Koreans adjust to the new linguistic environment, construct their identities, and build a sense of belonging in the host society.

Heritage language development and identity transformation of a mixed-heritage Korean New Zealander (2018)

This longitudinal case study explores how a mixed-heritage Korean New Zealander has transformed her identity while studying Korean in Auckland and Seoul and what factors influenced her identity construction.

Language use and identity construction among mixed-heritage children in South Korea (2017-2018)

This project explores whether and to what extent multi-ethnic children of Southeast Asian marriage-migrant mothers in rural Korea maintain and develop their heritage language.

Language ideologies and practices among rural marriage-migrants in South Korea (2016-2017)

This research focuses on how marriage-migrant women construct their language ideologies and develop stances toward their local dialect and the standard dialect, as they interact with speakers of standard Korean.

Keynote presentations:

Heritage language use in the workplace. Postgraduate Research Event on Approaches to Multilingualism, 9 November 2020, University of Sheffield.
Heritage language use and identity: A study of 1.5-generation Korean New Zealanders. The 22nd International Conference on Korean Language Education, 31 October 2020, Seoul National University.
Heritage language maintenance and identity. The 14th Annual New Zealand Association of Korean Schools Conference. July 16 2020, Wellington Travelodge.

Teaching | Current

KOREAN 200 Intermediate Korean 1

KOREAN 300 Advanced Korean 1

Postgraduate supervision

I am happy to discuss topics of supervision in language and identity, heritage language maintenance, and Korean language pedagogy.

Current doctoral students

Naning Wahyuni (2018 - ): Investigating the development of children’s interest in English language learning through free-reading time (with Associate Professor Tan Bee Tin)

Kethakie Nagahawatte (2019 - ): English, self-fashioning, and identity: A critical narrative inquiry of the role of English in the lives of social science and humanities graduates in Sri Lanka (with Professor Gary Barkhuizen)

Ja Yung Kim (2020 - ): Capturing the language revitalization movement in Okinawa (with Professor Mark Mullins)

Distinctions/Honours

Academy of Korean Studies Research Grant 2017-2018 ($9,000): Language Use and Identity Construction of Mixed-Heritage Children in South Korea

Faculty Development Research Fund 2014-2016 ($24,000): Exploring Language Learning and Identity in the Context of Migration

Responsibilities

CLL Research Committee

Study Abroad Adviser

Areas of expertise

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

Committees/Professional groups/Services

Organizing Committee, Sociolinguistics Symposium 22 https://www.ss22.ac.nz
Manuscript reviewer for: Journal of Identity, Language & Education, Language and Intercultural Communication, Journal of Pragmatics, Classroom Discourse, Heritage Language Journal, Korean Linguistics, The Korean Language in America, The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, Critical Studies in Education, and Critical Asian Studies

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Brown, L., & Park, M. Y. (2020). Culture in Language Learning and Teaching. In Y.-M. Yu Cho (Ed.) Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language: Theories and Practices (pp. 81-108). Routledge.
Park, M. Y. (2019). Household perspectives on minority language maintenance and loss: Language in the small spaces, by Isabel Velázquez [Book Review]. The Korean Language in America, 113-116. 10.5325/korelangamer.23.1.0113
Park, M. Y. (2019). "I Feel More Korean Now": Heritage Language Learning and Identity Transformation of a Mixed-Heritage Korean New Zealander. In V. Anderson, H. Johnson (Eds.) Migration, Education and Translation: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Human Mobility and Cultural Encounters in Education Settings. Routledge.
Park, M. Y. (2019). Gender ideologies and Korean language learning: Experiences of rural marriage-migrants in South Korea. In K. Horner, Dailey-O’Cain J (Eds.) Multilingualism, (Im)mobilities and Spaces of Belonging. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Related URL.
Park, M. Y. (2019). Challenges of maintaining the mother’s language: marriage-migrants and their mixed-heritage children in South Korea. Language and Education, Online first10.1080/09500782.2019.1582662
Park, M. Y. (2017). Gender, identity, and Korean language learning: A study of Southeast Asian marriage-migrants in South Korea. In Y.-I. Lee, S.-C. Shin (Eds.) Korean language as socio-educational resources: A refereed proceeding of the Australian Symposium on Korean language learning and teaching 2017 (pp. 145-155). Adelaide, Australia: University of South Austraila. Related URL.
Park, M. Y. (2017). ‘I want to learn Seoul speech!’: Language ideologies and practices among rural marriage-migrants in South Korea. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism10.1080/13670050.2017.1351419
Park, M. Y. (2017). Developing bilingualism in a largely monolingual society: Southeast Asian marriage migrants and multicultural families in South Korea. In Z. L. Rocha, F. Fozdar (Eds.) Mixed race in Asia: Past, present and future (pp. 67-81). New York: Routledge.