Research

Research Interests:

• Corpus-Based Korean Linguistics: Anaphors; particles; argument structure; the interface between morphology, syntax, semantics, and discourse
• Learner Corpora: Compilation, annotation, error analysis, heritage language learning
• Corpus-Based Critical Discourse Analysis
• Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning: Combining linguistic insights and natural language processing technology for automatic error processing

"In broad terms, I define myself as a theoretical linguist who specializes in corpus linguistics and computational linguistics with a focus on the Korean language. The rise of computational linguistics and corpus linguistics over the past several decades has brought remarkable change in the fields of theoretical and applied linguistics; it has provided new linguistic methodology and contributed to rigorous linguistic research by facilitating access to new forms of data and new modes of management. The term 'corpus' refers to a database of "real world" texts or utterances; that is, it is a collection of empirical language samples, such as spoken discourses from conversations, addresses, and lectures, and written texts including newspaper articles, essays, and academic texts."

"My research falls into two main areas that vary by data type: one area focuses on native language and the other, on learner language. In the first area, I have provided corpus-based analysis of various linguistic phenomena of Korean. I have been particularly interested in anaphors (such as pronouns and reflexive pronouns in English) and also in particles, which combine with nouns and specify their grammatical functions. In the second main area of my research, I have focused on developing annotated learner corpora, i.e. texts of learner language (such as English produced by Chinese learners of English). Annotated learner corpora are useful for developing or testing new hypotheses, generalizations, and computational. My further goal is to develop an automatic error processing system, which is an integral part of Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning (ICALL). ICALL is an emerging interdisciplinary field that aims to integrate linguistic knowledge and cutting-edge technology and develop automatic systems for processing learner language."