26 Language Teaching
Leadership and Service A Life Path for ELT Professionals
Gwangju News, June 2022
gwangjunewsgic.com
TEACHING & LEARNING
An Inter view with Dr. Park Joo-Kyung Many people in the Gwangju area know Professor Park Joo-Kyung for her work in the field of English language teaching (ELT) as an instructor, teacher trainer, administrator, ELT association leader, and the list goes on. But what you may not be as aware of is that she is also widely known in ELT circles throughout the nation and, indeed, throughout Asia and beyond for her leadership and service – as attested to by her recent appointment as presidentelect of AsiaTEFL. Our KOTESOL interviewer recently caught up with Dr. Park to quiz her more on her leadership and service activities over the years. — Ed.
K
OTESOL: First, Dr. Park, I would like to thank you for making time for this interview. I would like to ask you to first introduce yourself to our readers – things like your educational background, where you work, what you do there, and what kind of research you conduct. Park Joo-Kyung: Thank you for having me. I received my bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from Sejong University and my MA in linguistics, focusing on phonetics, from Seoul National University. There I also completed my doctoral studies in linguistics, ▲ Park Joo-Kyung except for my dissertation, and taught Korean as a foreign language at the University’s Language Education Center. Then I got my PhD in educational curriculum and instruction, specializing in ESL/EFL/bilingual education, at Texas A&M University (TAMU) in the United States. I was the first Korean doctoral student, teaching assistant, and later part-time lecturer in the Department of Educational Curriculum and Instruction at TAMU, marking a “first” on my life path. KOTESOL: Your life path has taken you to a university position in Gwangju. Please tell us about that.
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Park Joo-Kyung: I am presently a professor in the Department of English Language at Honam University, where I was among the initial faculty members of my department in 1995. I have taught undergraduate and graduate students as well as local teachers of English through teacher education programs offered by Honam University and by the teacher education centers in Gwangju, Jeollanamdo, and many other parts of Korea as a program developer and teacher trainer. My research interests include teacher education, speech and pronunciation, English as a lingua franca, and critical pedagogy. In addition to teaching and doing research, my life at Honam has kept me busy performing many different roles with many different responsibilities. I have served as chair of the English Department, the first managing director of the Foreign Language Center, director of the American Studies Center, the first director of the English Learning and Experience Center, the first director of the International Culture Center, and as the first director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Honam. Through all these leadership and service positions, I was able to develop and run numerous innovative programs on English language learning and teaching, and intercultural communication for Honam students, local school children, teachers, and the wider community, including migrant women in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do.
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