Kent Lee

1 About me

From September 2014, I have been an assistant professor at the Institute of Foreign Language Studies (IFSL) at Korea University. My research interests have included English education, phonology, pedagogy, educational psychology, psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, cognitive linguistics, and others.

I did M.A. degrees in Linguistics and in TESOL at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), taught English for one year at Korea University [고대 국제어학원], and then returned to UIUC for a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. I then taught in the Hanyang TESOL program (2008-2010, full-time; 2012, part-time), then returned to KU, where I worked as a research professor at the Center for Teaching and Learning at Korea University, 2010-2014.

By the way, I'm a plain Caucasian American (in my case, Lee is a last name of British origin, from Old English, not related to Lee in Chinese or Korean).

2 Background

B.A., German; Minor: English; Purdue University, 1991

M.A., Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997

M.A., TESOL, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001

Ph.D., Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009

3 Publications

Kent Lee
Ph.D., Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009)
Assistant Professor, Pukyong National University
Dept. English Language & Literature, Busan, Korea
www.kentlee7.com | Email: κεnτ@κεnτlεε7·cοm | ORCID ID | Kudos profile

3.1 Research interests

Cognitive grammar, psycholinguistics, writing research, applied phonology, grammar pedagogy, cognitive communicative language teaching, language education

4 Publications

For abstracts of these articles, see here.

Lee, K. (2023). Improving English pronunciation accuracy among Korean adult learners. Modern English Education 24(2023) 272-283. https://doi.org/10.18095/meeso.2023.24.1.272.
Lee, K. A. & Lee, H. (2023). Faculty Coaching and Faculty Needs in Korean Universities. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 27(2), 27-52). http://www.paal.kr/html/sub04_03.asp.
Lee, K. A. (2023). A comparative analysis of English nuclear stress principles in conversation. Topics in Linguistics, 24(1), 18-42. doi.10.2478/topling-2023-0002 ⓔ
Lee, K. A. (2021). Interlanguage issues in noun phrases and information flow. Modern English Education, 22(4), 1-11. doi.org/10.18095/meeso.2021.22.4.1 ⓚ
Lee, K. (2021). Articulating the value of language and humanities education in Korea. The Journal of English Language and Literature, 67(1), 107-133. https://doi.org/10.15794/jell.2021.67.1.006 ⓚ
Lee, K. (2021). A study on the viability of a cognitive approach to teaching articles. Studies in English Education, 26(1), 29-55. http://dx.doi.org/10.22275/SEE.26.1.02 ⓚ
Lee, K. (2021). Evidence for 'like' as a focus marker. Language Research, 57(1), 1-29. http://doi.org/10.30961/lr.2021.57.1.1 ⓚ
Lee, K.(2021). Teaching articles: Addressing university students’ misconceptions. Journal of Learner-centered Curriculum and Instruction, 21(2), 1-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.22251/jlcci.2021.21.2.1 ⓚ
Lee, K. (2020). Chinese ESL writers’ use of English contrastive markers. English Language Teaching, 32(4), 89-110. https://dx.doi.org/10.17936/pkelt.2020.32.4.5 ⓚ
Lee, K. (2020). Definite and indefinite articles with abstract nouns in L2. Modern English Education, 21(4), 1-10. 10.18095/meeso.2020.21.4.1 ⓚ
서창배 [Seo Chang Bae], 정세원 [Chung Sae Won], 김정환 [Kim Junghwan], Lee, Kent. (2020). 텍스트 마이닝 분석기법을 활용한 부산－상하이 도시 브랜딩 사례 연구 [A study on city branding cases of Busan－Shanghai by text-mining techniques]. 중국지역연구 [The Journal of China Area Studies],7(4), 301-326. https://doi.org/10.34243/JCAS.7.4.301 ⓚ
Lee, K., & Lee, H. (2018). An EAP professional development program for graduate students in Korea. TESOL Quarterly, 52(4), 1097-1107. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.447 Ⓢ
Lee, K., & Lee, H. (2018). Korean Graduate Students’ Self-perceptions of English Skills and Needs in an English-medium Instruction Context. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 39(8), 715-728. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2018.1438442 Ⓢ
Lee, K. (2017). A “the” or the “a”? L2 learner problems and patterns. Korea TESOL Journal, 13(2), 25-48.
Lee, K., & Lee, H. (2017). Korean graduate students' perceptions of guidance and professional development. Higher Education, 73(5), 725–740. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-9988-9 Ⓢ [Survey items, 70 MB, PDF ]
Lee, K. (2013). Right dislocation in Chinese: Interface of syntax and information structure. Korean Journal of Chinese Language and Literature, 55, 3-50. ⓚ
Lee, K. (2013). Sentence stress in information structure. Oeneohag [J. Korean Ling. Soc.], 66,3-30. ⓚ
Lee, K. (2013). Koreans' use of English connectors and topic management in writing. English Language Teaching, 25(2), 81-103. ⓚ
Lee, K. (2013). Tonal reduplication in Kibondei. The Journal of Studies in Language, 29(1), 129-150. ⓚ
Stine-Morrow, E., Shake, M., Miles, J., Lee, K., Gao, X. & McKonkie, G. (2010). Pay now or pay later: Aging and the role of boundary salience in self-regulation of conceptual integration in sentence processing. Psychology and Aging, 25, 168-176. doi:10.1037/a0018127. Ⓢ
Lee, K. (2009). [Book review of Brinton (2008), The comment clause in English.] Studies in Language, 33, 1004-1011. doi: 10.1075/sl.33.4.09lee. Ⓐ
Lee, K. (2009). Phonological and semantic information used in reading Chinese characters.Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Chinese Regional Culture and Language, Hanyang University.
Lee, K. (2009). Phonological and semantic processing of Chinese characters. Dissertation, Educational Psychology Dept., University of Illinois.
Lee, K. (2008). Phonological and other linguistic effects in recognition of Chinese characters. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference of Cognitive Science (pp. 233-236). Seoul: ICCS.
Lee, K. (2003). Discourse Markers 'well' and 'oh'. In Bardovi-Harlig, K. (Ed.), Teaching Pragmatics. Available online at http://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/teaching-pragmatics. US Information Agency & Indiana University.
Lee, K. (2001). Teaching discourse stress to Asian students. KOTESOL Proceedings 2001, pp. 103-116.
Lee, K. (2001). Focus and discourse stress. M.A. Thesis, Div. English as International Language (TESOL), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Lee, K. (1997). Chinese Tone Sandhi and Prosody. M.A. Thesis, Linguistics Dept., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Notes: Ⓢ SSCI indexed; ⓚ KCI indexed; Ⓐ A&HCI indexed; ⓔ Scopus (Elsevier) indexed

Notes: * SSCI indexed; + KCI indexed; % Scopus indexed. For more, including abstracts, see my full publications page.

4.1 Professional journals (non-academic / non-reviewed)

Lee, K. (2019). A noun, the noun, or just noun? The English Connection, 23(1), 8-11.

4.2 Contributing editorship

수능특강 고득점 330 제 (외국어영역) [College Entrance Exam High Score 330]. (2012). Lee, K., Barron, J., Goranson, J., Fanguy, M., Turner, A., Wray, M. (Eds.). Seoul: EBS.
수능특강 A&B 형 [College Entrance Exam Special Lecture Series A & B]. (2013). Lee, K. & Tiffin, S. (Eds.). Seoul: EBS.
7030 Final 실전모의고사 영어영역 A & B형 [Practice Area Practice Tests A & B]. (2013), Lee, K. & -- (Eds.). Seoul: EBS.

5 Conferences presentations

Lee, K. (2023). Koreans’ perceptions of English prosody. 2023 Aarhus International Conference on Voice Studies, August 2023, Aarhus, Denmark.
Lee, K. (2023). Schematic semantic conceptualization of English definite noun phrases. Poster presented at 16th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference, August 2020, Düsseldorf.
Lee, K. (2022). Koreans’ perceptions of English prosody. MEEESO Conference, July 2022, Seoul.
Lee, K. (2023). Pronunciation training in groups: Inductive learning and motivation. ELT conference, July 2023, Seoul.
Lee, K. (2022). Language ability and motivation issues in English medium instruction courses in Korea. 9th International Conference on Language, Literature & Linguistics 2022, July 2022, Singapore.
Lee, K. (2020). Why linguists like the colloquial marker ‘like’. PKETA conference, 24 October 2020. Online, Korea.
Lee, K. (2020). Motivation and motivational components among Korean university learners. AsiaTEFL conference, November 2020, Goyang, Korea.
Lee, K. (2020). A cognitive linguistic approach to definite and indefinite articles. AsiaTEFL conference, November 2020, Goyang, Korea.
Lee, K. (2020). Why linguists like the discourse marker 'like.' PKETA conference, October 2020, Busan National University, Busan, Korea.
Lee, K. (2019). Grading with rubrics and spreadsheets. Presentation at KOTESOL Conference, October 2019, Sookmyung University, Seoul, Korea.
Lee, K. (2019). The definite ‘the’: Understanding and teaching its uses. Presentation at Asia TEFL conference, 28 June 2019, Bangkok, Thailand.
Lee, K. (2018). A “the” or the “a”? A cognitive grammar approach. Presentation at KOTESOL Conference, October 2018, Sookmyung University, Seoul, Korea.
Lee, K. (2018). Cognitive grammar and teaching definite and indefinite articles in EFL. Presentation at Asia TEFL conference, June 2018, Macau University, Macau.
Lee, K. (2017). A "the" or the "a"? L2 learner problems and patterns. Presentation at KOTESOL conference, October 2017.
Lee, K. (2017). Teaching determiners: Some cognitive approaches for university EFL learners. Presentation at KATE (Korean Association of Teachers of English) conference, June 2017, Seoul.
Lee, K. (2016). Determiner usage: Variation among native speakers and Korean university students. Presentation at KATE (Korean Association of Teachers of English) conference, July 2016, Seoul.
Lee, K. (2015). Teaching articles: A cognitive approach for learners. Presentation at KATE (Korean Association of Teachers of English) conference, Aug. 2015, Seoul, Korea.
Lee, K. (2014). Korean writers’ article errors: A cognitive linguistic approach. Presentation at KATE (Korean Association of Teachers of English) conference, July 2014, Seoul National University.
Lee, K. & Lee, H.-K. (2014). Faculty development for English-mediated instruction. Poster presented at Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy, Feb. 2014, Virginia Technical University.
Lee, K. (2012). Instructional coaching at an East Asian university. Paper presented at ISSOTL (International Scholarship of Teaching & Learning) conference, October 2012, Hamilton, Ontario.
Lee, K. (2011). Some discourse patterns of depressed and suicidal persons. Paper presented at 21st World Congress on Psychosomatic Medicine (International College of Psychosomatic Medicine). Seoul, Korea, August 2011.
Lee, K. (2009). Phonological and semantic information used in reading Chinese characters. Paper presented at Fourth International Symposium on Chinese Regional Culture and Language, Hanyang University, June 2009.
Lee, K. (2008). Phonological and other linguistic effects in recognition of Chinese characters. Paper presented at 6th International Conference of Cognitive Science. Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, August 2008.
Lee, K. (2006). Semantic modeling of Chinese characters. Poster presented at 5th International Conference on the Mental Lexicon, McGill University, Montreal, 10-13 October 2006.
Lee, K. (2005). Discourse connectives and organization in Korean L2 writing. World Englishes conference, July 2005, Purdue University.
Lee, K. (2005). L2 Perspectives on English discourse connectives. Pragmatics and Language Learning Conference, April 2005, Indiana University.
Lee, K. (2004). Teaching scientific paradigms in ESL/EAP. Presentation at Symposium on Second Language Writing, Purdue University, Sept. 2004.
Lee, K. (2001). Teaching discourse stress to Asian students. KOTESOL (Korea TESOL), October 2001, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea.
Lee, K. (2001). Like, teaching discourse markers. TESOL Conference, St. Louis, Missouri, March 2001.
Lee, K. (2000). “Like” as a discourse information marker. Pragmatics and Language Learning Conference, University of Illinois (UIUC), April 2000.
Lee, K. (1999). Are TBLT and explicit grammar instruction compatible? Colloquium presentation. TESOL conference, New York NY, March 1999.

6 Education

Sept. 2002 - May 2009	Ph.D., Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign CSTL Division (Cognitive Science of Teaching and Learning) Courses included cognitive psychology, second language studies, reading psychology, and quantitative research. Dissertation: Phonological and semantic processing of Chinese characters
Sept. 1997 - Oct. 2001	M.A., TESOL (Division of English as an International Language), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign M.A. thesis: Focus and discourse stress
Sept. 1994 - Dec. 1997	M.A., Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign M.A. thesis: Chinese tone sandhi and prosody
Sept. 1989 - Dec. 1991	B.A., German, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana (GPA: 3.9/4; minor: English)
Aug. 1990 - June 1991	Purdue study-abroad program at Universität Hamburg, Germany
Aug. 1987 - May 1989	A.A., Modern Languages, Amarillo College, Amarillo, Texas (GPA: 3.9/4) </style>

7 Experience

Aug. 2014 - present	Assistant Professor, Korea University Institute of Foreign Language Studies: Academic English, Academic English writing courses
Aug. 2010 - July 2014	Research Professor, Center for Teaching & Learning, Korea University. Educational consultant: Providing services in faculty development, instructional coaching, and pedagogical workshops (see below). Also teaching undergraduate courses in English Dept. since Aug. 2011
July 2008 - July 2010 (part-time, March-Dec. 2012)	Visiting Assistant Professor, Hanyang TESOL Program, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. Taught courses in second language acquisition, language research methods, phonology, writing, grammar, and teaching methods. Returned to teach temporarily as a part-time instructor in 2012
Jan. 2005 - July 2008	Research assistant and lab manager, Educational Psychology Psycholinguistics Lab at Beckman Institute, Univ. of Illinois, for Prof. Kiel Christianson.
Aug. 2007 - May 2008	Teaching assistant, discussion section, EPSY 201: Introduction to Educational Psychology.
Sept. - Dec. 2004	ESL instructor, Parkland College; taught reading, writing, grammar, pronunciation
June 2003 - July 2004	Research assistant, Adult Learning Lab; designing and carrying out reading and eye tracking experiments
Aug. 2002 - Dec. 2002	Teaching assistant, EIL 405/505 (ESL for business graduate students)
Aug. 2001 - July 2002	Visiting lecturer, English (ESL), Institute of Foreign Language Studies, Korea University, Seoul, S. Korea. Taught freshman practical English (FLS 005, FLS 006), academic writing (FLS 054), and advanced academic writing (FLS 056, FLS 083) Also designed brief intersession electives.
June 1997 - Dec. 2000	Teaching assistant, Intensive English Institute, UIUC Taught ESL composition, reading/writing, grammar, listening/speaking Taught electives in pronunciation, scientific English
Aug. 1999 - May 2000	Teaching assistant for ESL 401/501: Academic Writing for International Graduate Students
Aug. 1994 - May 1995	Teaching assistant, English Rhetoric (RHET 105, i.e., Freshman Composition), English Dept

8 Teaching experience

8.1 Korea University

8.1.1 IFLS

IFSL 003/004 Academic English, IFLS 100 Advanced Academic English, IFLS 306 Academic Writing (2014-present)

Practical English Program (i.e., Academic English, 2001-2002): FLS006, Practical English; FLS054, Elementary Writing; FLS056, Academic Writing; FLS083, Advanced Academic Writing

8.1.2 CTL & English Dept.

CTL: EMI Graduate student series (English-medium instruction: professional development seminars), 2012-2014
ENGL 434: English Writing for English Teachers; Fall 2011, Fall 2012
ENGL 413: Theories and Strategies of Language Teaching; Spring 2012, Spring 2013

8.2 Hanyang University

8.2.1 TESOL Program

Second Language Research, LIN544g (SLR)
Second Language Acquisition, LIN450 (SLA)
Applied Phonetics & Phonology, LIN540g (APP);
Teaching Pronunciation, LIN 540 (TP)
Teaching Reading & Writing, ENG275t (TRW)
Teaching Methods & Assessment, LIN545/545g (TMA)
Linguistic Principles of English Grammar, ENG 495g (LPEG)
Teaching English Grammar, ENG 594 (TEG)

8.3 University of Illinois

8.3.1 ESL, Educational Psychology

EPSY 201: Introduction to Educational Psychology, teaching assistant for discussion section, 2007-2008
Graduate ESL academic writing courses
Freshman composition (Rhetoric, English Dept.)
Various non-credit ESL courses at the Intensive English Institute: reading, writing, pronunciation, grammar, listening/speaking

8.4 Korea University CTL (and elsewhere)

8.4.1 Faculty workshops

EAP (English for academic purposes) series consisting of 2-4 sessions in various components: Writing, Pronunciation, English classroom expressions, Lecture Strategies / Skills, Vocabulary, Discussion

Microteaching workshops

Coaching: One-to-one pedagogical consultation sessions regarding professors’ teaching skills, classroom issues, EAP (English for academic purposes) issues, and professional development; I have coached over 100 regular and medical faculty members.

Special lectures or workshops on the following topics: Presentation skills; Technology in teaching; Group work and using group activities; Course design, syllabus design, and assessment; Invention activities; Teaching research skills; Using academic writing in the classroom; Articulating one’s teaching philosophy; Formative assessment

New faculty orientation sessions, including new foreign faculty orientations for Korea University CTL

Adjunct instructors (강사) orientation, Korea University: Seminars for lecturers on teaching and presentation skills, 2012-2013

Other teacher training workshops and presentations for English teachers at Korea University, Hanyang University, Shingu College (Seongnam), and a local private secondary school

8.4.2 Learning support services (Korea University CTL)

Graduate student program: Developed our EMI (English mediated instruction) seminar series for graduate students, 2012-2013; sessions on professional development and EAP issues; topics include lecture skills, pronunciation, academic English (10 seminars, plus micro-teaching workshops)

General lectures for Korea University students on: Presentation skills; Motivation and learning habits; English listening skills; English learning strategies

Tutor training program. Trained tutors in KUPT (Korea Univ. Peer Tutoring Program) for (1) writing tutors, and (2) presentation and discussion tutors

8.4.3 Materials development

Various handouts on pedagogy; academic English and pronunciation; and academic writing
Booklets on using group activities; English lecture expressions; course, syllabus and lecture design
Manuals for tutor training program
Developed website for these various materials, for use by professors and students: www.kentlee7.com

9 Honors, awards and professional activities

Who's Who in the World, 2015
Memberships: (MLSK), Korean Association of English Teachers (KATE), and Pan-Korean English Teachers Association (PKETA)
Teaching Citation, Korea University, for Fall 2011 course [우수강의상(2011학년도 2학기)영어교과논리및논술] (ENGL 434: English Writing for English Teachers); conferred May 2012 (for top 20-30% of student course evaluations; overall score: 4.87/5.0)
Abstract reviewer for the Second Language Research Forum (L2 & acquisition conference), University of Illinois, 2007-2009
Beckman Institute Cognitive Science / AI Award (research stipend award), Univ. Illinois, May 2007
Graduate College Fellowship award (stipend award), Univ. Illinois, Fall 2006
Chancellor's List (national Who's Who for graduate students), 2005-2007
List of Excellent Teachers (TA, ESL 405), UIUC, Fall 2002
Kappa Delta Pi induction (education honors society), UIUC, May 1998
Phi Beta Kappa, Purdue University; Phi Theta Kappa, Amarillo College; 1990-1991

10 Other skills and experience

10.1 Computer skills

Windows; Linux; trouble-shooting; hardware; OpenOffice / Lotus Symphony; HTML, CSS, and web page design; research and statistics software (SAS, SPSS, etc.). Some basic Latex knowledge.

10.2 Linguistic skills

Native English speaker; strong verbal and writing skills; experienced proofreader. Fluent in German; some linguistic knowledge of Spanish, Latin, Chinese, Korean, ancient Greek, and others.

10.3 Academic expertise

Familiar with linguistics, applied linguistics, phonology, writing studies, cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, educational psychology, quantitative research methods, reading psychology, and others.

10.4 Statistics

ANOVAs, regression, logistic regression, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM).

10.5 Community service

세바시 (세사을 바꾸는 시간 5십분), CBS-TV: Talk on “Freedom from English,” October 2012 (a public speaking venue modeled on the TED.com conference). Also, occasionally appeared on TBS-FM to discuss issues such as motivation and education in Korea. Click here for my CV and more on publications and conferences.

11 ID

Position: Assistant Professor, Institute for Foreign Language Studies, Korea University

Username: User:Kentlee7 (kentlee7 is my general moniker across various SNS and online platforms)
ORCID ID | Kudos profile
Email: κεnτ@κεnτlεε7·cοm (Don't copy and paste this into your email, BTW; it's in an anti-spambot format, so you will need to retype this short address into your email.

Address:
International Studies Hall 208A
Korea University
Anam-dong 5ga, Seongbuk-gu
Seoul 02841
South Korea
Or:
02841 서울특별시 성북구 안암로 145 고려대학교 국제관 208A호 외국어센터

SNS & other links