So Young Yi

Adjunct Faculty

Korean: Korean phonetics and phonology, Sociolinguistics, Language pedagogy, Instructional technology

Dr. So Young Yi earned her Ph.D. in Korean linguistics from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, with a dissertation focused on the socio-phonetic aspects of Korean vowels. Her research explores the production and perception of Korean vowels among L1 speakers. Expanding her research beyond Korean phonetics and sociolinguistics, Dr. Yi has also conducted research on the field of pedagogy to include diverse course modalities and teaching methods using instructional technology. Since 2009, she has taught all levels of Korean language courses as well as content courses including reading, Korean linguistics, and pedagogy courses.

Selected Publications

Yi, So Young. (2024). Student Perception on E-portfolio Tasks in an Online Korean Language Class. Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, Special Issue. In Press.

Yi, So Young. (2023). Engaging and interactive learning in an asynchronous language classroom. Proceedings of the 15th Annual Innovations in Teaching and Learning Conference. George Mason University.

Yi, So Young. (2017). Social and stylistic variation in vowel raising in Seoul Korean. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 25(3), 165–197.

Yi, So Young. (2014). Subclassification of HI-causatives in Korea. Korean Linguistics, 16(1), 51–62.

Yi, So Young. (2013). How differing phonetic realizations influence perception of personal characteristics: Speech perception and vowel variations in Seoul Korean. Proceedings of the 23rd Japanese/Korean Linguistics Conference, ed. by T. Levin, R. Masuda, & M. Kenstowicz. Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information.

Grants and Fellowships

Teacher of Distinction, Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, George Mason University, Spring 2024

Travel Awards, CHSS Interdisciplinary Programming Support Fund, George Mason University, April 2023

Professional Development Awards, The 27th AATK Annual Conference and Professional Development Workshop, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, June 2022

Online Couse Development Grant, The Sterns Center, George Mason University, June–August 2020

Courses Taught

KORE 101: Elementary Korean

KORE 110: Elementary Korean

KORE 201: Intermediate Korean 1

KORE 202: Intermediate Korean 2

KORE 301: Advanced Korean Language and Culture

KORE 331: Special Topics in Advanced Korean Reading: Reading Literacy in Korean

KORE 410: Special Topics in Korean Linguistics: The Sounds of Korean

Recent Presentations

Yi, So Young (2023). E-portfolio as an effective learning tool in a Korean language classroom. The 26th Annual Conference of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, Northbrook, IL

Yi, So Young & Lee, Ji-Min (2022). Diverse Course Modalities and Student Outcomes in a Language Classroom. The 32nd International Conference on Korean Language Education, Seoul, Korea

Yi, So Young & Lee, Ji-Min (2022). Hybrid learning in a language classroom: A way to find an effective course modality. The 27th AATK Annual Conference and Workshop, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Yi, So Young (2021). Indexicality and stylistic variation of /o/ in Seoul Korean. The 29th Japanese Korean Linguistics Conference, Nagoya, Japan

Yi, So Young (2018). Social meanings of vowel variation in Seoul Korean. International Conference on Korean Language Education, Seoul, Korea.

Yi, So Young (2017). Age-graded vowel raising and the linguistic marketplace in Korea. 25th Japanese/Korean Linguistics Conference, Honolulu, HI.

Yi, So Young (2014). Correlation between the perception of personal characteristics and vowel raising in Seoul Korean. Korean Sociolinguistics Conference, Seoul, Korea.