Skip to Content

AMEP Research Centre

Kim, Sun Hee Ok


SunHee

Formal Name: Sun Hee Ok Kim

Personal Title: Dr

Position: Research Fellow in Applied Linguistics

Qualification: PhD, MA, Diploma in English Language Teaching (University of Auckland), BA (Seoul National University, Korea)

Telephone: +61 2 9850 7668

Fax: +61 2 9850 7849

Email: SunHee.Kim@mq.edu.au

Location: W6C 111


Profile
Sun Hee joined the AMEP Research Centre in February 2008 as a Research Fellow. Originally from Korea, she completed her PhD, MA, and DipELT at the University of Auckland after immigrating to New Zealand. Sun Hee has taught English in secondary schools in Korea and Korean to New Zealanders at various levels ranging from primary to tertiary education. Her PhD thesis involves extensive study of Korean and general linguistics and interdisciplinary areas of psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and bilingualism. It addresses the issue of late bilingualism involving L1 attrition, L2 learning and various social factors. Sun Hee has won the award for the “ALANZ (Applied Linguistics Association in New Zealand) Best Thesis 2007”. Sun Hee is currently involved in two nationwide projects inLanguage Training and Settlement Success: Are They Related? (Chief Investigator: Ingrid Piller) and A Project to Examine Student Achievement in Asian Languages Education (Chief Investigators: Angela Scarino and Catherine Elder).Australia

Research interests

  • Sociolinguistics with particular interests in language attrition, maintenance, and shift
  • Bilingualism in immigrant contexts
  • Teacher discourse
  • Code-switching
  • Foreign language teaching/learning/assessment 
  • Adult second language learning

Thesis title

First language attrition in a second language learning environment: The case of Korean-English late bilinguals

Refereed journals

Kim, Sun Hee Ok. (2005a). "I know the word, but..." Korean-English late bilinguals' vocabulary knowledge in L1 and L2. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 28(2), 15-27.

Kim, Sun Hee Ok and Donna Starks. (2008). The role of emotions in L1 attrition: The case of Korean-English late bilinguals in New Zealand. International Journal of Bilingualism, 12(4), 303-319.

Kim, Sun Hee Ok and Catherine Elder. (2005). Target language use in foreign language classrooms: Practices and perceptions of native speaker teachers in New Zealand. Language, Culture & Curriculum, 21(2).

Kim, Sun Hee Ok and Catherine Elder. (2005). Language choices and pedagogic functions in the foreign language classroom: A cross-linguistic functional analysis of teacher talk. Language Teaching Research, 9(4), 355-380.

Kim, Sun Hee Ok and Catherine Elder. (2002). When mother tongue medium becomes foreign language object: The case of native speaker teachers in New Zealand. New Zealand Studies of Applied Linguistics, 8, 63-86. Abstract.

Conference proceedings

Kim, Sun Hee Ok. (2005b). First language use of young adult Korean-English bilinguals in a second language environment: Are there any signs of attrition? In Stephen May, Margaret Franken and Roger Bernard (eds), First International Conference on Language Education and Diversity (LED) 2003). Hamilton, New Zealand: University of Waikato.

Conference papers