Q&A with: Jin Kyoung Hwang
January 23, 2023
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In a special Q&A series for our 10th anniversary, the UCI School of Education asked Associate Research Scientist Jin Kyoung Hwang about her experiences with the school as both a Ph.D. student and a research scientist, and how her formative years was key to her career in language and literacy development.
Q: You received your B.A. in English Language and Literature from Sookmyung Women’s University in Korea. What factors made you decide to pursue a Ph.D. in Education at UCI? A: As an undergraduate, I loved studying both English literature and linguistics. Reading poems, short stories, plays, and novels by various authors was just so much fun, and learning about the internal structures of English words and rules of sentence formation was fascinating to me. During my undergraduate years, I had a chance to study abroad as an exchange student at the University of Toronto where they offered more classes in applied linguistics such as sociolinguistics and language acquisition. Taking courses in applied linguistics was an eye-opener for me. I started to see the practical uses of a seemingly theoretical subject, and I was very intrigued in searching for ways to bridge the gap between the theoretical and practical fields. This eventually led me to pursue my degree at UCI with a focus on language and literacy development. |
Jin Kyoung Hwang
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What are your research interests? How did you become interested in these areas?
My research primarily focuses on understanding the language and literacy development of school-aged students, including dual language learners who come from non-native-English-speaking homes, and how research-based interventions can help improve their academic outcomes. My research interests in language learning and development stemmed naturally from my personal experience living as a language minority student in a foreign country. When I was in fifth grade, I moved with my family to Ecuador knowing only Korean. Living in a foreign country where I did not speak the language (Spanish) was socially and culturally challenging, even more so, because the language spoken in the academic setting (English) was also different. However, through this experience, I learned not only to speak different languages, but also to adjust myself in different languages and cultures. The seemingly different structures and characteristics of the three languages—Korean, English, and Spanish—often troubled me because mere translation from one language to another did not make sense and the meaning could not always be correctly transferred across languages. Although challenging, this learning experience had a positive influence on me which ultimately shaped my career in education research. As such, I believe I am better able to relate with the participants in my research.
How do you anticipate your career will have grown in the next few years?
I am currently serving as a PI on an IES-funded research project, which I feel like was a huge jump in my career as an associate project scientist. My goal within the next couple of years is to successfully conduct and complete this research project which would help me deepen my understanding in dual language learner’s language learning and language and literacy development.
Please share any memories you have during your time at the School of Education, as a Ph.D. student and an associate project scientist.
I was very fortunate to having met supportive friends, professors, and colleagues at the School of Education both as a Ph.D. student and as a project scientist. I do not think I would have made this far if it were not for those who were with me throughout this process. During the Ph.D. program, a group of us (Arena Lam and Katerina Schenke) in Cohort 4 often took classes and workshops together both in and out of the School of Education. In one particular quarter, we even drove to UCLA every week for an IRT class. I remember staying until really late in the graduate lounge doing class assignments together, carpooling together to beat traffic to LA, rewarding ourselves with a nice dinner after surviving a 4-hour class, and more!
My research primarily focuses on understanding the language and literacy development of school-aged students, including dual language learners who come from non-native-English-speaking homes, and how research-based interventions can help improve their academic outcomes. My research interests in language learning and development stemmed naturally from my personal experience living as a language minority student in a foreign country. When I was in fifth grade, I moved with my family to Ecuador knowing only Korean. Living in a foreign country where I did not speak the language (Spanish) was socially and culturally challenging, even more so, because the language spoken in the academic setting (English) was also different. However, through this experience, I learned not only to speak different languages, but also to adjust myself in different languages and cultures. The seemingly different structures and characteristics of the three languages—Korean, English, and Spanish—often troubled me because mere translation from one language to another did not make sense and the meaning could not always be correctly transferred across languages. Although challenging, this learning experience had a positive influence on me which ultimately shaped my career in education research. As such, I believe I am better able to relate with the participants in my research.
How do you anticipate your career will have grown in the next few years?
I am currently serving as a PI on an IES-funded research project, which I feel like was a huge jump in my career as an associate project scientist. My goal within the next couple of years is to successfully conduct and complete this research project which would help me deepen my understanding in dual language learner’s language learning and language and literacy development.
Please share any memories you have during your time at the School of Education, as a Ph.D. student and an associate project scientist.
I was very fortunate to having met supportive friends, professors, and colleagues at the School of Education both as a Ph.D. student and as a project scientist. I do not think I would have made this far if it were not for those who were with me throughout this process. During the Ph.D. program, a group of us (Arena Lam and Katerina Schenke) in Cohort 4 often took classes and workshops together both in and out of the School of Education. In one particular quarter, we even drove to UCLA every week for an IRT class. I remember staying until really late in the graduate lounge doing class assignments together, carpooling together to beat traffic to LA, rewarding ourselves with a nice dinner after surviving a 4-hour class, and more!
