Department of Applied Linguistics and ESL at GSU

Dr. Diane Belcher recently presented an invited talk at Penn State University on “The double-edged promise of generative AI for international scholars”. Congratulations!!

New research just out from the Department of Applied Linguistics & ESL: Dr Daniel Dixon with Dr. YouJin Kim and Dr. Youngmeen Kim published their work titled "The Power of the Prompt: The Linguistic Effects of Prompt Engineering on GenAI and Learners" in the journal Research Methods in Applied Linguistics!
The article is free to download for the next 45 days here: https://t.co/U8hznS6MkB

Exciting publication news: The 60th anniversary issue of the journal TESOL Quarterly contains two articles by scholars from our department! Congratulations to AL professors YouJin Kim and Ute Römer-Barron, as well as recent PhD graduate Dr. Yoon Namkung on their contributions to the special issue!

Check out the following link for details about their articles: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/15457249/2026/60/2.

Huge congratulations to Natassia Badonsky, Leslie Marshall, and Subhi Almuqraa for all their success in completing the M.A. Program in Department of Applied Linguistics & ESL! It was wonderful to celebrate all their accomplishments at the commencement ceremony!

We had the best time at the PhD commencement ceremony last night and loved hooding and celebrating five of our newest Applied Linguistics doctors! Congratulations again, everyone! You did it!!

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Ye Lin Park has successfully defended her dissertation, entitled "Investigating ITAs’ use of English prosodic features in the classroom: Tracking development and perceptions"! Her committee consisted of Stephanie Lindemann (chair), Diane Belcher, Viviana Cortes, Lucy Pickering (East Texas A&M). Huge congratulations to Ye Lin, who shall hereafter be known as Dr. Park. 😃

The spring semester is mostly wrapped up, but we are not yet done introducing you to brand new Applied Linguistics PhD graduates! Yesterday Dr. Yoon Namkung successfully defended her dissertation on “Effects of Modality and Procedural Repetition in Out-of-Class Technology-Mediated TBLT:
Comparing Videoconferencing and Virtual 3D Settings on Task Engagement and L2 Learning” in front of her dissertation committee consisting of Drs. YouJin Kim (chair), Daniel Dixon, Ute Römer-Barron, and Marta González-Lloret (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa). Congratulations, Dr. Namkung!!

We’re thrilled to announce that Dr. YouJin Kim has been named the recipient of the GSU Alumni Distinguished Professorship Award for 2025-2026 for outstanding accomplishments in scholarship, teaching, and their integration to the benefit of student learning at GSU. Huge congratulations, Dr. Kim!!

https://faculty.gsu.edu/awards/alumni-distinguished-professorships/

We are excited to share that Shuyuan Tu (ABD!) advanced to candidacy this morning after defending her dissertation proposal entitled “Aligning writing feedback with L2 developmental trajectories and genres: Comparing GenAI-leveraged, teacher, and GenAI-teacher collaborative writing feedback.” Shuyuan’s dissertation committee consists of Drs. Ute Römer-Barron (chair), Diane Belcher, Daniel Dixon, and Peter Crosthwaite. Congratulations, Shuyuan!

We are thrilled to announce that Yiwen Zheng successfully defended her dissertation proposal today and is now ABD (all but dissertation)! Her dissertation is titled "It Must Have Been You! Investigating the Acquisition of English Epistemic Modals Through a GenAI-Driven Detective Game", and her committee members include Dr. Daniel Dixon (chair) and Drs. Ute Römer-Barron, YouJin Kim, as well as Michael Weeks from the Department of Computer Science at GSU.
Huge congratulations to Yiwen!!