New NCOLCTL President Elect

Following a call for nominations, and election process in accordance with the NCOLCTL ByLaws, the NCOLCTL Secretariat is pleased to announce the election of Dr. Hye Young Shin as the President Elect/Vice-President of NCOLCTL.

Dr. Hye Young Shin assumes office for the year 2022-2023 before serving in the Office of NCOLCTL President, following the 2023 NCOLCTL Conference for the year 2023 – 2024. Dr. Shin previously served on the NCOLCTL Executive Board as one of the two Delegate At-Large-Board Members for the past 2 years.

Dr. Hye Young Shin is currently professorial lecturer and co-director of Korean Language Program and Asian Studies Program at American University. She received her Ph.D. in Multilingual and Multicultural Education from George Mason University (dissertation title: Korean Heritage School Teachers’ Professional Identity) and Master’s degree in TESOL from American University.

As a native Korean, she has taught both heritage and non-heritage students in a variety of settings, including colleges, U.S. government facilities, Korean heritage schools, and K-12 public schools. She has developed an online curriculum for upper level Korean in Fairfax County Public Schools. She has worked with Korean heritage school teachers while doing community outreach programs, providing several teachers’ workshops and serving on the Education Advisory Committee for the Washington Association of Korean heritage Schools.

Dr. Shin’s has worked as lead instructor for GMU Star Talk Summer Institute (2015-2019) and developed curriculum and materials for K-16 and heritage school Korean teachers. The summer institutions include “Transitioning Korean Native and Heritage Teachers into the Culture of US Schooling (2015)”, ““Engaging All Students through Interactive Lesson Planning for Korean Learners” (2016)”, “Enhancing Teaching Practices for Teachers of Korean (2017)”, “Engaged Students and Effective Classroom Management (2018)” and “Using K-Pop for Effective Differentiated Planning (2019)”.

She is an ACTFL-certified Korean OPI test rater and tester and holds a Virginia State Korean teacher license for preK-12. In addition, she holds a Virginia State Post Graduate Professional License (Korean and ESOL) for preK-12. She is the co-author of Epic Korean, the Korean textbook series which is organized based on the ACTFL’s World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages in the 5C goal areas, with links between communication and culture applied in making connections and comparisons. Her current research interests include retaining heritage language and culture among Korean immigrants, heritage language teacher education, language teachers’ identity studies, and Korean language pedagogy.

When asked about her vision for her new role, she states,  “I am fully aligned with the objectives and focus of NCOLCTL, and would like to use the skills and knowledge gained through my teaching, training teachers, and researching in Korean education to advance the Organization.” Her main focus will be to connect with the less represented groups such as those of the South Asian Languages and bring them aboard the NCOLCTL membership. Furthermore, she will strive to broaden the focus/interests, of LCTLs, to social justice, intercultural competence, multicultural education, peace education, and global leadership. Professional development will be another area to focus on along with initiatives to foster Special Interest Groups (SIGs) within NCOLCTL for the involvement of our members.