Hyang Lee

Hyang Lee
Associate Professor
Language assessment, Task-based language teaching, Teaching pronunciation
Dr. Hyang Lee holds a Ph.D. in Korean Linguistics and a M.Ed. in Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language from Ewha Womans University. Prof. Lee has been teaching all levels of Korean courses since the opening of George Mason University Korea in 2014. Prof. Lee’s research interests include language testing and assessment as well as general applied linguistics. She is particularly interested in second language pronunciation and discourse assessment. Prof. Lee is also working on developing a nationally recognized Korean proficiency test and she is participating in various research projects related to Korean language education and culture. Prof. Lee was the recipient of the ‘Excellent Professor in Teaching Award’ at the University of Seoul from 2011 to 2013.
Selected Publications
[Peer Reviewed]
Hae Yong, L. & Hyang, L. (2024). Refusal Speech Act in Korean and English: Focusing on the variable of social status. Journal of Korean Language Education 35-4, pp. 97-122.
Hyang, L. (2021). Developing a Scoring Rubric for Assessing Discourse Competence through a Performance Decision Tree Approach. Journal of the International Network for Korean Language and Culture 18-1. pp. 185-216.
Hyang, L. (2017). An Empirical Study to Rethink the Goals and Components of Teaching Korean Language Pronunciation. Journal of Korean Language Education 28-3, pp. 105-126.
Expanded Publication List
Grants and Fellowships
[ Recent Grants]
2025 A Study on AI-Based Automated Item Generation for the Sejong Korean Assessment (SKA), King Sejong Institute Foundation. (Project Grant: Co-I)
2025 Sejong Korean Assessment (SKA) Test Item Development, King Sejong Institute Foundation. (Project Grant: Co-I, Test Assembler)
2025 Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Instruction of Korean Speaking Class, MK Independent Research, George Mason University Korea, IUCF. (Research Fund: PI)
2024 Developing items and tasks for the Sejong Korean Language Assessment (SKA), King Sejong Institute Foundation. (Project Grant: Co-I)
Courses Taught
KORE 110 Elementary Korean
KORE 201 Intermediate Korean I
KORE 202 Intermediate Korean II
KORE 301 Advanced Korean Language and Culture
KORE 305 Business Korean
KORE 321 Korean Proficiency through Visual Culture
KORE 332 Special Topics in Advanced Korean Speaking
KORE 410 Korean Linguistics
KORE 490 Internship in Korean Studies
Education
Ph.D. in Korean Linguistics, Ewha Womans University (Seoul, Korea)
M.Ed. in Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language, Ewha Womans University (Seoul, Korea)
B.A. in Korean Language and Literature, Ewha Womans University (Seoul, Korea)
Recent Presentations
Hyang, L. (2025) Design and Application of AI-Enhanced Korean Speaking Instruction, Paper presented at the 2025 International Conference of the International Network for Korean Language and Culture, June 14, 2025, Vietnam.
Hyang, L. (2024) Current Status and Challenges of Korean Language Proficiency Assessment. Paper presented at the 19th Korean Education Forum of the Society of Korean Language Education, Online, December 13, 2024.
Hyang, L. (2023) Developing Expertise in Korean Language Assessment, Paper presented at the 2023 KF workshop for Korean Language Educators in Southeast Asia, National Defense Language Institute, Indonesia, October 10~11, 2023.