I am trained in the areas of sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, and discourse analysis, and in my recent work I have explored issues such as language in globalization, transnationalism, and neoliberalism; English as a global language; and representation of language in the media.
Please visit http://jspark779.wordpress.com to learn more about me.
I currently teach in the areas of sociolinguistics and English as a global language. I have taught the department's undergraduate and graduate-level introductory modules in sociolinguistics, EL2151 Social Variation in English and EL5103 Language in Society. I also teach various modules in sociolinguistics, including EL3251 Language, Society, and Identity, EL3259 Language as Interaction, EL4255 English as a World Language, and EL4258 Metapragmatics and Language Ideology.
I have supervised students working on the intersection of language and identity in the context of globalization. Topics that my past and present graduate students have explored include: semiotic construction of space in a language-tourism village in China; language ideologies of Korean early study abroad families in Singapore; tensions in the construction of bilingual identity among Malay Singaporeans; appropriation of English in K-pop; commodification of Singlish in popular media; and discourses on the cutural and social integration of 'new citizens' in Singapore.
My current research focuses on developing a critical framework for understanding the place of English in neoliberalism; how does the way in which English is pursued, appropriated, and contested across multiple contexts help us critique and contest the workings of neoliberalism? The neoliberal transformation of South Korean society serves as the main site for my research, where diverse issues of transnationalism, precarity of work, and reconceptualizations of selves shed light on the complex relationship between English and neoliberalism.
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