Devon Renfroe Awarded Fulbright for Research in South Korea

Devon Renfroe, a Ph.D. student in the Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition program, has been selected as a grant recipient for the U.S. Fulbright Student Program's 2024-25 competition cycle. This award will allow her to conduct research for her dissertation in South Korea, exploring the intricate dynamics of the Korean language.

Renfroe's journey in linguistics has been marked by a deep passion for the Korean language and culture. Prior to earning her master of arts in applied second language acquisition from the Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics in 2020, Renfroe lived and taught English in a middle school in South Korea. It was during this time that she taught herself Korean.

"I found that learning the language allowed me to embody these different identities that I don’t have access to in English,” Renfroe said. “I can be someone in a Korean context that I can’t be in English — that whole process was really meaningful to me.”

This immersive experience in Korea not only deepened her linguistic skills but also solidified her desire to combine her teaching expertise with her passion for the Korean language. While in South Korea, Renfroe plans to study the Korean language’s relational aspects, particularly its intricate honorific system, which profoundly influences interpersonal interactions.

“Korean is a language that has a really complex and interesting honorific system,” Renfroe said. “The way you choose which of these features to use has a really big impact on how you relate to other people. I want to analyze how first-language and second-language Korean speakers relate to each other and interact with each other using these specific features of the language.”

Renfroe’s research will be conducted at Chonnam National University in Gwangju over a 10 month period. She previously worked at this institution as the resident director for the Critical Language Scholarship program, which allowed her to establish valuable connections with instructors and professors in the Korean language education center.

“My intended research in South Korea will use audio recordings of conversations between first language (L1) and second language (L2) Korean speakers to analyze how they use a particular linguistic feature called 'honorifics,’” Renfroe said.

She will conduct surveys and interviews to investigate what language ideologies guide the use of this feature and what people believe about how it should be used in L1-L2 interactions. Renfroe explained, “As more and more people learn Korean, visit Korea and have intercultural interactions in Korean, this research will be useful to better understand how this particular linguistic feature is used to position speakers in different ways.”

Renfroe’s enthusiasm for her upcoming research is palpable. “I love teaching, and I love language so much that it’s always been fun to be in a classroom where that’s the center of attention,” she said. “Language is such a powerful tool for people to understand each other cross-culturally.”

Her excitement extends beyond her academic pursuits. She looks forward to continuing her own language learning journey and immersing herself in the vibrant culture of Gwangju, renowned for its exceptional food. The opportunity to conduct fieldwork in Korea aligns perfectly with her long-held aspiration to complete a study abroad experience as part of her Ph.D. program.

“I’m very thankful to Fulbright for the opportunity and funding which will allow me to do that. I’m excited to do fieldwork to better understand the experiences of people speaking Korean as they navigate relationships, work, school and the daily interactions that come with living abroad,” Renfroe said.