My name is Jongbong Lee, and I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Second Language Studies Program at Michigan State University. I completed an M.A. in TESL from Georgetown University as well as a B.A. and an M.A. in English Language Education from Korea University. Before joining the SLS Program at Michigan State University, I taught English and Korean throughout Korea and the United States. My experiences as a language learner and a teacher motivated me to delve into how a second language, particularly second language writing, might best be taught.

My main area of research interest is second language writing. Specifically, I consider the effects of genre and tasks on linguistic features in second-language (L2) learner writing. To investigate L2 learners’ writing, I have examined corpus data, in addition to collecting L2 learners’ data in lab settings.

During my time in the SLS program, I have worked with Dr. Charlene Polio, my advisor, and Dr. Senta Goertler as a research assistant. I have also worked as a project manager with Dr. Peter De Costa on his two research projects funded by Language Learning and Creating Inclusive Excellence Grants. Furthermore, I taught pedagogical grammar and Korean at the undergraduate level last year. These working experiences have helped me to grow as a researcher and as a teacher. 

I am now working on my dissertation under the guidance of Dr. Charlene Polio. The dissertation focuses on the effects of genre, time constraints, and proficiency on L2 learners’ writing behavior and online cognitive processes during writing tasks. I plan to defend my dissertation next spring and look forward to being a researcher and a teacher in the future.