BIOGRAPHY

Heechul Lee graduated from Chonbuk National University in Korea in 1983 and obtained his Ph.D. in Linguistics at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1998. His simultaneous academic and administrative career gave him the opportunity to work as an Associate Professor at Chonbuk National University, the position he holds currently. He is visiting Boise with his wife, Young Suk, son, Hyojae, and daughter, Suzie. While working on a Master' s degree in linguistics at UT, Austin, his son was born. Suzie was born in Buffalo, New York while he was working on his Ph.D. His wife is a pharmacist. Professor Heechul Lee likes traveling and appreciates natural beauty and cultural events. One way of his enjoying natural beauty is jogging, hiking, or taking a walk inside or near the natural beauty itself.  

His Ph.D. dissertation is in the interface of syntax and semantics. It gives a new perspective to the interface in terms of cognitive semantics. He has been researching on and teaching cognitive semantics more than syntax nowadays. His Master's thesis is on socio-linguistics. In other words, he was at that time interested in looking at linguistic phenomena from socio-demographic and cultural perspectives. He was trained at the department of English education for his bachelor's degree. In conclusion, considering his educational background and teaching career, he is interested in researching on ESL cognitive semantics, the interface of syntax and semantics, socio-cultural aspects of teaching and learning English, and describing linguistic phenomena.