An Interview with APPLE Lecture Speaker Dr. Okim Kang

On April 18th, 2025, the Studies in Applied Linguistics and TESOL (SALT) journal interviewed Dr. Okim Kang, an invited speaker for the 2025 APPLE Lecture Series hosted by the Applied Linguistics and TESOL program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Kang is a Professor of Applied Linguistics, Director of the Applied Linguistics Speech Lab, and Director of the Global Communication Center at Northern Arizona University. Her research interests are speech perception/production, language social psychology/attitudes, applied phonology/speech intelligibility, L2 oral assessment/testing, and automated speech recognition. She has published and co-authored eight books on the topics of spoken discourse, prosody, and communication success, including a handbook about contemporary English pronunciation. She has published over 110 academic articles and given 260 keynote and conference presentations. She is an associate editor for Applied Linguistics and serving on the editorial board for various prestigious journals (e.g., Language Testing, SSLA, Language Teaching, Language Assessment Quarterly, Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, and Languages). She obtained over 45 grants, including National Science Foundation and various testing agencies (e.g., Educational Testing Service, Duolingo, IELTS, the Cambridge English Assessment, and the British Council).