Kang Suk Byun 변강석

Emilio Ferreiro 11.8.25
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Kang Suk Byun (변강석) is a pioneering South Korean Deaf scholar and linguist, recognized as the first Deaf individual in Korea to earn a Ph.D. in sign language linguistics. His doctoral research focused on how signers of different sign languages establish mutual understanding, particularly through the process of cross-signing. He has also contributed significantly to the study of Korean Sign Language (KSL) corpus development and cross-linguistic interaction among sign language users.

Quick Facts

Early Life and Education

Byun graduated from Seoul AeHwa School (a school serving Deaf students) in 2000. He then earned a Master's degree in Linguistics from Chungnam National University in 2012. In 2014, he moved to the Netherlands to pursue a Ph.D., deliberately choosing this path over more common destinations such as Gallaudet University in the United States, driven by his interest in pragmatics, conversation analysis, and cognitive science[1].

Doctoral Degree and Significance

On 22 June 2023, Kang Suk Byun successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis at Radboud University, in association with the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. According to AbleNews, Byun became the first Deaf person to earn a Ph.D. in the field of sign language linguistics, both domestically and reportedly in the Netherlands[1][2]. The achievement is expected to catalyze major shifts in Deaf-led sign language research in Korea.

Academic and Research Contributions

Byun has been affiliated with the Department of Sign Language Interpretation and Translation at Kangnam University, where he has taught and engaged in research and KSL corpus projects[1][3].

He works within the Language and Cognition Department at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, within Stephen Levinson's lab, focusing on areas like cognitive linguistics, corpus linguistics, intercultural communication, gesture and sign language linguistics, and conversation analysis[3].

Research Areas and Impact

Byun's research emphasizes how deaf individuals communicate successfully even without a shared sign language, focusing on the emergence of cross-signing as an improvised, ad hoc contact language, and examining conversational repair strategies[4]. His work integrates conversation analysis, cognitive linguistics, and sign language corpus development to shed light on intersubjectivity and communicative adaptation among Deaf communities.

  1. Kim, D.-B. (2024, August 6). 변강석, 농인 최초 언어학수어 박사 1호 [Kang Suk Byun, first Deaf sign-language-linguistics Ph.D.]. AbleNews.
  2. Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. (2023, June 22). Kang-Suk Byun defends thesis 'Establishing intersubjectivity in cross-signing'.
  3. ResearchGate. (n.d.). Kang Suk BYUN | Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen.
  4. Byun, K. S., De Vos, C., Bradford, A., Zeshan, U., & Levinson, S. C. (2018). First encounters: Repair sequences in cross‐signing. Topics in Cognitive Science, 10(2), 314-334.
  5. Academia.edu. (n.d.). Papers by Kang-Suk Byun.
Emilio Ferreiro

Posted by Emilio Ferreiro

E-learning Specialist | PhD student in Health Sciences | Deaf activist | Independent Blogger at Unusualverse

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