Professor PARK, Somin

• Early language and literacy development of preschool- and kindergarten- aged English monolingual and multilingual children
• Evidence-based practices for supporting early language and literacy development for both English monolingual- and emergent bilingual- children
• Teacher characteristics and experiences that support quality early language and literacy practices

Awards and Honors

• Honorable Mention for Graduate Student Award for Literacy Research Excellence Research in Reading and Literacy SIG, American Educational Research Association.
• Distinguished Dissertation Award. College of Education and Human Ecology. The Ohio State University
• College of Education and Human Ecology Carol J. Fisher Graduate Support Fund in Reading and Literacy in Early Childhood, The Ohio State University 
• College of Education and Human Ecology Laura G. Heichel Memorial Scholarship Fund in Teacher Education, The Ohio State University

Grants

• The University of Hong Kong Seed Fund for Basic Research for Resubmission of GRF/ECS Proposals ‘Multisensory instruction for Chinese-English emergent bilingual children’s literacy development: A pilot study of focused group interviews with early childhood teachers and preschool-aged children.’ (HK$22,600)
• The University of Hong Kong Seed Fund for Basic Research for New Staff. ‘Understanding early childhood teachers’ language and literacy classroom practices in Hong Kong’ (HK$150,000).
• The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Education Project-based Research Funding. ‘Emergent bilingual children’s English alphabet knowledge: Examining the developmental patterns and factors affecting children’s English alphabet development’ (HK$60,000)
• Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship, Graduate School at The Ohio State University (US$1761)

• Content analysis of alphabet contents in YouTube for young children (2023)
• Investigating predicting factors and developmental patterns of alphabet knowledge of Chinese-English emergent bilingual children in Hong Kong (2023-2024)
• Understanding early childhood teachers' language and literacy classroom practices in Hong Kong: Developing a measure and understanding the current status (2023-2025)

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Yang, H., Park, S., & Chau, L. (in press). Investigating the association between professional development and educators' beliefs in U.S. center- and home-based early childhood education. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 69(2024), 101-110. 
• Park, S & Piasta, S.B. (2023). Are there developmental patterns in emergent bilingual children's English letter-name knowledge?.International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 27(2), 159-172.
• Piasta, S.B., Bridges, M.S., Park, S., Nelson-Strouts, K., & Hikida, M. (2022). Teachers' content knowledge about oral language: Measure development and evidence of initial validity. Reading and Writing, 35(9), 2131-2153.
• Piasta, S.B., Park, S., Fitzgerald, L.R., & Libnoch, H.A. (2022). Young children's alphabet learning as a function of instruction and letter difficulty. Learning and Individual Difference, 93, 1-11.
• Piasta, S.B., Park, S., Farley, K.S., Justice, L.M., & O'Connell, A.A. (2020). Early childhood educators' knowledge about language and literacy: Associations with practice and children's learning. Dyslexia, 26(2), 137-152. 
• Piasta, S.B., Ramirez, P.S., Farlet, K.S., Justice, L.M., & Park, S. (2020). Exploring the nature of associations between educators' knowledge and their emergent literacy classroom practices. Reading and Writing, 33, 1399-1422.
• Park, S & Kim, M.S. (2019). Comparative study on type and function of gesture between Korean and Japanese children. Journal of Early Childhood Education (Korea), 39(6), 29-46.  

Internal Reports and Newsletters

• Park, S & Piasta, S.B. (2020). Summary of ABC pilot study results. Columbus, Ohio: Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy, The Ohio State University. 
• Fitzgerald, L.R., Libnoch, H.A., Park, S., & Piasta, S.B. (2020). Best practices in alphabet instruction: Lessons (Version 2). Columbus, Ohio: Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy, The Ohio State University. 

Invited Research Talks

• Park, S. (2025, January). Early literacy development and multisensory learning for young children. Visitng scholar at Laboratoire de Psychologie du Développement et de l’Éducation de l'enfant Université Paris Cité
• Park, S. (2024, December). Oklahoma U-HKU joint webinar. Guest speaker. The Consortium for Research on Language Policy and Practice, Hong Kong, China SAR.
• Park, S. (2023, November). Multisensory instruction for promoting young children’s early literacy skills. Invited talk at the 2024 International Conference on Language Immersion Education, Xian, China.
• Park, S. (2022, October). Supporting young children’s early language and literacy development. Invited speaker at the online fall seminar hosted by the Research Institute for Human Life Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea

Selected Conference Presentations

• Park, S & Lee, D. (2025, July). Investigating developmental patterns in English alphabet knowledge of Chinese-English emergent bilingual children in Hong Kong. Paper to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study for Reading, Calgary, Canada.

• Park, S., Dore, R., Bonus, A., Hassinger-Das, B., & Pu, W. (2025, April). Finding U in YouTube: A content analysis of instructional strategies used in online videos. Poster to be present at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, USA.

• Park, S., Dore, R., Bonus, A., Hassinger-Das, B., & Pu, W. (2025). A content analysis of educational alphabet videos on YouTube. Paper symposium to be present at the Society for Research in Child Development Bi-annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

• Park, S & Lee, D. (2025, February). Exploring English alphabet knowledge of emergent bilingual kindergarten children in Hong Kong. Paper to be presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia, Cebu, Philippines.
• Park, S & Piasta, S.B. (2024, July). Examining the uppercase facilitation effect in the context of learning. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study for Reading, Copenhagen, Denmark. 
• Park, S & Piasta, S.B. (2024, April). Multisensory alphabet instruction for English monolingual and emergent bilingual children. Paper presented at the 2024 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 
• Kim, H., Park, S., Piasta, S. B., Cutler, L., Schachter, R. E., & Gabas, C. (2022, February). Differences in the linguistic environment between early childhood classrooms in which children exhibit higher versus lower language gains. Poster presented at the College of Education and Human Ecology Research Forum, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. 
• Park, S., Nelson-Strouts, K., Piasta, S.B., Hikida, M., & Bridges, M.S. (2020, November). Developing a measure of preservice teachers' content knowledge of oral language. Poster presented at the 2020 Council on Research in Student Progress and Educational Excellence Conference, Columbus, OH. 

• Park, S., & Piasta, S.B. (2020, July). Do emergent bilingual children follow similar patterns in English letter-name knowledge as English-monolingual children?. Interactive poster presented at the 2020 Society for the Scientific Study of Reading conference, Newport Beach, CA (Canceled due to COVID-19).

• Park, S., Kim, S., & Piasta, S.B. (2020, April). Does initial skill level matter?: Understanding whether educator knowledge differentially predicts children’s emergent literacy learning. Poster presented at the 2020 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (Canceled due to COVID-19).
• Johnson. T., Park, S., & Rodgers, E.M. (2020, April). Effects of teacher professional development on young students’ literacy outcomes: A literature review. Poster presented at the 2020 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (Canceled due to COVID-19).
• Park, S. & Piasta, S.B. (2020, February). Understanding whether emergent bilingual children follow similar trends in letter name knowledge to English-monolingual children. Paper presented at the 2020 Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum, Columbus, OH.
• Park, S., Johnson. T., & Rodgers, E.M. (2020, February). Effects of teacher professional development on young students’ literacy outcomes. Poster presented at the College of Education and Human Ecology Student Research Forum, Columbus, OH.
• Park, S., Pahanish, D., Shook, B.D., & Piasta, S.B. (2019, February). Preliminary evidence from a pilot study to teach alphabet knowledge. Poster presented at the College of Education and Human Ecology Student Research Forum, Columbus, OH.
• Park, S. & Kim, M.S. (2018, July). Comparative study on type and function of gesture among Korean and Japanese children. Interactive paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study for Reading, Brighton, UK.
• Piasta, S.B., Park, S., Farley, K.S., Justice, L.M., & O’Connell, A.A. (2018, July). Associations between early childhood educators’ knowledge and children’s emergent literacy outcomes. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Brighton, UK.

• Editorial Board Member
  • Journal of Life-span Studies 
  • International Journal of Early Childhood Education
• Journal Reviewer
  • Child Development
  • Reading Research Quarterly
  • Scientific Studies of Reading
  • Reading and Writing
  • Journal of Research in Reading
  • Journal for the Study of Education and Development
  • Journal of Children and Media
  • International Journal of Early Years Education
  • International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
  • International Journal of Education and Research
  • TESOL Journal

• Potential PhD students are encouraged to contact me regarding supervising in the following areas: early literacy development and learning, research design drawing causal inferences, bilingualism and biliteracy learning, teacher knowledge on early language and literacy development, teacher professional development, and multisensory learning.

• I am also looking for PhD students with neuroscience knowledge and skills and AI technology skills who would like to work on interdisciplinary research on kindergarten children’s learning of the English language and literacy and technology.