Associate Professor Mira Kim
PhD Macquarie, MA in Translation and Interpreting HUFS, Pg Dip Applied Linguistics (TESOL) Macquarie; NAATI-accredited Conference Interpreter and Advanced Translator
I am both a lifelong learner and a passionate educator, deeply engaged in the field of Systemic Functional Linguistics. My career has spanned roles from professional translator to academic, where I have the privilege of combining my linguistic expertise with real-world application. Teaching offers me a profound opportunity to share this knowledge and to learn from the dynamic, evolving interactions with my students.
In my course on Text Analysis for Translation (MODL5106), I empower students to make informed translation choices based on rigorous theoretical frameworks, moving beyond intuition to mastery. My Personalised English Language Enhancement (PELE) courses (HUMS1005, ARTS5505, ARTS5507) are designed to sharpen students' communication skills, equipping them to meet their personal and professional goals effectively. Research indicates that these courses significantly boost students' confidence, motivation, engagement, and sense of belonging.
I am currently leading a pioneering research project that explores the intersections between English language proficiency and student well-being. In addition, I am developing the Personalised Autonomous Communication Enhancement (PACE) for academics who speak English as an additional language. This initiative reflects my commitment to enhancing communication across cultural and linguistic boundaries and supporting academic peers in achieving their full potential.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
2024 Medibank Research & Technology Fund. Chief Investigator, $199,000 (2024)
This project is entitled ‘International Students’ Well-being Initiative: A Holistic Integrated Approach’ and aims to explore and implement effective methods that promote the well-being of international students at UNSW. By understanding and addressing their distinct challenges and by providing tailored support, our goal is to establish a more inclusive and nurturing academic environment. Enhancing the well-being and academic experience of international students is anticipated to bring positive impacts to the broader UNSW student community.
2019 UNSW Scientia Education Investment Fund grant (SEIF#1). Chief Investigator, $80,000 (2019-2020)
This project is entitled ‘Elevating the Scalability, Availability and Sustainability of Personalised English Language Enhancement (PELE)’ and aims to enhance the scalability, availability and sustainability of the PELE course to make a significant contribution to the learning experience of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) students at UNSW by developing a blended learning mode of PELE.
2016 UNSW Strategic Educational Development Grants (SEF# 2). Chief Investigator, $171,000 (2015-2016)
I conducted the project entitled ‘English Language Acquisition Support for International Students (ELASIS)’ which aims to add to the suite of English language acquisition supports available for international students at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. The Personlised English Language Enhancement (PELE) course was developed and piloted as an extra curriculum program in 2016. With its pedagogical efficacy being proved, the course was approved as a credit-bearing course and has been offered to students at all levels (UG, PG and HDR) across faculties at UNSW.
2011 Improvements to NAATI testing research project. Co-Investigator, $90,430 funded by NAATI (2011-2012)
This project, led by Prof Sandra Hale, aimed to propose a new improved model for interpreter and translator standards, testing, assessment and training.
2009 Australian Learning and Teaching Council Leadership Scheme. Co-investigator, $217,000
The project entitled ‘Social, communicative and interpersonal leadership in the context of peer review’ was an international inter-disciplinary project led by Prof Judyth Sachs (Deputy Vice Chancellor of Macquarie) and funded by the ALTC. It aimed to explore the social and interpersonal leadership skills needed to initiate and sustain peer review. I had to withdraw from the project as I left Macquarie at the end of 2009.
2008 Macquarie University Linguistics Department’s New Researcher Scheme. Chief Investigator, $10,000
I conducted the project entitled ‘Plain English for Translation’ in partnership with the NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service (MHCS) to investigate the role of plain English and its impact on translation in the area of health communication. (cf. Burns and Kim 2011).
2007 Macquarie University Competitive Grants Scheme. Co-investigator, $45,000
The project entitled ‘A new vision for Translation & Interpreting education in the 21st century: A research embedded review project’ was initiated to systematically address issues and concerns that had been raised by students and staff on the T&I postgraduate programs at Macquarie University. It is funded by Macquarie University and led by Dr Jemina Napier (T&I Programs Coordinator) and Ms Helen Slayter. A number of conference papers were presented about this project. (e.g. Kim et al was presented at the 3rd IATIS conference in July 2009.)
2023 UNSW Arc PGC Research Supervisor Award (Honourable Mention) Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture
2022 UNSW Students’ Choice Teaching Award
2022 UNSW Arc PGC Research Supervisor Award (Honourable Mention) Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture
2014 UNSW Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence
2009 Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning with the citation “For motivating and inspiring students to learn through passionate teaching and research efforts”
2008 Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
2008 Macquarie University Division of Linguistics and Psychology Award for Teaching Excellence
2007 Macquarie University Division of Linguistics and Psychology Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
2007 Macquarie University Division of Linguistics and Psychology Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Research
My Research Supervision
De Jonge, Keryn Lisa (PhD) Primary Supervisor
Altayari,Dalal Raja R (PhD) Joint Primary Supervisor
Tian,Alisa (PhD) Primary Supervisor
Dewi,Sari Puspita (PhD) Primary Supervisor
Jing, Bosheng (PhD) Primary Supervisor
Schusler,Jason Barnes (PhD) Secondary Supervisor
de Oliveira Yonamine,Mariana (PhD) Secondary Supervisor
My Teaching
MODL5106 Text Analysis for Translation (Coordinator)
HUMS1005/ARTS5505 Personalised English Language Enhancement (PELE) (Coordinator)
ARTS5507 PELE for Higher Degree Research Candidates (Coordinator)
PhDs (Current)
De Jonge, Keryn Lisa (PhD) Primary Supervisor
Altayari,Dalal Raja R (PhD) Joint Primary Supervisor
Tian,Alisa (PhD) Primary Supervisor
Dewi,Sari Puspita (PhD) Primary Supervisor
Jing, Bosheng (PhD) Primary Supervisor
Schusler,Jason Barnes (PhD) Secondary Supervisor
de Oliveira Yonamine,Mariana (PhD) Secondary Supervisor
PhDs (Completed)
Sarah Fletcher (award granted in 2024)
The Self-Directed Scaffold: Creating and implementing a learner-informed framework to promote autonomous adult learning, in the context of university students’ structural academic writing development (Primary Supervisor)
Qihang Jiang (award granted in 2023)
Title: A Corpus-based and Eye-Tracking Study on the Audience Reception and Processing of English-Chinese Swearwords Produced by Amateur (Fansubbing) and Professional (Prosubbing) Subtitling (Secondary Supervisor)
Dongbing Zhang (award granted in 2020)
Title: Categories of interpersonal grammar in Khorchin Mongolian (Adjunct Supervisor)
Xueying Li (award granted in 2019)
Title: A study on translation strategies of specialized texts in Chinese/English (Primary Supervisor)
Gyung Hee Choi (award granted in 2014)
Title: A descriptive study on logical resources in Korean and its application to translation (Primary Supervisor)
Kyoung Hee Park (award granted in 2013)
Title: The Experiential Grammar of Korean: A systemic functional perspective (Adjunct Supervisor)
MAs
So Young Jun (Master by Research since 2015)
Title: Translating grammatical metaphor (Principal Supervisor)
Abdullah Quabani (completed in 2013)
Title: A study on differences in translation approaches between translation students and language education students
Kathleen Macdonald (completed in 2012)
Title: Korean Speak: A comparative study of experiential meaning in translation from Korean to English (Principal Supervisor)
Gyung Hee Choi (completed in 2009)
Title: A study on logical meaning in Korean Bible translation based on Systemic Functional Linguistics (Principal Supervisor)
Jin Young Kim (completed in 2009)
Title: Investigating Theme in Korean by Text Types from a Systemic Functional Grammar Perspective (Principal Supervisor)
Song-Lee Han (completed in 2009)
Title: Discourse Analysis of an English TV Program and Its Translation into Korean (Principal Supervisor)
Hye Jin Yun (completed in 2009)
Title: A comparative study on thematic choice and grammatical metaphor in children’s literature (Principal Supervisor)
Yumi Hong (completed in 2009)
Title: A study on interpersonal meaning shifts and usage of honorific terms in Korean translations of an English novel (Principal Supervisor)
Mijin Kim (completed in 2008)
Title: Translation of passivisation from English to Korean (Principal Supervisor)
Jin Sun Lee (completed in 2007)
Title: A study on punctuation marks in Korean into English translation (Principal Supervisor)
Sookkyoung Kim (completed in 2007)
Title: Translation Shifts in Voice: A pilot study based on a Korean short story (Principal Supervisor)
Haewon Kim (completed in 2006)
Title: A study on translation of non-defining relative clauses from English into Korean (Joint Supervisor)
Sung Jin Kim (completed in 2005)
Title: A study of adverbial translation: focused on comparison between English and Korean adverbials (Principal Supervisor)