Gayoung Choi, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, was selected to receive a Presidential Fellowship for the 2026-27 academic year. Presidential Fellows are awarded to a select group of University of Nebraska graduate students each year on the basis of high scholastic performance and personal accomplishment.
The Fellowship provides an annual stipend of $24,000 and a tuition waiver, made possible from the Frank and Marie Wheeler and the Reichenbach Fellow funds.
“I am deeply honored to receive the Presidential Fellowship, which provides me with invaluable time and space to fully dedicate myself to my dissertation during this important stage of my doctoral journey,” Choi said. “To me, this recognition is a profound reminder of the responsibility that comes with conducting research that bridges innovative technology and critical pedagogy.
“This opportunity will allow me to translate my research into practical tools that support teachers and empower young learners to find their own voices. I am incredibly grateful to the University of Nebraska community for believing in my research and investing in my vision for the future of language learning and education.”
Choi, who is specializing in teaching, curriculum and learning, is conducting research to explore how English education can be reimagined in the age of artificial intelligence, particularly as it relates to foreign language learning, multimodality and student motivation. Her dissertation investigates how AI can support elementary students as they use both English and their native language to participate more confidently in English learning while examining changes in their motivation and overall learning experience.
Choi became interested in this area of research because of her personal experiences learning and later teaching English in South Korea.
“Growing up, my relationship with English began with numbers – how many vocabulary words I memorized, what score I received on a test, and how closely I could sound like a native speaker of American English,” Choi said. “English often felt like something to be measure rather than a language for communication. Later, as an elementary school teacher, I saw many students experiencing the same pressure and self-doubt that I had once felt.”
During remote learning, Choi served as Head of Instructional Technology at her school and believed technology could transform education by removing barriers of time and place, especially for students with limited learning opportunities.
“What I witnessed was more complex,” Choi said. “Technology alone did not improve learning and, in some cases, even widened educational inequalities. That experience fundamentally changed my perspective. Rather than asking what technology can do, I began asking how teachers can use technology meaningfully to inspire students to want to learn English.”
The research she is doing now for her dissertation is Choi’s attempt to answer that question.
“I hope my work helps educators integrate AI in ways that make English learning more meaningful, engaging and accessible for all students. More broadly, my research aims to contribute to a future where English learning is no longer defined by scores or native-speaker ideals, but by students’ curiosity, creativity and willingness to communicate.”
College of Education and Human Sciences
Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education
