Research

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Texts and Technology at the University of Central Florida, specializing in Digital Media, Digital Humanities, and Technical Communication, with an expected graduation date of May 2027. My research examines how games, artificial intelligence, and other interactive technologies shape communication and learning across languages and cultures.

I have held a Graduate Research Assistantship at UCF’s Center for Humanities and Digital Research since August 2023.

Language Learning, Games & Digital Media

I study second-language learning across both formal and informal contexts, including game-based learning, immersive media, online fandom, and digital communities.

• Dissertation — Agentic by Design: A Needs-Driven GenAI System Design Study for Game-Based Language Education in Higher Education. Doctoral dissertation (in progress), University of Central Florida.

Related Publications & Presentations

• Kong, Y. & Johnson, E. K. (2026). The Future of Language Learning is Fun: Gaming Behaviors and Preferences of L2 Students. Journal of Applied Instructional Design. DOI →
• Kong, Y. & Johnson, E. K. (2025). Virtu-ELLE Vocabulary: Evaluating Three Second Language Acquisition VR Games. 11th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN).
• Kong, Y. & Johnson, E. K. (2024). Work-in-Progress—Cozy Games for Learning: Vocabulary Practice with Anim-ELLE Crossing. 10th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN). DOI →
• Kong, Yingzi (2024). Online Fandom and Second Language Acquisition – A Case Study of Korean Language Acquisition through K-POP Fandom. EDULEARN24. DOI →
• Kong, Y. & Johnson, E. K. (2026). Does Platform Matter? Immersion, Engagement, And Learning in Language Education Games. The International Conference on Game-Based Learning (iGBL), Online, June 25–26, 2026.
• Kong, Yingzi (2026). “Designing for Teacher Agency: A Generative AI Agent for Game-Based Language Learning.” The Student Scholar Symposium, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, March 25–27, 2026.

AI, Digital Communication & Emerging Technologies

My work also examines how people engage with AI beyond the classroom — from affective responses to generative NPCs, to critical AI literacy pedagogy, to the politics of trust, bias, and cultural representation in AI systems.

• Human–AI / AI NPC work — “Feeling for the Artificial: Affective Engagement with Generative AI NPCs in YouTube Audiences — A Case Study of The Matrix Awakens.” Manuscript submitted to New Media & Society (under review).
• AI-mediated communication / critical AI literacy — “Building a Digital Humanities Generative AI Learning Community,” led by Dr. Anastasia Salter and Dr. Mel Stanfill, University of Central Florida. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Summer 2026. A biweekly summer learning community integrating critical AI literacy into the Digital Humanities minor curriculum — contributing to course redesign that incorporates generative AI and machine-learning tools alongside critical discussion of copyright, labor, environmental impact, and ethics.
• Social media & AI Ethics
• Agentic AI System design — see the Dissertation project.

Related Publications & Presentations

• Kong, Yingzi (2026). Algorithmic Narrators: Linguistic Boundaries and Institutionalized Cultural Storytelling Across Generative AI Systems. Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) (un)supervised 2026 Conference, Online, July 15–18, 2026. Conference page →
• Hall, A. & Kong, Y. (2025). Race, Technology, and Trust: Examining the Cheating Discourse Among Black and Asian AI Users. IEEE ProComm 2025.
• Kong, Yingzi (2025). “Bias Embedded and Amplified in Neural Machine Translation (NMT) – A Critical Code Study of LibreTranslate.” The Association for Computers and the Humanities (ACH) 2025.
• Kong, Yingzi (2024). “Adaptive Pedagogy in the Digital Age: A Comparative Analysis of YouTube Educational Influencers’ Use of ChatGPT for English Language Learning.” ACM SIGDOC ‘24, Washington DC, October 20–22, 2024.
• Kong, Yingzi (2024). “Where Does Artificial Intimacy Lead – Falling Love with The DAN Chatbot of ChatGPT.” The 3rd Annual Conference of the Florida Digital Humanities Consortium (FLDH), University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, September 20, 2024.

Games, Localization & Intercultural Communication

My research on game localization began with my master's thesis and continued into my doctoral work, where I expanded from translation-focused questions toward computational, multimodal, and player-centered approaches to localization and digital communication.

MA Thesis — Game Localization

Translation Strategies of Culture-Specific Items in Chinese-English Game Localization. M.A. Thesis, Translation Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), 2020–2022. Advisor: Seung-eun Sung.

During the same period I also contributed to “Indirect Translation Research on Movie Subtitles – Based on Actor-Network Theory,” led by Gun-Young Park, Ph.D. of HUFS (Sep.–Dec. 2021), extending this early interest in translation theory to audiovisual media.

Translating Personas — Characterization Shifts in RPG Localization

A pilot study using Genshin Impact to ask how a character’s linguistic identity shifts between the original Chinese and its English localization.

• Selected the ten most player-discussed characters by scraping localization-focused Reddit threads (PRAW-academic) and matching mentions against the game’s full character list.
• Collected paired English and Chinese voiceover datasets for those characters directly from the game’s fan wiki.
• Ran a semantic analysis (word clouds, top-word frequency, lexical density, filler words) and a pragmatic analysis (modal verbs, sentiment via TextBlob for English and SnowNLP for Chinese) in Python, framed through Systemic Functional Linguistics.
• Found notable divergences — Chinese lines with strongly positive sentiment were sometimes rendered in English text that scored neutral or negative — suggesting the localization process measurably reshapes how a character reads emotionally.

This pilot’s quantitative analysis is complete; the qualitative follow-up is ongoing as it feeds into a larger, multimodal project on characterization in game localization.

Interactive Localization — Twine

A Twine hypertext project exploring how game localization practices have been evolving influenced by the interplay of video games, computing technologies, translation studies and fan communities.

Professional Practice — Mato Anomalies

Localization practice grounds this strand in shipped, professional work — see the Mato Anomalies case study on the Portfolio page.

Indirect Translation Research on Movie Subtitles

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies · September–December 2021
Led by Dr. Gun-Young Park.

I analyzed fan-produced indirect movie subtitle translations and professional direct Korean–Chinese subtitle translations using research methods informed by Actor-Network Theory.

Related Publications & Presentations

• Kong, Yingzi (2024). Exploring Game Localization Through Interactive Narratives in Twine. Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) (un)linked 2024 Conference. Conference page →

Methods and Applied Practice

My methods include surveys, interviews, thematic coding, discourse analysis, ethnographic approaches, and computational text analysis. I work with Python (including NLTK and Pandas), Qualtrics, NVivo, and AntConc.

Since September 2025, I have also worked as an AI Prompt Engineering Contractor with Handshake AI Solutions LLC, refining prompts, developing qualitative and quantitative evaluation frameworks, and documenting model behavior. Earlier game localization roles at Arrowiz Games and Binmao Technology connect my research with multilingual content adaptation and player-centered communication.

Research Recognition and Service

• Graduate Judges’ Choice, Student Scholar Symposium, University of Central Florida — 2026.
• UCF Graduate Presentation Fellowship — 2025 and 2026.
• Peer reviewer, Electronic Literature Organization — 2024 and 2026.
• VR demonstrations, AI Across Creative Frontiers panel at UCF Celebrates the Arts — 2024.
• Conference moderator, SIGDOC — 2023.

Research Interests

• Video Game Narratives and Digital Storytelling, Video Game Localization
• Machine Translation, Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL), and Game-based Learning
• Human–Computer Interaction, Generative AI, and Human–AI Communication
• Bias in Large Language Models, Critical AI Literacy, and AI Ethics