Abstract
This study examines how Korean ethnic identity can be represented differently by Korean early study abroad undergraduates in the U.S. and by their parents. The data were collected from in-depth individual interviews with 22 Korean early study abroad undergraduates and 10 of their parents, and the collected data were analyzed using critical discourse analysis (Gee, An introduction to discourse analysis: theory and method, 2011). The findings showed that both participant groups perceived Korean ethnic identity in relation to English, appearance, and nationality. However, while the Korean early study abroad undergraduates demonstrated heterogeneous Korean ethnic identity that was influenced by learning English and embracing American culture, their parents believed that their children’s Korean ethnic identity was as unchangeable as their Korean faces and passports. The traditional Korean ethnic identity of the Korean early study abroad undergraduates was challenged by their transnational experiences in a way that admitted the partialness of Korean ethnic identity and expanded the notion to be more inclusive. This intergenerational gap in Korean ethnic identity is expected to explain Korean ethnic identity in relation to transnationalism in more nuanced way.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The numbers given to the parents are irrelevant to the numbers of the students.
This article can be located at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/world/asia/08geese.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
Two couples were interviewed as a couple at the same time.
All names used in this article are pseudonyms.
The nuanced meaning of self-deprecation was presented more directly in Korean equivalent interview data.
The given expression is a direct translation of a Korean proverb. The equivalent English expression is “put lipstick on a pig.”
Gangnam and Apgujeong are famous places in Seoul, especially for the young generation.
References
Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Balaz, V., & Williams, A. M. (2004). “Been there, done that”: International student migration and human capital transfers from the UK to Slovakia. Population, Space and Place, 10, 217–237.
Block, D. (2007). Second language identities. London: Routledge.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Choe, H., & Park, Y. (2006). Parents’ perception and expectations on their children’s heritage and target languages in four Korean-student families. English Language and Linguistics, 21, 97–122.
Concilus, F. (2005). Second generation Korean American identity construction: The influence of language, friendship, and race. International Area Studies Review, 8(1), 85–102.
Creswell, J. W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Danico, M. Y. (2004). The 1.5 generation: Becoming Korean American in Hawai’i. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Diaz-Campos, M. (2004). Context of learning in the acquisition of Spanish second language phonology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26(2), 249–273.
Freed, B. F. (1995). Second language acquisition in a study abroad context. Philadelpia: Benjamins.
Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New Brunswick: Aldine Transaction.
Gans, H. (1979). Symbolic ethnicity: The future of ethnic groups and cultures in America. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2, 1–20.
Gao, X. (2006). Understanding changes in Chinese students’ uses of learning strategies in China and Britain: A socio-cultural reinterpretation. System, 34, 55–67.
Gee, J. P. (2011). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.
Giles, H., & Johnson, P. (1981). The role of language in ethnic group relations. In J. C. Turner & H. Giles (Eds.), Intergroup behavior (pp. 199–241). Oxford, England: Blackwell.
Giles, H., & Johnson, P. (1987). Ethnolinguistic identity theory: A social psychological approach to language maintenance. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 68, 69–99.
Gordon, D. (2004). “I’m tired. You clean and cook”. Shifting gender identities and second language socialization. TESOL Quarterly, 38(3), 437–457.
Hannerz, U. (1996). Transnational connections: Culture, people, places. London: Routledge.
Heller, M. (1987). The role of language in the formation of ethnic identity. In J. Phinney & M. Rotheram (Eds.), Children’s ethnic socialization pluralism and development (pp. 180–200). Thousand Oaks: A Sage Focus Edition.
Jackson, J. (2008). Language, identity and study abroad. London: Equinox.
Jeon, M. (2007). Biliteracy development and continua of biliteracy: A case of Korean Americans. Korean Journal of Applied Linguistics, 23(1), 201–215.
Kang, W. (2006). Korean politics and national identity. Seoul: East Asian Institute.
Kang, W., & Lee, N. (2011). Understanding Korean identity: Through the lens of opinion survey. Seoul: East Asian Institute.
KEDI (Korean Education Development Institute). (2011). Cokiyuhakhyenhwang (The present condition of early study abroad). Retrieved October 3, 2013 from https://www.kedi.re.kr/khome/main/research/selectPubForm.do.
Kibria, N. (2002). Becoming Asian Americans: Second-generation Chinese and Korean American identities. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
King, R., & Ruiz-Gelices, E. (2003). International student migration and the European “Year Abroad”: Effects on European identity and subsequent migration behavior. International Journal of Population Gerography, 9, 229–252.
Kinginger, C. (2008). Language learning in study abroad: Case studies of Americans in France. Modern Language Journal, 92(1), 1–124.
Krashen, S. (2003). Dealing with English fever. In Selected Papers from the Twelfth International Symposium on English Teaching, English Teachers’ Association, ROC (pp. 100–108). Taipei: Crane Publishing Company.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2008). Cultural globalization and language education. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Lee, M. (2010). The issues and self-perceptions of Korean early study-abroad undergraduates in the US. Bilingual Research, 43, 301–324.
Lee, M. (2011). Beneath the “English Fever” phenomenon: The perspectives of Korean early Study abroad undergraduates’ parents. Bilingual Research, 46, 191–214.
Matute-Bianchi, M. E. (1991). Situational ethnicity and pattern of school performance among immigrant and nonimmigrant Mexican-descendents students. In M. A. Gibson & J. U. Ogbu (Eds.), Minority status and schooling: A comparative study of immigrant and involuntary minorities (pp. 205–247). New York: Garland Publishing.
Menanrd, Warwick. (2007). Biliteracy and schooling in an extended-family Nicaraguan immigrant household: The sociohistorical construction of parental involvement. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 38(2), 119–137.
Nagel, J. (1994). Constructing ethnicity: Creating and recreating ethnic identity and culture. Social Problems, 41(1), 152–176.
Norton, B. (2001). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity and educational change. Hong Kong: Longman.
Oh, W. (2007). Early study abroad: Migration to Utopia. Phacwu: Kyoyukkwahaksa.
Park, J. S. (2009). The local construction of a global language: Ideologies of English in South Korea. Berlin: Nouton de Gruyter.
Park, J., & Bae, S. (2009). Language ideologies in educational migration: Korean jogi yuhak families in Singapore. Linguistics and Education, 20, 366–377.
Pease-Alvarez, L. (2003). Transforming perspectives on bilingual language socialization. In R. Bayley & S. Schecter (Eds.), Language socialization in bi- and multi-cultural societies. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Pellegrino, V. A. (2005). Study abroad and second language use: Constructing the self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Phillipson, R. (2008). The linguistic imperialism of neoliberal empire. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 5(1), 1–43.
Phinney, J. S. (1990). Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: Review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 108(3), 499–514.
Reyes, I. (2008). Emergent biliteracy in young Mexican immigrant children. Reading Research Quarterly, 43(4), 374–398.
Schecter, S. R., & Bayley, R. (1997). Language socialization practices and cultural identity: Case studies of Mexican-descent families in California and Texas. TESOL Quarterly, 31(3), 513–541.
Shin, G. (2006). Ethnic nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, politics, and legacy Stanford. Calif: Stanford University Press.
Skilton-Sylvester, E. (2002). Should I stay or should I go? Investigating Cambodian women’s participation and investment in adult ESL programs. Adult Education Quarterly, 53(1), 9–26.
Song, J. Y. (2010). Language ideology and identity in transnational space: globalization, migration, and bilingualism among Korean families in the USA. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 13(1), 23–42.
Song, J. Y. (2012). Imagined communities and language socialization practices in transnational space: A case study of two Korean "study abroad" families in the United States. The Modern Language Journal, 96(4), 507–524.
Tajfel, H. (1974). Social identity and intergroup behavior. Social Science Information, 13, 65–93.
Ting-Toomey, S. (1999). Communicating across cultures. New York: Guilford Press.
Tugendhat, E. (1986). Self-consciousness and self-determination (P. Stern Trans.). Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Zhou, M. (2004). Are Asian Americans becoming “white?”. Contexts, 3(1), 29–37.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, M.W. Transnational English Learning Experiences and the Trajectory of Ethnic Identity: Korean Early Study Abroad Undergraduates and Their Parents. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 24, 645–655 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-014-0212-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-014-0212-3