Abstract
This concluding chapter revisits two central questions: why is English so popular in Korea and why is there a gap between dreams and realities associated with English in Korea? It proceeds to answer these questions by drawing on key findings from historical and contemporary analyses of English language ideologies in Korea. Analysis of the development of English in Korea throughout history highlights how dreams have been attached to English, which has evolved to represent distinctive forms of capital – cultural, economic, political, social, and symbolic – in the local context. The second question of why the kinds of dreams that individuals attach to English contrast with reality is answered from a micro-analysis of English language ideologies held by professional English-Korean translators and interpreters. While English represents opportunities and hopes for those in pursuit of the language, realities that unfold on the ground are often overshadowed by over-idealized images which are sustained in historicity and strengthened through the phenomenon of “English fever”. The chapter concludes with the implications of the book for future lines of research examining the sociolinguistic dimensions of English in both local and global contexts.
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Cho, J. (2017). Interpreting Ideological Landscapes in Korea. In: English Language Ideologies in Korea . Multilingual Education, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59018-9_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59018-9_7
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