Overseas Koreans, Language, and Ethn

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Overseas Koreans, Language, and Ethn UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Identity, Second Language Acquisition, and Investment: Overseas Koreans, Language, and Ethnolinguistic Community Membership A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics by Christopher Joseph Dykas 2014 © Copyright by Christopher Joseph Dykas 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS Identity, Second Language Acquisition, and Investment: Overseas Koreans, Language, and Ethnolinguistic Community Membership by Christopher Joseph Dykas Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Katrina Daly Thompson, Chair In this thesis I explore the intersection of identity and second language acquisition, in the form of investment (Kanno & Norton, 2003; Norton, 2000; Pavlenko & Norton, 2007), and as it pertains to the experiences of gyopo, or “overseas Koreans” (ethnic Koreans from abroad), living in Korea. In doing so, I hold three goals: (1) to uncover connections between overseas Koreans and their affinity for an imagined, transnational Korean community; (2) to outline ways in which overseas Koreans negotiate their identities as members of this community, particularly in regard to issues of language; and (3) to link this understanding of identity negotiation with consequences for Korean-language learning and teaching. In examining interviews I conducted with gyopo living in Korea between 2007 and 2010, I find that within a context of ethnolinguistic ii essentialism—one that links race, ethnicity, appearance, and language—overseas Koreans find their authenticity as ethnic Koreans challenged. Whereas mixed-race gyopo note that they are often looked at as “foreigners” in Korea, and thus little knowledge of Korean language and culture is expected of them, “full” Korean gyopo note that they are often understood to be Korean, and their Korean abilities are looked at as insufficient vis-à-vis an imagined native standard. As a result of this repeated challenging, overseas Koreans’ imagined Korean communities are collections of experiences both positive and negative, complex representations of push-and-pull that form mixed sentiments of acceptance and non-acceptance. In linking these findings with ethnolinguistic essentialism in heritage language research—in the Korean context and in general—I complicate understandings of Korean “heritage language” education, and recommend a pedagogy of inquiry (Nelson, 1999) to expand possibilities for identity in Korean language learning. iii The thesis of Christopher Joseph Dykas is approved. Marjorie Harness Goodwin Sung-Ock Sohn Katrina Daly Thompson, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 iv DEDICATION To the “other” Koreans. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 0.1. FRAMING THE INTERSECTION OF IDENTITY & LANGUAGE LEARNING .................................... 1 0.2. ON THE TERM “OVERSEAS KOREAN” .................................................................................... 2 0.3. ON METHODOLOGY & DATA ................................................................................................. 4 0.4. THESIS STRUCTURE & ARGUMENT ........................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER ONE: LANGUAGE LEARNING AS A SITE OF NEGOTIATION OF BELONGING: ON NATIONALISM IN THE KOREAN DIASPORA, ETHNOLINGUISTIC ESSENTIALISM, & HERITAGE LANGUAGE PEDAGOGY ............................................................................... 9 1.1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 9 1.2. IDENTITY & SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION ................................................................... 10 1.2.1. Subjectivity in language learning ............................................................................... 10 1.2.2. Imagined communities & ‘investment’ ...................................................................... 11 1.2.3. Identity & investment in second language acquisition research ................................. 13 1.2.3.1. Racial & ethnic identity in language learning ..................................................... 13 1.2.3.2. Sexual identity in language learning ................................................................... 15 1.3. ETHNONATIONALISM, HIERARCHICAL NATIONHOOD, & ‘THE BLACK SHEEP EFFECT’ .......... 16 1.3.1. Who are overseas Koreans? ........................................................................................ 17 1.3.2. Korean ethnonationalism & ‘the black sheep effect’ ................................................. 18 1.3.3. Ethnic return migration ............................................................................................... 21 1.3.4. Hierarchical nationhood ............................................................................................. 23 1.3.5. Communal trauma in the Korean diaspora ................................................................. 25 1.3.6. Contesting & contested membership .......................................................................... 29 1.4. KOREAN AS A HERITAGE LANGUAGE ................................................................................... 31 1.4.1. The broad scope of “heritage language” ..................................................................... 32 1.4.2. Discourses of endangerment & ethnolinguistic essentialism ..................................... 36 vi 1.4.3. Heritage language research & the discourse of deficit ............................................... 38 1.4.4. Shifting linguistic capital: Korean vs. English vs. multilingualism ........................... 44 1.4.5. Heritage language learning as an expression of ethnic identity ................................. 48 1.4.6. New options for identity in Korean heritage language pedagogy .............................. 49 1.5. CHAPTER CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER TWO: SEEING THE IMAGINED: ON NARRATIVE ANALYSIS & IDENTIFYING EXPRESSIONS OF IMAGINED COMMUNITIES ................................................................ 55 2.1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 55 2.2. ON NARRATIVE ANALYSIS ................................................................................................... 56 2.2.1. Labov’s narrative syntax ............................................................................................ 58 2.2.1.1. Labov’s narrative syntax – Components ............................................................. 59 2.2.2. On reported speech ..................................................................................................... 61 2.3. DATA ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................. 63 2.3.1. Monica’s narrative: “Kim Ne Kimbab” ..................................................................... 63 2.3.2. Jen’s narrative: “Why don’t you speak Korean?!” ..................................................... 71 2.4. CHAPTER CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 77 CHAPTER THREE: PROBLEMATIZING SITUATIONAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF KOREAN LANGUAGE ABILITY AS A MEASURE OF ETHNOLINGUISTIC COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP ................................................................................................................................. 80 3.1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 80 3.2. LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES & SHIFTING LINGUISTIC REPERTOIRES .......................................... 81 3.2.1. “Language ideologies” defined .................................................................................. 81 3.2.2. Shifting perceptions of linguistic repertoires ............................................................. 84 3.3. DATA ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................. 87 3.3.1. Sandy: Korean as iconized culture ............................................................................. 87 3.3.2. Viktor: On looking Korean in Korea .......................................................................... 89 vii 3.3.3. Angie: From “conveyor belt for content” to Korean for Korean’s sake .................... 93 3.3.4. Beatrix: Korean, Dutch, & English as separate spheres of interaction ....................... 98 3.4. CHAPTER CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 102 CHAPTER FOUR: MIXED-RACE OVERSEAS KOREANS: RACIALIZED INTERPRETATIONS OF PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & THE LANGUAGE OF FIRST APPROACH ......................... 104 4.1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 104 4.2. ON MIXED-RACE SUBJECTIVITY ......................................................................................... 105 4.3. DATA ................................................................................................................................ 107 4.3.1. Establishing in-group sentiment ..............................................................................
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