Korean Heritage Language Maintenance and Language Ideology
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206 Heritage Language Journal, 6(2) https://doi.org/10.46538/hlj.6.2.4 Fall, 2008 Korean Heritage Language Maintenance and Language Ideology Mihyon Jeon, York University Abstract This paper explores ways in which language ideology is linked to maintenance of Korean as a heritage language by Koreans in America. The data for this ethnographic study come from three separate sources: 1) a Korean language program at an American university; 2) a community-based ESL program for Korean seniors; and 3) a recently immigrated Korean family. Data collection methods include participant observation; informal conversations with the participants; in-depth interviews; and on-site document analysis. Through regular and sustained interaction with participants in the three research sites over a period of three years, the findings provide insights into ways in which the participants’ attitudes toward language learning and maintenance are continuously shaped and revised based on their life circumstances. This paper describes each participant’s language attitudes as fluid entities operating on a continuum of assimilationist ideologies on the one end and pluralist ideologies on the other. Introduction This paper focuses on language ideologies of Korean immigrants and how they are related to language learning and maintenance practices. In recent decades, scholarly interest on patterns of language loss and maintenance among immigrant groups has steadily grown (e.g., Extra & Verhoeven, 1993; Ferguson & Brice-Heath, 1981; Fishman, 1989, 1991; McKay & Wong, 1998). The most commonly observed pattern in the United States is a three-generational language shift from the immigrant minority language to the dominant language of the host society (Fishman, 1991). For instance, the first generation speaks the native language, while the bilingual second generation comes between the native-language-speaking first generation and the majority-language-speaking third generation. However, language minority groups increasingly experience a complete language shift within two generations (Wiley, 2001). This shift creates problems for inter-generational communication as parents, grandparents, and children do not understand each other. Wong Fillmore argues that “in recent years, languages other than English have been placed in greater jeopardy than ever before in the United States” (2003, p. 9). The Korean language is no exception to this pattern of rapid language shift. A number of studies have documented an accelerated shift to English in Korean immigrant families (Cho & Krashen, 1998; Shin, 2005). Previous research on language use patterns of Korean immigrants shows that first-generation Korean immigrants speak almost exclusively Korean at home and at work, while most second-generation Korean Americans use mostly English (Hurh & Kim, 1984; Min, 2000). Korean Americans are among the more recent immigrant groups to enter the U.S., the majority having arrived after the passage of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965. In 2000, over one million Koreans were living in the U.S. according to the U.S. Census. Despite the number Downloaded from Brill.com10/06/2021 12:04:13PM via free access 207 Heritage Language Journal, 6(2) https://doi.org/10.46538/hlj.6.2.4 Fall, 2008 of Korean immigrants, there are still many untold stories about their lives and the process of heritage language maintenance (but see Jo, 2002; Lee, 2002; Shin, 2005). One area of interest that has received insufficient attention in considering heritage language maintenance is the concept of language ideologies (Fine & Sandstrom, 1993; Gonzáles, 2003; Lo Bianco, 2003; Silverstein, 1979). This study seeks to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between language ideologies and heritage language maintenance of Korean immigrants in the U.S. I first turn to a definition of language ideology. Language Ideology Defined Silverstein defined language ideologies as “sets of beliefs about language articulated by users as a rationalization or justification of perceived structure and use” (1979, p. 173). This definition is particularly useful for the current study in that it offers a framework for understanding the beliefs of Korean immigrant parents and children about English and Korean and how they function in their justification of the use of English and Korean in their homes. I also adopt an interactionist orientation on ideologies from a sociological framework which conceptualizes ideologies as relational and behavioral (Fine & Sandstrom 1993). Ideologies are relational in that they are not simply held by individuals, but are presented to and shared with others. Ideological beliefs guide “people’s conceptions of and actions in the social and political realm” (Fine & Sandstrom 1993, p. 24, emphasis added). In other words, people not only embrace ideologies but also act them out. Fine and Sandstrom (1993) argue that the enactment of ideologies depends on the resources available to people. Thus, to understand the relationship between heritage language maintenance and language ideology in the language education practices of Korean immigrant families, I put forth a conceptualization of language ideology as a set of justifications for using one language over others in varying circumstances. Lo Bianco (2003) argues that heritage language maintenance through inter-generational transmission of heritage languages is “clearly affected by language ideologies as they interact with the specific circumstances and prospects of HL acquisition, maintenance, and re-acquisition” (p. 4). He further urges that: We need to understand the ways in which some ideologies become hegemonic, or sustain that status, and how ideologies of language operate in specific contexts, differently or similarly for different languages. A key question concerns how language-specific ideologies, or specific linguistic cultures (Schiffman, 1996) relating to particular languages, affect practice in our schools and universities and how these in turn impact on the learning, loss, re-acquisition, literacy elaboration, or community- appropriate proficiency of HLs in mainstream institutions. (2003, p. 4) The current study addresses the following research questions: what are the language ideologies adopted by Korean immigrants? How does the enactment of these language ideologies operate in various familial and institutional settings? Downloaded from Brill.com10/06/2021 12:04:13PM via free access 208 Heritage Language Journal, 6(2) https://doi.org/10.46538/hlj.6.2.4 Fall, 2008 Research Sites and Participants The data for this study is drawn from a three-year ethnographic investigation of the relationship between language use and attitudes by Koreans in America in several institutional and familial settings. I have chosen three research sites to obtain a multi- generational view of the language ideologies circulating in the Korean American community. The first site, an undergraduate Korean language program, was selected to explore second- and 1.5- generation immigrant children’s experiences in and motivations for learning their heritage language in college. The second site, an adult ESL program, provides information on first-generation Korean immigrants’ experiences in learning English. The third site, the home of a Korean American family, offers a trans- generational look at language use and attitude in a non-institutional setting. In the following, I describe each of the three research sites in detail. First site: A Korean language program at a University I taught Korean at this site for four hours a week over three academic years (September 2000 - May 2003). The entire program served about 110 students, over 90% of whom were second- or 1.5-generation Korean Americans. Second-generation Korean Americans are defined as those who are born in the United States to first-generation Korean immigrant parents. “1.5-generation” Korean Americans were born in Korea and immigrated to the U.S. during childhood. Except for two 1.5-generation immigrants who came to the U.S. at the ages of five and six, all other participants were second-generation Korean Americans. Over the course of three years, thirty-three Korean American students participated in my interview study. In this paper, I discuss the findings from the interviews of nine of the thirty-three Korean American students who participated from this research site. Table 1 summarizes the demographic information of the ten participants, including their age at the beginning of the study, age at arrival in the U.S., and proficiency in Korean as measured by their placement in the program. In addition to formal interviews, I carried out participant observation as the instructor of the Korean language classes during the three years I taught in the program. I looked for patterns of language use and attitude and was able to obtain a fairly accurate picture of their abilities in Korean. In the third year of data collection, I conducted participant observation in an intermediate-level Korean course taught by another instructor. Five of the ten students in this class had taken my Korean classes the previous year. Table 1: Participants at the University Korean Language Program Name1 Age Age at Arrival Korean Interview Date Proficiency Korean 101 Mike 19 Born in the U.S. 3/15/2001 (2000-2001) Korean 101 Lily 19 Born in the U.S. 11/4/2000 (2000-2001) Joseph 19 Born in the U.S. Korean 101 11/6/2000 Downloaded from Brill.com10/06/2021 12:04:13PM via free access 209 Heritage Language Journal, 6(2) https://doi.org/10.46538/hlj.6.2.4 Fall, 2008 (2000-2001) Korean 101 Tom 19 Born in the U.S. 9/27/2000 (2000-2001) Korean 101 Dan 20 6 11/2/2000, 11/15/2000 (2000-2001) Korean 101 Jane 18 Born in the U.S. 11/8/2000 (2000-2001) Korean 101 Jennifer 18 Born in the U.S. 10/5/2000 (2000-2001) Korean 101 David 21 5 2/13/2002 (2001-2002) Korean 101 Edward 18 Born in the U.S. 9/19/2002 (2002-2003) Korean 202 Austin 20 Born in the U.S. 11/6/2002 (2002-2003) An interview ranging from forty-five minutes to one hour long was conducted with each participant.