Immigrant Children‟S Academic Development in Majority School Settings and Facilitating Their Socio-Economic Integration Into the Wider Society Of
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Korean Canadian Students‟ HL & Identity Maintenance 1 The linguistic and cultural influence of Korean ethnic churches on heritage language and identity maintenance among Korean Canadian students in Quebec by Seong Man Park Department of Integrated Studies in Education Faculty of Education McGill University, Montreal September 2009 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Seong Man Park 2009 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l’édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-66529-9 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-66529-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l’Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L’auteur conserve la propriété du droit d’auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author’s permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n’y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Korean Canadian Students‟ HL & Identity Maintenance 2 Abstract In this qualitative study, I explore the linguistic and cultural influence of Korean ethnic churches on Korean Canadian students‟ heritage language and cultural identity maintenance in Montreal. Despite the extensive involvement of Korean immigrants in ethnic churches, very little is known about the linguistic and cultural role of these churches for adult Korean immigrants, let alone for their younger generations who grow up in Canada. Therefore, my research questions focus on how Korean ethnic churches support heritage language and cultural identity maintenance for the younger generations of Korean immigrant families in the Montreal context. I employed an ethnographic and qualitative approach and elicited data from qualitative interviews, participant observation, and group discussions. Data collection took place over a four month period from January through April, 2008. The participants (n=37 in total) were Korean Canadian students who live in Montreal and attend a Korean ethnic church (n=15), their parents (n=10), heritage language and Bible study teachers (n=4), and pastors of the church and of other Korean ethnic churches in the city (n=4). Another group of Korean Canadian students who were not members of a Korean ethnic church was also included (n=4). The results of the study show that Korean ethnic churches in Montreal do indeed play important roles for the maintenance of the HL and cultural identity for the younger generations of Korean immigrant families as major ethnic community institutions. Thus, the Korean ethnic churches are found to have roles far beyond their original religious role. The findings of this study suggest that all the members of the Korean ethnic churches should be more aware of their responsibility for upholding the linguistic and cultural role of the Korean ethnic churches. In addition, all the members of the Korean ethnic churches should make Korean Canadian Students‟ HL & Identity Maintenance 3 better use of current institutional resources such as the use of heritage language within the institution, the Korean cultural environment, and interactions with other Koreans in the HL in Korean ethnic churches for Korean Canadian students‟ HL and cultural identity maintenance because this institutional infrastructure is already in place and would not need to be re-created. Korean Canadian Students‟ HL & Identity Maintenance 4 Résumé Dans cette étude qualitative, j‟explore l‟influence linguistique et culturelle des églises ethniques coréennes sur le maintien de la langue d‟origine et de l‟identité culturelle chez des étudiants canadiens d‟origine coréenne à Montréal. Malgré l‟implication importante d‟immigrants coréens dans les églises ethniques, on en sait très peu au sujet du rôle linguistique et culturel de ces églises pour les immigrants coréens d‟âge adulte, sans parler de leur rôle pour la nouvelle generation qui grandit au Canada. Par conséquent, mes questions de recherche se concentrent sur comment les églises ethniques coréennes supportent le maintien de la langue d‟origine et de l‟identité culturelle pour la nouvelle génération de familles immigrantes coréennes dans le contexte montréalais. A partir d‟une approche ethnographique et qualitative, j‟ai obtenu des données à partir d‟entrevues qualitatives, d‟observation participatoire et de discussions de groupe. La collecte de données se fit au cours d‟une période de quatre mois entre janvier et avril, 2008. Les participants (n=37 au total) étaient des étudiants canadiens d‟origine coréenne qui habitent Montréal et qui fréquentent une église ethnique coréenne (n=15), leurs parents (n=10), des enseignants de la langue d‟origine et d‟études bibliques (n=4), et des pasteurs de cette église ainsi que d‟autres églises ethniques coréennes à Montréal (n=4). Un autre groupe d‟étudiants canadiens d‟origine coréenne qui ne sont pas membres d‟une église ethnique coréenne fut aussi inclus (n=4). Les résultats de l‟étude démontrent que les églises ethniques coréennes jouent en effet des rôles importants pour le maintien de la langue d‟origine et de l‟identité culturelle pour la nouvelle génération de familles immigrantes coréennes en tant qu‟institutions communautaires principales. Alors, nous voyons que les églises ethniques coréennes ont des rôles qui surpassent largement Korean Canadian Students‟ HL & Identity Maintenance 5 leur rôle religieux originel. Les résultats de cette étude suggèrent que tous les membres des églises ethniques coréennes devraient être plus conscients de leur responsabilité quant à l‟entretien du rôle culturel et linguistique des églises ethniques coréennes. De plus, dans le but d‟appuyer le maintien de la langue d‟origine et de l‟identité culturelle chez les étudiants canadiens d‟origine coréenne, tous les membres des églises ethniques coréennes devraient faire un meilleur usage des ressources institutionnelles existantes, telles l‟usage habituel de la langue d‟origine au sein de l‟institution, l‟environnement culturel coréen et les intéractions avec d‟autres Coréens en langue d‟origine, car que cette infrastructure est déjà bel et bien en place et n‟aurait pas besoin d‟être recréée. Korean Canadian Students‟ HL & Identity Maintenance 6 Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank all the participants in my study. I am very grateful to them for sharing their experiences and perspectives. I also would like to thank the pastor of the HOPE church for his willingness to allow me to use his church as the primary research site. This study could not have been completed without the generous and great support of my supervisor, Dr. Mela Sarkar. Throughout my doctoral studies, she guided me to complete this study with her expertise, constant support, firm belief in me, generosity, and encouragement. It was my great honor to have her as my supervisor. I would also like to thank my committee, Dr. Lise Winer and Dr. Elizabeth Gatbonton, for their critical insights along with their encouragement and their respective expertises that have helped this dissertation take the shape it has. I am really grateful for their thoughtful feedback and suggestions on my thesis. In particular, I would like to thank them for their hard work and sincere care for the completion of this study. I am also grateful to my colleague, Alison Crump, in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University for her insights and great editing support throughout my dissertation writing process. I would also like to thank the Korean Honor Scholarship and The Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture for their financial support for this study. I especially would like to give my special thanks to my wife, Si Yeon Kim, for her support and encouragement along with her firm belief in me. Without her incredible support, I could not have completed this study. I would also like to thank my two children, Korean Canadian Students‟ HL & Identity Maintenance 7 Hee Su and Jun Su, for understanding my busy schedule. I would also like to thank my parents for their continuous encouragement. Finally, I would like