Biracial Identity Development: Narratives of Biracial Korean American University Students in Heritage Language Classes Hyein Amber Kim A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2016 Reading Committee: Dr. James A. Banks, Chair Dr. Joy Ann Williamson-Lott Dr. Manka Varghese Program Authorized to Offer Degree: College of Education © Copyright 2016 Hyein Amber Kim University of Washington Abstract Biracial Identity Development and Heritage Language Learning: A Case of Biracial Korean American University Students Hyein Amber Kim Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Dr. James A. Banks College of Education Despite the increasing biracial and multiracial population in the United States, there are few studies on the identity development of people with racially mixed backgrounds. This study examines eleven biracial Korean American university students using participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. In particular, it focuses on how biracial Korean Americans construct and engage with their identities, the factors that influence this process, and how Korean heritage language on the higher education level play a role in identity development. The narratives of biracial Korean American university students illustrates the intersection where biracial and multiracial identities are situated, describe how individuals navigate two or more cultures in which race and language are viewed differently, challenge the existing categories of heritage language, and shed light on identity development in the higher education context. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PhinisheD. Finally. Four years ago when I first started the PhD program at the University of Washington, I didn’t imagine I’d “phinish” my degree this soon. Throughout the four years I’ve been in school, there have been various events in my personal life that discouraged me to continue and persevere. I am grateful to God, for leading me to and through this long and trudging (but rewarding!) PhD journey. His grace, providence, and presence has helped me every step of the way. I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my dissertation committee members Dr. James A. Banks, Dr. Manka Varghese, Dr. Joy Ann Williamson-Lott, and Dr. Soohee Kim. It has been a true honor and privilege to work with all of you, and your encouragement, guidance, and patience made it possible for me to complete this work. Dr. James Banks, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you. You have been the most generous, supportive, and warm-hearted advisor. To this day, I remember how excited and thrilled I was when I received my acceptance letter from the University of Washington and found out you were my advisor. I am honored to have translated one of your books, and I hope there will be more to come! Dr. Manka Varghese, your care, calmness, and encouragement truly helped me through the tough times. Your classes and the independent studies we worked on together also helped me cultivate my knowledge in language learning and identity. I appreciate your being there for me and for always willing to lend a helping hand. Dr. Joy Ann Williamson-Lott, I will always remember how generous and warm you were in letting me take your class after going through a horrible learning experience at a different department. Your class and seminars have challenged me to reflect on my role and moral responsibility as a teacher and educator, and helped me learn about social justice in education. I admire your passion for teaching and continuous efforts for mentoring educators. Dr. Soohee Kim, your passion in teaching and care for students truly inspired me as an educator. I am grateful for your generosity, care, and tremendous support for me through this process. I feel blessed that you are on my committee and thank you deeply for serving as my GSR. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Michael Knapp. Without your insightful advice and continuous encouragement throughout my third year, I would not have been able to conceptualize and design my dissertation, let alone pursue my doctorate. Thank you so much for patiently guiding and supporting me. This dissertation could not have been accomplished without the twelve individuals who volunteered to be part of my study. I am grateful for the invaluable stories and life experiences they shared with me, and the precious time they were willing to sacrifice. I would like to express my gratitude to my family. I thank my father, who has loved and cared for me, and has rooted me to the very end of this journey. I also want to thank my sister, Rachel and my brother, Joseph, for being loyal cheerleaders and sources of comfort throughout this process. You two sweeties always bring joy and happiness to my heart. Last, but most definitely not least, a huge shout out to my dear mom – Mom of the Year(s), my best buddy, and superwoman – who has inspired and encouraged me to come this far. I wouldn’t be here without your prayers, support, and love. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES…..……………………………………………………………………………,1 LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………………….2 CHAPTER 1: THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK…………3 The Research Problem…...……………………………………...…………………….…..3 Conceptual Framework………………………………………………………...................7 Framing the Problem…..…………………………………………………………………..8 Biracial Identity Development………………………………………………….....8 Racial identity development models……………………………………..10 Ecology models of identity development of mixed race individuals…….12 Factors influencing racial identity of multiracial individuals……………17 The higher education setting and biracial identity development……………………………………………………………...20 Sense of belonging and identity in higher education……………………………...………………………………….22 Ethnic Identity and Heritage Language Learning………………………………..24 Heritage language: A working definition………………………………..25 The importance of Korean heritage language in Korean ethnic identity…………………………………………………………...30 The role of Korean immigrant churches in Korean heritage language learning and Korean ethnic identity…………………...32 Korean American Racial Identity………………………………………………..34 Asian American racial identity…………………………………………..35 The Korean racial identity (How Koreans view race)…………………...38 Colorism in relation to Korean racial identity…………………………...42 CHAPTER 2: DESIGN AND METHODS……………………………………………………...45 Narrative Methodology…………………………………………………………………..45 Research Strategy: Settings, Participants and Other Sampling Decisions…………….....50 Data Sources and Data Collection……………………………………………………….55 Approach to Analyzing the Data…………………………………………………………57 Design Limitations and Related Issues Concerning Data………………………………..61 CHAPTER 3: UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND THE COMMUNITY…………………………………………………………………………………..65 Demographic Data...…………………………………………………………………….65 Seven Dominant Themes………………………………………………………………..66 Theme 1: Family Matters….…………………………………………………………….68 Korean mother…..……………………………………………………………….68 Typical Korean mother: “She raised me in a Korean way”..........71 Atypical Korean mother: “She’s not a typical Korean mom…….74 Korean mothers: A bridge between generations…………………75 Korean father…………………………………………………………………….75 Non-Korean parent………………………………………………………………76 Relationship between parents....…………………………………………………79 Relationship with siblings………………………………….…………………….82 Relationship with extended family………………………………………………83 Summary…………………………………………………………………………85 Theme 2: Whose Crew are You?....……………………………………………………...86 White friends…………………………………………………………………….87 Non-White friends……………………………………………………………….87 Biracial friends…………………………………………………………………...88 Korean friends: Korean-Korean and Korean American…………………………89 Summary…………………………………………………………………………91 Theme 3: Discovering and Belonging in the Korean Community…..…………………..92 Inclusion/Exclusion in Korean American communities.………………………...93 The Korean immigrant churches…………………………………………………95 Summary…………………………………………………………………………98 CHAPTER 4: LOOKS, LANGUAGE, THE UNIVERSITY, AND CHANGING IDENTITIES................................................................................................................................101 Theme 4: Looking the Part to Feel the Part….…………………………………………101 Racially ambiguous appearances……………………………………………….101 Looking ‘plain Asian’: Appearing to be monoracial…………………………...105 Physical appearance as form of Korean racial authentication…………………106 Summary………………………………………………………………………..107 Theme 5: Korean Heritage Language is a “Door to a Whole ‘nother World”….……...108 Motivations to learn Korean.…………………………………………………...108 Connecting with family…………………………………………………108 Constructing Korean identity…………………………………………...109 Claiming legitimacy in the Korean community………………………...111 Reasons for learning Korean at the university………………………………….111 Lack of Korean language education in the public school setting………111 Not-so-helpful Korean language heritage schools……………………...113 Experiences of Korean heritage language learning at the university…………...115 Korean heritage language acquisition, maintenance, and development..............118 Summary………………………………………………………………………..121 Theme 6: The University as an Important Time and Space for Identity Exploration…..122 Prior to entering the university………………………………………………....122 At the university………………………………………………………………...124 Summary………………………………………………………………………..125 Theme 7: Identities are Fluid and Context-dependent…..……………………………..129 Physical space and identities…..……………………………………………….129