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Migrant mothers’ heritage language education in South Korea: complex and agentive navigation of capital and language ideologies

  • Shim Lew EMAIL logo and Jayoung Choi
Published/Copyright: June 16, 2022
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Applied Linguistics Review
From the journal Applied Linguistics Review Volume 14 Issue 6

Abstract

Heritage language (HL) learning has been known as essential to transmission of cultural values, familial and social bonds, and children’s potential academic and professional advancement. Nevertheless, social pressures of linguistic assimilation have made HL education difficult for many migrant families across the globe. HL transmission to younger generations is particularly challenging in damunhwa [multiculture] families in South Korea since the ethnolinguistic minority women from developing countries are pressured to acquire Korean rapidly and use Korean only with their children for faster integration to the mainstream society and to avoid discrimination in this traditionally homogenous country. Our qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews of 9 migrant mothers with various geographical, socioeconomic, and education backgrounds reveals that they exerted their agency in navigating and negotiating their available capital and the constraining language ideologies to promote HL education for their children in Korean-only spaces. Our analysis also depicts the diversity and complexity in the manifestations of the migrant women’s maneuvers for HL education within their specific circumstances with multiple intersecting factors. Our findings will contribute to wider HL education research and practices as we strive to make fertile ground for HL education for all migrant families and children around the globe, especially for those who speak socially stigmatized languages.

Keywords: agency; heritage language; South Korea; language ideologies; migrant mothers; transnationalism
Corresponding author: Shim Lew, School of Education, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida, USA, E-mail:

Appendix A. Participant profile

ID Country of origin/first and other languages Age Years of living in Korea Reason for immigration Education Current job SES Spouse’s residence in participant’s home country/proficiency in wife’s language Age (gender) of participant’s children Interview location Interview duration
M1 China/Chinese, English 37 12 Work Bachelor’s in China Bilingual coach Lower middle N/N 9 (F) Multicultural center 70 min
5 (M)
M2 Vietnam/Vietnamese 36 10 Marriage Bachelor’s in Vietnam Bilingual coach Upper middle Y/Y 9 (F) Multicultural center 102 min
Bachelor’s in Korea 6 (M)
M3 China/Chinese 41 16 Marriage High school Multicultural instructor Lower middle Y/N 14 (M) Multicultural center 65 min
10 (F)
M4 Honduras/Spanish, English 37 Over 10 Marriage College dropout Multicultural instructor Upper middle Y/Y 1 (F)  Multicultural center 60 min
7 (F) 
5 (F)
M5 Cambodia/Khmer, English 34 12 Marriage* High school Multicultural instructor Lower middle N/N 12 (F) Multicultural center 75 min
7 (F)
M6 Mongolia/Mongolian 47 Over 15 Marriage* Bachelor’s in Mongolia None Lower middle N/N 15 (F) M3’s home (with her son) 46 min
13 (M)
M7 Vietnam/Vietnamese, English 42 13 Marriage Bachelor’s in Vietnam University staff Upper middle Y/Y 10 (M) M5’s work place 32 min
Master’s in Korea 7 (F)
M8 Nepal/Nepali, English 33 11 Work High school None Upper middle N/N 9 (M) Coffee shop 120 min
6 (M)
M9 Hong Kong/Chinese, Cantonese, English 35 7 Marriage Master’s in Hong Kong None Upper middle Y/N 6 (M) Via phone 47 min

  1. *M5 and M6 married their Korean spouse through an agency. All others that came to Korea through marriage or work did not go through this route.

Appendix B. Interview questions translated in English

Questions: Regarding Bio/Background

  1. How old are you?

  2. Where is your hometown?

  3. What language is your native language? Do you speak language(s) other than your native language and Korean?

  4. What is your final degree?

  5. What do you do for a living?

  6. How long have you been living in Korea?

  7. How old are your children?

Questions Regarding Raising Children at Multicultural and Multilingual Home:

  1. Please tell me about how you immigrated to Korea.

  2. Please describe your life as a migrant in Korea (benefits, challenges, something you had never expected, etc.).

  3. Please explain the support for multicultural households from schools, communities, and the government, how you think of them, what other supports you suggest, etc.

  4. Please describe what you think is important while raising children from a multicultural background in Korea.

  5. Please tell me how you teach Korean language and Korean culture at home.

  6. Please tell me how you teach parents’ language and culture at home.

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Published Online: 2022-06-16
Published in Print: 2023-11-27

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Special Issue 1: EMI in Chinese higher education; Guest Editor: McKinley, Rose and Curdt-Christiansen
  3. Editorial
  4. EMI in Chinese higher education: the Muddy water of ‘Englishisation’
  5. Review Article
  6. English medium of instruction in Chinese higher education: a systematic mapping review of empirical research
  7. Research Articles
  8. How to kill two birds with one stone: EMI teachers’ needs in higher education in China
  9. The incentivisation of English medium instruction in Chinese universities: policy misfires and misalignments
  10. Motivations to enrol in EMI programmes in China: an exploratory study
  11. A translanguaging and trans-semiotizing perspective on subject teachers’ linguistic and pedagogical practices in EMI programme
  12. Commentary
  13. English as a medium of instruction in Chinese higher education: looking back and looking forward
  14. Special Issue 2: The dynamics of Korean transnational families, language practices, and social belongings; Guest Editor: Hakyoon Lee
  15. Editorial
  16. Editorial: The dynamics of Korean transnational families, language practices, and social belongings
  17. Articles
  18. National belonging and citizenship in an era of globalization and transnational migration: Korean migrant youth in the United States
  19. Korean immigrant teenagers’ literacy practices and identity negotiation through smartphone use
  20. Language and identity of a Korean transnational youth in the U.S.
  21. Adolescent Korean returnees’ perceptions of the change of language learning contexts as bilingual learners
  22. From trilingualism to triliteracy: a trilingual child learning to write simultaneously in Korean, Farsi, and English
  23. Migrant mothers’ heritage language education in South Korea: complex and agentive navigation of capital and language ideologies
  24. Designing new Korean mothers, daughters-in-law, and wives: an analysis of Korean textbooks for newly arrived marriage migrants in South Korea
https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2022-2014
Keywords for this article
agency; heritage language; South Korea; language ideologies; migrant mothers; transnationalism

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Special Issue 1: EMI in Chinese higher education; Guest Editor: McKinley, Rose and Curdt-Christiansen
  3. Editorial
  4. EMI in Chinese higher education: the Muddy water of ‘Englishisation’
  5. Review Article
  6. English medium of instruction in Chinese higher education: a systematic mapping review of empirical research
  7. Research Articles
  8. How to kill two birds with one stone: EMI teachers’ needs in higher education in China
  9. The incentivisation of English medium instruction in Chinese universities: policy misfires and misalignments
  10. Motivations to enrol in EMI programmes in China: an exploratory study
  11. A translanguaging and trans-semiotizing perspective on subject teachers’ linguistic and pedagogical practices in EMI programme
  12. Commentary
  13. English as a medium of instruction in Chinese higher education: looking back and looking forward
  14. Special Issue 2: The dynamics of Korean transnational families, language practices, and social belongings; Guest Editor: Hakyoon Lee
  15. Editorial
  16. Editorial: The dynamics of Korean transnational families, language practices, and social belongings
  17. Articles
  18. National belonging and citizenship in an era of globalization and transnational migration: Korean migrant youth in the United States
  19. Korean immigrant teenagers’ literacy practices and identity negotiation through smartphone use
  20. Language and identity of a Korean transnational youth in the U.S.
  21. Adolescent Korean returnees’ perceptions of the change of language learning contexts as bilingual learners
  22. From trilingualism to triliteracy: a trilingual child learning to write simultaneously in Korean, Farsi, and English
  23. Migrant mothers’ heritage language education in South Korea: complex and agentive navigation of capital and language ideologies
  24. Designing new Korean mothers, daughters-in-law, and wives: an analysis of Korean textbooks for newly arrived marriage migrants in South Korea
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