Home “We contribute to the development of South Korea”: Bilingual womanhood and politics of bilingual policy in South Korea
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

“We contribute to the development of South Korea”: Bilingual womanhood and politics of bilingual policy in South Korea

  • Bong-Gi Sohn ORCID logo and Mia Kang ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: December 21, 2020

Abstract

Global flows of migration to South Korea bring a new challenge of how to negotiate the identities of migrants. Unlike other reported cases that reframe the value of migrants’ first language as part of contingent practices of diversity management, the South Korean government has responded to this challenge by explicitly reframing so-called damunhwa mothers (foreign women married to Korean men) as bilingual workers, imagining them as self-governed, autonomous workers whose linguistic capital can be mobilized for the betterment of South Korean society. The government’s adoption of linguistic entrepreneurship and ethnocentric nationalism becomes particularly salient in this process. This paper studies how four damunhwa mothers respond to this new bilingual worker identity as promoted in the bilingual policy texts. We examine the ways in which they negotiate their bilingual worker identities by echoing the government’s new linguistic nationalism and linguistic entrepreneurship on the one hand, and by problematizing the insecure job markets, stratified linguistic needs, lack of systematic training for bilingual instructors, and native Korean’s misunderstanding of their new roles on the other. Finally, we discuss the implications of Korea’s bilingual policy, elaborating on the significance of linguistic entrepreneurship in language policy planning and practice and calling for more reflective accounts of ecological and translingual policy implementation in Korea.


Corresponding author: Mia Kang, Elementary Education, Utah Valley University, 800 W University Parkway, MS 126, Orem, Utah, 84058-5999, USA, E-mail:

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our special thanks to Joseph Sung-Yul Park, Peter De Costa, and Lionel Wee for their commitment to this special issue, their helpful comments and dedicated feedback throughout the review process, and to anonymous reviewers for their detailed and valuable comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

References

Adib, Amel & Yvonne Guerrier. 2003. The interlocking of gender with nationality, race, ethnicity and class: The narratives of women in hotel work. Gender, Work & Organization 10(4). 413–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0432.00204.Search in Google Scholar

Ahn, Ji-Hyun. 2013. Global migration and the racial project in transition: Institutionalizing racial difference through the discourse of multiculturalism in South Korea. Journal of Multicultural Discourses 8(1). 29–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/17447143.2012.753894.Search in Google Scholar

Allan, Kori. 2013. Skilling the self: The communicability of immigrants as flexible labour. In Duchêne Alexandre, Melissa Moyer & Celia Roberts (eds.), Language, migration and social inequalities: A critical sociolinguistic perspective on institutions and work, 56–78. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781783091010-004Search in Google Scholar

Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism, 3rd edn. London: Verso.Search in Google Scholar

Bae, Ok Hyun. 2015. Woojudo yeoseong-gyeolhon-iminjaui chwieobsiltaewa yeoglyang-ganghwa [Employment status and plan for Wooju-Province immigrant women’s empowerment]. Multicultural Studies 4(1). 53–86.Search in Google Scholar

Bélanger, Danièle, Hye-Kyung Lee & Hong-Zen Wang. 2010. Ethnic diversity and statistics in East Asia: ‘Foreign brides’ surveys in Taiwan and South Korea. Ethnic and Racial Studies 33(6). 1108–1130. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870903427507.Search in Google Scholar

Blommaert, Jan. 2007. Sociolinguistic scales. Intercultural Pragmatics 4(1). 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip.2007.001.Search in Google Scholar

Braun, Virginia & Victoria Clarke. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2). 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.Search in Google Scholar

Briggs, Charles L. 2007. Anthropology, interviewing, and communicability in contemporary society. Current Anthropology 48(4). 551–580. https://doi.org/10.1086/518300.Search in Google Scholar

da Silva, Emanuel & Monica Heller. 2009. From protector to producer: The role of the State in the discursive shift from minority rights to economic development. Language Policy 8(2). 95–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-009-9127-x.Search in Google Scholar

De Costa, Peter, Joseph Sung-Yul Park & Lionel Wee. 2016. Language learning as linguistic entrepreneurship: Implications for language education. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher 25(5). 695–702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-016-0302-5.Search in Google Scholar

De Costa, Peter, Joseph Sung-Yul Park & Lionel Wee. 2019. Linguistic entrepreneurship as affective regime: Organizations, audit culture, and second/foreign language education policy. Language Policy 18(3). 387–406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-018-9492-4.Search in Google Scholar

Duchêne, Alexandre & Monica Heller. 2012. Language policy in the workplace. In Spolsky Bernard (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of language policy (Cambridge handbooks in language and linguistics), 323–334. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511979026.020Search in Google Scholar

Duchêne, Alexandre, Melissa Moyer & Celia Roberts (eds.). 2013. Language, migration and social (in) equalities: A critical sociolinguistic perspective on institutions and work. New York: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781783091010Search in Google Scholar

Fishman, Joshua A. 1972. Language and nationalism: Two integrative essays. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Search in Google Scholar

Foucault, Michel. 1990. The history of sexuality: The use of pleasure. London: Penguin.Search in Google Scholar

Green, Judith L, AudraSkukauskaite & W Douglas Baker. 2012. Ethnography as epistemology. In James Arthur, Michael Waring, Robert Coe & Larry Hedges (eds.), Research methods and methodologies in education, 309–321. London: Sage.Search in Google Scholar

Han, Eun-Jeong & Paula Groves Price. 2015. Uncovering the hidden power of language: Critical race theory, critical language socialization and multicultural families in Korea. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 44(2). 108–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2015.1028427.Search in Google Scholar

Hassemer, Jonas. 2020. The value(s) of volunteering: Asylum seekers’ trajectories through language work in refugee assistance. International Journal of Multilingualism 17(1). 46–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2020.1682252.Search in Google Scholar

Hobsbawm, Eric J. 1990. Nations and nationalism since 1780: Programme, myth, reality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Holstein, James A. & Jaber F. Gubrium. 2004. The active interview. In David Silverman (ed.), Qualitative research: Theory, method, and practice, 140–161. London: Sage.10.4135/9781412986120Search in Google Scholar

Holstein, James A. & Jaber F. Gubrium (eds.). 2008. Handbook of constructionist research. New York: Guilford Press.Search in Google Scholar

Jung, Haesuk, Iseon Kim, Taekmyeon Lee, Gyeonghui Ma, Yunjeong Choi, Geonpyo Park, Jeyeon Dong, Jeongmi Hwang & Euna Lee. 2016. 2015 nyeon jeongug damunhwagajog siltaejosa yeongu [A national survey on the status of multicultural families in South Korea in 2015]. Seoul, South Korea: Ministry of the Gender Equality and Family.Search in Google Scholar

Kang, Mi Ok. 2015. Multicultural education in South Korea: Language, ideology, and culture in Korean language arts education. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9781315814179Search in Google Scholar

Kang, Mi Ok, Jeong-Ae Lee & Eun-Kyung Choi. 2019. Beteunam gyeolhon ijuyeoseong-ui jeongcheseong, jabon, ideollogi [Vietnamese marriage migrants’ identity, capital, and ideology]. Multiculture & Peace 13(2). 107–125.Search in Google Scholar

Kang, Mi Ok & Bong-Gi Sohn. 2016. Language ideology of bilingual education policies for ethno-linguistic minorities in South Korea. Journal of Educational Administration and Policy 1(1). 67–80.10.22553/keas.2016.1.1.67Search in Google Scholar

Kim, So Hee & Bae Jin. 2019. Gyeolhon-ijuyeoseong-ui sangjingjabongwa gubyeoljisgie gwanhan jiljeog-yeongu [A Qualitative study of symbolic capital and distinction-making among marriage migrant women in Korea]. Crisisonomy 15(4 Suppl). 95–112. https://doi.org/10.14251/crisisonomy.2019.15.4.95.Search in Google Scholar

Korea Immigration Service. 2020. 2019 nyeondo chulibgug tonggyeyeonbo [2019 yearbook for immigration statistics]. Seoul, South Korea: Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice.Search in Google Scholar

Kraft, Kamilla. 2020. Trajectory of a language broker: Between privilege and precarity. International Journal of Multilingualism 17(1). 80–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2020.1682256.Search in Google Scholar

Kubota, Ryuko. 2016. The multi/plural turn, postcolonial theory, and neoliberal multiculturalism: Complicities and implications for applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics 37(4). 474–494. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amu045.Search in Google Scholar

Lan, Pei-Chia. 2003. “They have more money but I speak better English!” Transnational encounters between Filipina domestics and taiwanese employers. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power 10(2). 133–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/10702890304325.Search in Google Scholar

Lee, Y. S., S. Bae Park, H. Chang & S. Cha. 2013. 2013 nyeon Woojudo Damunhwagajog Siltaejosa Yeongu [2013 Wooju-do multicultural family survey]. Jina City, Wooju Province, South Korea: Wooju Provincial Women’s Policy Development Institute.Search in Google Scholar

Lee, Euna, Seung-kyung Kim & Jae Kyung Lee. 2015. Precarious motherhood: Lives of Southeast Asian marriage migrant women in Korea. Asian Journal of Women’s Studies 21(4). 409–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2015.1106856.Search in Google Scholar

Lo Bianco, Joseph. 2004. Language planning as applied linguistics. In Alan Davies & Catherine Elder (eds.), The handbook of applied linguistics, 738–762. Malden, MA: Blackwell.10.1002/9780470757000.ch30Search in Google Scholar

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. 2012. Je2cha damunhwagajokjeongchaekgibongyehoek (2013–2017) [The second multicultural family policy plan (2013–2017)]. Seoul, Korea: Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.Search in Google Scholar

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. 2013. Damunhwagajogjiwonsenteo tongbeon-yeogjeondam-inlyeog mich ijung-eon-eogangsa baechihyeonhwang [A report on bilingual translation, interpretation staff, and bilingual instructors in the Multicultural Family Support Centers]. excel. Seoul, South Korea: Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.Search in Google Scholar

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. 2018. Jae3cha damunhwagajok jeongchaek gibon gaehwik (2018–2022) [The third multicultural family policy plan (2018–2022)]. Seoul, Korea: Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.Search in Google Scholar

Ministry of the Interior and Safety. 2013. 2013 jibangjachidanche oegug-injumin hyeonhwang [2013 Status of foreign residents in regional governments]. Seoul, South Korea: Ministry of the Interior.Search in Google Scholar

Oh, Kyoung Hee. 2014. Tjungguk joseonjokt iju damnone natanan diaseuporaui samgwa jeongcheseong [Life and identity of diaspora appeared in discourses of Korean Chinese (Joseonjok)’s immigration]. The Journal of Multicultural Society 7(1). 35–61. https://doi.org/10.15685/jms.2014.02.7.1.35.Search in Google Scholar

Paik, Young-Gyung. 2011. “Not quite Korean” children in “almost Korean” families: The fear of decreasing population and state multiculturalism. In Jesook Song (ed.), New millennium South Korea: Neoliberal capitalism and transnational movements, 130–141. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203843895Search in Google Scholar

Park, Joseph Sung-Yul. 2013. Metadiscursive regimes of diversity in a multinational corporation. Language in Society 42(5). 557–577. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404513000663.Search in Google Scholar

Park, Joseph Sung-Yul. 2014. “You say ouch and I say aya”: Linguistic insecurity in a narrative of transnational work. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 24(2). 241–260. https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.24.2.05par.Search in Google Scholar

Park, Mi Yung. 2019. Challenges of maintaining the mother’s language: Marriage-migrants and their mixed-heritage children in South Korea. Language and Education 33(5). 431–444. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2019.1582662.Search in Google Scholar

Park, Joseph Sung-Yul & Lionel Wee. 2017. Nation-state, transnationalism, and language. In Suresh Canagarajah (ed.), The Routledge handbook of migration and language, 47–62. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9781315754512-3Search in Google Scholar

Petrovic, John E. 2005. The conservative restoration and neoliberal defenses of bilingual education. Language Policy 4(4). 395–416. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-005-2888-y.Search in Google Scholar

Pillar, Ingrid & Kimie Takahashi. 2010. At the intersection of gender, language, and transnationalism. In Nikolas Coupland (ed.), The handbook of language and globalization, 540–554. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.10.1002/9781444324068.ch24Search in Google Scholar

Ricento, Thomas. 2005. Problems with the ‘language-as-resource’ discourse in the promotion of heritage languages in the U.S.A. Journal of Sociolinguistics 9(3). 348–368. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-6441.2005.00296.x.Search in Google Scholar

Seol, Dong-Hoon, Hye-kyung Lee & Sung-Nam Cho. 2006. Gyeolhon-iminja gajogsiltaejosa mich jungjang-gi jiwonjeongchaegbang-an yeongu [Marriage-based immigrants and their families in Korea: Current status and policy measures]. Seoul, Korea: Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.Search in Google Scholar

Sohn, Bong-Gi. 2018. From language learners to bilingual providers: Second language socialization of bilingual mothers in South Korea, doctoral dissertation. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia.Search in Google Scholar

Strauss, Anselm & Juliet Corbin. 1990. Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Search in Google Scholar

Talmy, Steven. 2010. Qualitative interviews in applied linguistics: From research instrument to social practice. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 30(1). 128–148. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0267190510000085.Search in Google Scholar

Wright, Sue. 2004. Language policy and language planning: From nationalism to globalisation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9780230597037Search in Google Scholar

Yim, Sungwon. 2007. Globalization and language policy in South Korea. In Amy B. M. Tsui & James W. Tollefson (eds.), Language policy, culture, and identity in Asian contexts, 37–53. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.10.4324/9781315092034-3Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2020-02-27
Accepted: 2020-12-07
Published Online: 2020-12-21
Published in Print: 2021-03-26

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 22.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/multi-2020-0034/html
Scroll to top button