Korean Parents' Ideological Stance-Taking on Bilingualism and Biliteracy

• In Event: Literacy, Positioning, and Agency: Multiple Perspectives From Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners and Families

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine Korean speaking families’ ideological positioning in relation to their children’s bilingualism and biliteracy. Conceptually, this study was grounded on three lines of literature: (a) interconnections between macro- and micro- language ideologies (van Dijk, 2006; Woolard & Schieffelin 1994); (b) Korean immigrants’ language ideologies, and (c) stance-taking (Du Bois, 2007). First, language ideologies are beliefs and theorization of language reflected in public discourses. Macro-level discourses about languages permeated individuals’ everyday lives and discourses, impacting individuals’ perspectives of languages. Secondly, transnational Korean families’ views of languages are influenced and (re)shaped by various sociocultural factors as they participate in various social domains in which various views of language are shared and contested (Jeon, 2007). Parents and children develop conflicting views about children’s bilingualism and maintaining their heritage language in a society in which monolingual language ideology is dominant (Karrebaek, 2013; Jeon, 2008). Finally, macro-level language ideologies influence individuals’ positioning in their social worlds. Through discourses, individuals express their stances. Du Bois (2007) suggested that there are three stances: Affective positioning, epistemic positioning, and aligning. Therefore, in discourses, the object of stance-taking, and results of stance-taking are reflected. In examining Korean families’ language ideology, stance-taking theory will provide a construct of how individuals appropriate macro discourses on languages and take different stances to make sense of their linguistic experiences.

Participants of this study included four focal children and their parents who lived in the U.S.A. Data collection included interviews with the parents, and participant observations with video recordings at each child’s home over four staggered months, informal interviews with participants. Data sources included reflective field notes and transcripts of the interviews and families’ conversations. Data analysis employed Critical Discourse Analysis (van Dijk, 1993, 2006) with the theory of stance taking (du Bois, 2007) were used as analytic tools to examine parents’ stances reflected in their interviews.

Findings suggested that the parents had conflicting and complex stances toward their children’s bilingualism and biliteracy as they drew upon public discourses on language learning and beliefs derived from their experiences. They took a stance to support and encourage their children’s learning to speak in Korean. This stance seemed to stem from the ideology that learning heritage language could contribute to developing children’s ethnic identity as Koreans. However, this stance was sometimes at risk as parents were highly concerned that their children’s academic growth would be adversely influenced by their uses of Korean at home. This particular stance seemed to be influenced by the public discourses that devalue bilingualism but emphasizes English as a major and global language. This study has scholarly significance in the following ways. First, it can shed light on Korean families’ perspectives of language uses and their children’s bilingualism and biliteracy. This study can also contribute to the literature as it provides additional theoretical and analytical lenses to examine multilingual and multicultural families’ perspectives.

Authors

• Kwangok Song, Arkansas State University

• Hwewon Kim, Seoul Theology University