Parents’ Views on Bilingual and Biliteracy Development in KDLBE Programs

• In Event: From Margins to Momentum: Honoring Over 30 Years of Korean DLBE for Linguistic Justice

Abstract

With the growing interest in Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) amid the multilingual turn in education, Korean-English DLBE programs remain underexplored, particularly from parents' perspectives. While prior research largely centers on students’ cognitive development (Maillat & Serra, 2009) and administrative or student views in dominant language pairings such as Spanish-English (Lindholm-Leary, 2016), little is known about how Korean and non-Korean parents engage with and perceive Korean-English DLBE (KDLBE) programs (Author, 2018; Lee & Jeong, 2013). This study addresses that gap by examining parents’ expectations, concerns, and levels of investment in a new KDLBE program in the southeastern U.S.
Framed by Darvin & Norton’s (2015) model of investment and supported by the parental involvement framework (Fan & Chen, 2001), this qualitative study draws from interviews with 17 parents (12 kindergarten, 5 first grade). Through discourse analysis of semi-structured interviews, we identify how parents’ investments are shaped by ethnolinguistic identity, social and economic capital, and raciolinguistic ideologies (Flores & Rosa, 2015).
Two major findings emerged. First, both Korean and non-Korean parents value the program’s passionate teachers and its role in strengthening bilingual skills. They view KDLBE as a long-term investment and appreciate the bilingual progress their children have made. However, both groups desire more opportunities for cross-linguistic family engagement and greater inclusion of Korean cultural content in the curriculum.
Second, Korean and non-Korean parents differ significantly in their motivations. Korean parents emphasize emotional and cultural benefits—such as increased visibility of Korean (for both parents and children), confidence, and ethnic identity development—while expressing concerns about their children’s English proficiency. Non-Korean parents emphasize the cognitive and future career benefits of bilingualism, viewing Korean as beneficial but secondary to English in importance. Notably, they do not share Korean parents' concern over balanced proficiency between Korean and English.
This divergence reveals underlying power dynamics between English and Korean within the program. Korean parents’ satisfaction is shaped by how the program elevates their home language from a marginalized to a valued asset. At the same time, the dominant framing of English persists as the primary academic language. Some Korean parents seek private tutoring to supplement English instruction, while non-Korean families are less concerned about achieving parity in Korean proficiency.

The study highlights the need for culturally responsive, inclusive practices in DLBE programs that consider families’ diverse goals, motivations, and experiences. As the KDLBE program expands, ongoing attention to different forms of parental investment and engagement will be essential. Findings also underscore DLBE’s potential to challenge deficit ideologies about multilingual learners by affirming linguistic diversity and community belonging.

Authors

• Hakyoon Lee, Georgia State University

• Shim Lew, University of West Florida