The affect, digital storytelling project, and language practice of Korean heritage language learners

• In Event: AERA Research in Progress Roundtable Session Five
  In Invited Roundtable: Research-in-Progress RT062 (Sunday)

Abstract

This study examines how affect circulates in a Korean heritage language classroom through a digital storytelling project. While prior research has emphasized DST’s impact on identity and language development, this study focuses on students’ affective engagement. Drawing on Ahmed’s (2004) concept of affective economy and new materialist theory, it analyzes how affect traverses between students, teachers, and materials. While not all data is collected by the time of submission, data from a 15-week classroom with four teenage learners will show that affect intensifies when students select meaningful topics and use multimodal tools to express themselves. The circulation of affect is expected to extend beyond the classroom, reshaping family and school language ideologies and challenging monolingual, logo-centric assumptions about language learning.

Author

• HyeEun Jung, Pennsylvania State University