Racialized English, Identity, and Education: The Case of Filipina Migrants in South Korea

• In Event: Reimagining Racialized Language and Literacy Practices and Envisioning Pedagogical Possibilities

Abstract

How do perceptions of English language and accent performance enable and constrain the social mobility and integration of Filipina marriage migrants in Korean society? This paper addresses the conspicuous dearth in scholarship engaging English, accent, and racialization within a South Korean context. In particular, this triad of variables implicates both formal and informal processes of teaching and learning including the perception of English teaching as a prestigious profession in the South Korean context. The paper also investigates how the performative quality of accented speech in English enables Filipina migrants in Korea to negotiate racialized and gendered power dynamics within families, social relationships, and workplaces as plurilinguals, as well as fashion a locally-contextualized sense of identity.

Authors

• Pauli Badenhorst, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

• MinSoo Kim-Bossard, The College of New Jersey