English Imperialism, K-Learners, and Digital Spaces: Investigating Language Education Discourses in South Korea

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Language Ideologies and Identity Within and Beyond Digital Landscapes

Proposal

This exploratory study examines the relational discourse between English and Korean foreign language education approaches in the context of South Korea. While the necessity of English proficiency for socioeconomic mobility has ushered the investment of English language education globally, the rise of the cultural Korean (Hallyu) Wave through digital media has prompted a substantial increase in Korean language learners. This research considers how English imperialism and the rapid global expansion of Korean language education potentially interact, influence, and/or contradict each other within a shared space, influenced by structural hierarchies, developed through digital landscapes, and emulated through embodied actions.

Rooted in colonial and neoliberal processes, English language maintains a position of dominance worldwide. Yet, Korean’s recent popularity provides an opportunity to explore how this phenomenon interacts with power structures and ultimately shapes South Korea’s positioning on the international sphere. Furthermore, with the Korean (Hallyu) Wave primarily existing with social media and online communities, this research investigates how digital space can shape trends in language education. Under this framework, through anticipated interviews with Korean Learners of English (KLE) and Foreign Learners of Korean (FLK), this study is guided by the following inquiries:

How is South Korean cultural identity, materiality, and capital influenced by English and Korean language learning motivation and initiatives?

How does digital space become a platform for these emerging trends in language learning motivation and initiatives?

Representing colonial and neoliberal processes, the necessity of English proficiency for socioeconomic mobility has ushered the allocation of significant resources into English language learning initiatives. In South Korea, an estimated 15 trillion won ($15.8 billion) is spent yearly financing English-related activities (Chun & Choi as cited in Cho, 2015, p. 688). Additionally, the privileging of a racialized native speaker variant has resulted in a robust Native English Speaking Teacher (NEST) industry . With value asserted in inherent criteria over technical expertise, public and private resources have been able to fund approximately 14,000 NESTs this past year (Ahn, 2019; Choi, 2022; Rudolph, 2019; South Korea, 2023).

The pressure to obtain English proficiency and the elevation of native speakerism is reflected in embodied discourses that spurs what Park defines as junuk, the “debilitating insecurity” faced by Koreans regarding English, and yeongeo yeolpung “English fever” associating proficiency with opportunities for career advancement and global market competitiveness. (Park, 2022b, P. 3; Choi, 2022; Ahn, 2019). The phenomena of junuk and yeongeo yeolpung reflect how English education reaffirms colonial legacies of racial hierarchies and promotes a neoliberal interpretation that not only affirms the personal value attached to competency, but the role it plays in resource allocation and distribution.

It is essential to acknowledge the structural dominance that English language has worldwide. However, due to the recent Korean (Hallyu) Wave, the emerging interest in Korean popular culture has prompted a rapid growth in Korean language learners. It is estimated that the Korean (Hallyu) Wave has an asset of $83.2 billion, reflecting its impact on not only exposure, but capital gain (Leong, 2014 as cited in Samosir & Lee, 2023). This cultural phenomenon has resulted in an increased interest in Korean language learning. As reported by the Modern Language Association, between 2009-2016, U.S. college students enrolled in Korean language courses increased by 78% (Ahn, 2022). Similarly, the learning app, Duolingo, reported Korean as the seventh most studied language overall, and the second most studied Asian language (noting that Korean ranked especially high within South and Southeast Asia) (Yeung, 2023).

Previous studies have investigated the motivations and impacts of this emerging popularity. Compared to the rhetoric of necessity with English language education, Takeda’s study on Japanese students in South Korea and Lee’s study of Chinese students both illustrate Korean as an “romanticized choice” where perceptions of the idealized Korean imaginary is cultivated through the digitized Korean (Hallyu) Wave (Takeda, 2020 & Lee, 2013). Yet, despite potentially being rooted in glamourized interests, the South Korean government has capitalized on this influx regardless. For instance, addressing the declining birth rate, they have expanded Korean language education initiatives to recruit more international students to address shrinking domestic enrollment and gaps in high-demand industries (Jun, 2024 and Park, 2024).

Because this study seeks to investigate the relational discourse between English and Korean language education, Korean Learners of English (KLE) and Foreign Learners of Korean (FLK) have been identified as collaborators. Due to their experience with English language pressures and their embodiment of Korean cultural representation, KLEs could provide perspectives on English language dominance in South Korea as well as the impact of Korean language expansion on Korean cultural identity and power.

FLKs could verify trends in motivation and access regarding Korean language education. Furthermore, since FLKs from a variety of nationalities are anticipated to participate, their diverse linguistic identities could reveal valuable information on how different language backgrounds contend with this phenomena. Due to the researcher’s previous experience in the fields of English and Korean language education, collaborators will be recruited through personal and professional networks by means of snowball sampling.

Between English and Korean language education, it is expected there will be differing trends in motivation, development, and influence. Existing literature details how English language education stems primarily through a rhetoric of colonial oppression and neoliberal necessity, while the recent influx of Korean language education can be attributed to interest in Korean culture within digital landscapes (Takeda, 2020; Lee, 2013; Park, 2022b; Choi, 2022; Ahn, 2019). While previous studies have often explored these linguistic phenomena separately, the crux of this project is to detail their relational discourse and their impact on each other. These discourses become the means in which education policy is developed, resources are handled, and international relations are constructed. Although this study is situated at the embodied level, through perspectives and experiences of involved learners, it provides further insight on how language education is shaped and the locales where they manifest.

Author

• Makynzie Horvath, International Education Policy Department, University of Maryland, College Park