Heritage Language Teaching Policy among Korean Immigrant Mothers in the U.S.

• In Event: Roundtable Session 8
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Language and literacy: the role of heritage language and family for education, policy and peace

Proposal

This study focuses on how the language policies of Korean American immigrant families affect the development of their home language, either fostering or limiting its use. Soler and Roberts (2019) define family language policy as the beliefs about languages, actual linguistic practices, and management strategies within families. This study examines the language strategies of five first-generation Korean-American mothers who take primary responsibility for language planning and instruction at home. These mothers have developed unique policies aimed at preserving their heritage language through their children.

Research Questions-
The research questions for this study are: Firstly, how do the five Korean mothers establish and support the use of the Korean heritage language within their family language policies at home? Secondly, what challenges do these five Korean-American families face in consistently implementing their heritage language policies?

Theoretical Framework-
Heritage language (HL) is defined as any language that is not the dominant language within a particular social context; in the United States, English is typically the dominant language. HL often pertains to the language of one's cultural or ancestral background and is secondary to the primary language spoken by an individual.
Families who speak a heritage language often establish their own language policies, which encompass ideologies that include beliefs, feelings, and concepts about language shared within their community, as noted by Seo (2021). These family language policies are shaped by the parents' language ideologies and play a crucial role in determining whether children grow up monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual, according to Idaryani & Fidyati (2022).
Moreover, for effective HL acquisition, it's crucial to have comprehensible language input, which involves hearing and understanding speech that is slightly more advanced than the learner's current level of proficiency (Krashen, 1981). Effective teaching of HL involves scaffolding provided by parents, schoolteachers, and peers who are proficient in the language. This scaffolding helps provide the learner with comprehensible input that assists them in reaching the zone of proximal development, where they can further develop their language skills.

Research Design-
This qualitative case study explores the language policies of Korean immigrant mothers. Participants, five Korean-American mothers with at least one child and who primarily speak Korean, were recruited through the author's personal networks in community venues like small businesses and Korean churches. These participants, who volunteered for the study, live in areas with few Korean immigrants and are bilingual in Korean and English, with a dominance in Korean.
Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, observations, and field notes and analyzed using content analysis techniques. This analysis helped identify both the differences and similarities in the language policies practiced within their homes.
The mothers view themselves as key language educators, employing specific strategies to maintain their heritage language (HL) and support their children’s language skills. This research sheds light on the complex factors influencing their decisions, including personal beliefs, experiences, and values.
The findings, which address how these mothers develop and sustain heritage language practices and the challenges they face, will be presented at the CIES conference in 2025.

Author

• Guang-Lea Lee, Old Dominion Univsersity