Developmental Trajectories of Korean and Heritage Language Proficiency and Maladjustment among Korean Immigrant Adolescents

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Methods, History, Theory

Abstract

Background/Purpose:
For immigrant adolescents, host language fluency is a critical indicator of acculturation, as it is a means of communication and represents the level of youth involvement in the host society. Alternatively, ethnic language can help adolescents understand heritage values and ethnic culture, supporting adolescent’s maladaptive experiences within the host society. Adolescents attending formal schools may experience increased levels of host language proficiency, whereas adolescents who absorb values of the host culture may experience lower levels of heritage language proficiency. These developmental changes may either increase the risk of or protect against psychological and behavioral outcomes as well as school adjustment. Although individuals can develop language differently depending on their own cultural experiences, scant research has considered a person-centered approach with longitudinal data. Therefore, this study investigates the association between latent trajectories of Korean and ethnic language proficiency and multiple domains of adjustments over six years in South Korea.
Methods:
Data from the nationally representative Multicultural Adolescents Panel Survey (N = 1,441; Female = 51.21%) were used. We applied Latent Class Growth Modeling to examine trajectories of linguistic acculturation from fourth grade (Wave 1) to eighth grade (Wave 5). Adolescent-reported measures of Korean and ethnic language proficiency consisted of four items, each. With identified latent classes as independent variables, multivariate regression analysis was conducted to predict psychological, behavioral, and school adjustment (Wave 6) while controlling for gender, household income, and parental education.
Results:
Developmental trajectories of linguistic acculturation were classified into three latent groups. The “primarily Korean” group (76.6%) showed an increase in Korean but a decrease in ethnic language over time. The “limited bilingual” group (21.79%) was characterized by decrease in both languages, whereas the “deteriorating Korean” group (1.6%) had a stable level of ethnic language and a decrease in Korean over time. Results from multivariate regression indicated that the “limited bilingual” group had better psychological outcomes (life satisfaction: b=-0.12, p<.01; depression: b=0.10, p<.01), however, the “deteriorating Korean” group was more likely to engage in delinquent behavior (b=0.19, p<.05) than the “primarily Korean” group. Both the “limited bilingual” group (b=-0.21, p<.001) and “deteriorating Korean” group (b=-0.34, p<.05) were less likely to achieve academic performance, and educational interest was also significantly lower in the limited bilingual group (b=-0.07, p<.05) and deteriorating Korean group (b=-0.23, p<.05) than in the primarily Korean group.
Conclusions/Implications:
The current study derived trajectories of linguistic acculturation and examined its relationship with psychological, behavioral, and school adjustment while controlling for demographic and family background. Latent trajectories were classified based on the level of the host language and ethnic language proficiencies, and three trajectories were associated with distinct outcomes. Adolescents who had increased Korean and ethnic language over time had the best adjustment level compared to adolescents who had limited in both languages and who had been stable in ethnic language. Findings may provide insights to facilitate immigrant adolescents’ adjustment policies regarding developmental trajectories of both language proficiencies.

Authors

• Jisu Park, Seoul National University
  Presenting Author

• Yoonsun Han, Seoul National University
  Non-Presenting Author