English, gatekeeping, and Mandarin: the future of language learning in South Korea

Curran, Nathaniel Ming

doi:10.1080/13670050.2018.1501332

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Ma Li’s mother continued to say, ‘We [parents] made our best efforts to pave the way for her, and what she needs to do is to carry it further’. The desired upwards mobility in social status mobility is envisaged to be gained through the assistance of the two most important languages: English – the world’s ‘lingua franca’ – a gatekeeper to education and employment (Curran, 2021) in the host country, and Chinese – the ‘second’ world language – a heritage instrument with growing transnational capital.…”

Section: Language Emotionality and Employability Desiresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speaking Chinese or no breakfast: Emotional challenges and experiences confronting Chinese immigrant families in heritage language maintenance

Wang

2022

International Journal of Bilingualism

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Aims and objectives: This study aims to explore parental emotions in heritage language maintenance and to examine ways in which parents’ emotions interplay with their language ideologies, maintenance practices, and children’s language proficiencies. Methodology: I conducted an ethnographic qualitative study of 12 Chinese immigrant families including 13 parents and 13 children. The study focuses on parents who brought their children into Australia when they were between ages 3 and 9. Data and analysis: Data were collected through open-ended interviews, informal conversations, observations, evidence of literacy practices and postings on WeChat.1 Data were analysed using an inductive thematic approach. The generated themes relate to emotions, ideologies, practices, and proficiencies in heritage language. Findings/conclusions: Findings show that maintaining heritage language in immigrant and minority contexts is fraught with negative emotions such as irritation, regret, guilt, anguish, loss, insecurity, and shame, but this is complemented by a sense of accomplishment, fulfilment, and pride. Parental emotions, whether positive or negative, which are shaped by language ideologies of Chinese as identity, family tie, and profit, are often elicited by children’s language behaviours and their proficiency outcomes. The study suggests that children’s heritage language proficiencies are significant for the wellbeing of immigrant families. Originality: Emotion-relevant studies in heritage language research have largely focused on children and other learners in classroom settings, with heavy reliance on survey data and statistical analysis. Few studies have explored parental emotions regarding heritage language maintenance in the home domain or documented the relevant nuanced experiences. This study makes an in-depth ethnographic investigation of various types of emotions of family language policy (FLP) in parental discourses and situates parents’ emotions in their own language ideologies and their children’s language practices. Significance/implications: This ethnography fills a gap by providing a realistic understanding of the link between parental emotions, their language ideologies and maintenance practices, and their children’s language behaviours and proficiencies in transnational contexts. Children’s use of, and proficiency in, their heritage language is significant for the socio-emotional wellbeing of immigrant/minority parents and their families and has implications for language policy makers and heritage language education.

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Section: Language Emotionality and Employability Desiresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speaking Chinese or no breakfast: Emotional challenges and experiences confronting Chinese immigrant families in heritage language maintenance

Wang

2022

International Journal of Bilingualism

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“…For example, the market for coffee has expanded downward significantly, such that a variety of low-price coffee chains have appeared, and even convenience stores have begun selling fresh, high quality espresso-based coffee drinks (Kim, 2018; Lee and Kim, 2016). Likewise, people are increasingly assumed to have studied English, and failure to have done so dooms job applicants (Curran, 2018b).…”

Section: The Coffee Shopmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2018, the average family was spending more than 1 million Korean won—approximately $850—per year on their child’s private English education (Statistics Korea, 2019). Such expenditures are understandable; English plays a major role on the highly competitive college entrance exam and is used to differentiate between qualified candidates for a dwindling number of stable, well-paid jobs (Curran, 2018b; Park, 2011). The result is that English is viewed by many Koreans as a necessary “base” on which to build their career aspirations (Abelmann et al, 2009: 230).…”

Section: The Functions Of Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Amidst the decimation of the middle class, middle-class aspiration and cosmopolitan striving remained strong (see Park and Abelmann, 2004). The results of the rising bar for distinction can be particularly identified in two trends that emerged in the aftermath of Korea’s post-1997 neoliberalization: (1) the escalating English credentialism in Korean society, such that English test proficiency test scores increasingly functions as prerequisites rather than a meaningful form of distinction (Park, 2011; Curran, 2018b); and (2) the increased amount of coffee connoisseurship regarding one must display in order to signal a high level of cultural capital relative to others, which is a direct result of the “democratization” of espresso-based drinks via their increasing ubiquity (see Kim, 2018). At the higher end of the market, the increasing ubiquity of specialty coffee shops is undoubtedly also a manifestation of the sibal biyong phenomenon.…”

Section: Neoliberalism and The Striving/shrinking Middle Classmentioning

confidence: 99%

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English fever and coffee: Transient cosmopolitanism and the rising cost of distinction

Curran

Chesnut

2021

Journal of Consumer Culture

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This article examines the intersection of English and coffee in Seoul, South Korea, in order to document how distinction (ala Bourdieu, 1984/2008) functions under the prevailing conditions of neoliberalism. A mere two decades after Starbucks first opened in Korea, high-end specialty coffee shops proliferate. Drawing on photographs of the exteriors, interiors, and menus from 89 coffee shops in the trendy Seongsu-dong neighborhood in Seoul, we examine how coffee shops deploy English (in addition to or instead of Korean) in their signage, and how this deployment differs by type of coffee shop. We argue that English and coffee interact in a complex process of dual distinction. The coffee shops brand themselves as cosmopolitan and simultaneously offer the customers the distinction of demonstrating themselves knowledgeable about/proficient in both coffee and English. We explain this dual distinction in terms of the extreme competitiveness occasioned by neoliberalism in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. We conclude by suggesting the notion of “transient cosmopolitanism” as a way to understand specialty coffee shops, which we argue are crucial sites for understanding the contemporary subjectivities occasioned by the dominance of neoliberalism.

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“…We also note that North Korean migrants’ current issues regarding English mirror the established language ideology in South Korean society calling for critical reflection and a transformation regarding South Korean English education. Positioning English in South Korea as an example of (post)colonial language, Curran (2018) depicts how average Koreans have for a long time suffered from the pressure to have ‘English credentials (i.e., signaling one's competence in English)’ (p. 6). The difficulties, pressures, and failures that North Korean migrants experience in their efforts concerning English reflect how English dominates and stratifies South Korean society: English plays a crucial role as a gatekeeper to university, labour markets, and workplaces; South Korean society accepts uncritically the ways in which institutions use English in order to reproduce inequity and control social mobility; and English education focusing on test preparation means English learners in South Korea miss opportunities for fun and meaningful English learning experiences.…”

Section: From Refugees To Global Citizensmentioning

confidence: 99%

English for North Korean refugees in South Korea

Jang¹,

Kim²

2020

English Today

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Mee-Soo was a good student in North Korea. She came to South Korea in her early teens, and South Korean state policy for North Korean defectors enabled her to gain entry into a decent university in Seoul. She majored in Business Management and, when she had to choose her sub-major, she chose Accounting over Marketing and Human Resources because she thought she could avoid English. Achieving CPA (Certified Public Accountant) status was the goal for Accounting majors. Passing a score of 700 in the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) was a requirement to take the CPA exam. Mee-Soo worked hard studying for TOEIC and took the test ten times. Her score rose from the 400s to the 600s, but she could not pass the 700 threshold and was left behind while other South Korean students passed the English requirement. She could not even begin to study for the CPA exam itself. She once sighed and told me (one of the authors), ‘I wish I could have a life without English.’ I responded, ‘I didn't think English would be so important to North Koreans in South Korea.’ To this, Mee-Soo exclaimed, ‘It is a matter of survival.’ Given there have now been over 70 years of separation between North and South Korea since the Korean War, it is unquestionable that North Korean migrants face and struggle with a variety of troubles in their attempts to settle into South Korean society. In this context, why does English constitute a ‘matter of survival’ for North Koreans when there are so many other critical issues for these individuals, who crossed several borders at the risk of their lives? This phenomena, that ‘English’ represents a major difficulty for North Korean defectors in their process of settling in South Korea (Jung & Lim, 2009), constitutes an interesting linguistic phenomena in an intra-ethnic contact. However, by itself, this statement somewhat simplifies how English actually affects the migrant group. Instead, its influence works in a surprisingly diverse number of ways across different ranges and layers within the North Korean population, depending on their regional and social background, age, time of migration, and possibly many other factors. A meaningful pattern we discuss here is the changing relations between English and North Korean migrants according to age; it is the North Korean young adults who seem to be particularly affected by English and disproportionately in need of English teaching. We also note, though, that this pattern itself is changing, as we are seeing the recent increase of children of North Korean migrants born and educated in South Korea or in China.

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English, gatekeeping, and Mandarin: the future of language learning in South Korea

Cited by 12 publications

References 35 publications

Speaking Chinese or no breakfast: Emotional challenges and experiences confronting Chinese immigrant families in heritage language maintenance

Speaking Chinese or no breakfast: Emotional challenges and experiences confronting Chinese immigrant families in heritage language maintenance

English fever and coffee: Transient cosmopolitanism and the rising cost of distinction

English for North Korean refugees in South Korea

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