Language ideologies in Korean language education.

Abstract

Language ideologies are the often unrecognized, yet integral, foundations of the ways that educators and learners approach language learning. Nativism and related language ideologies have long held a powerful influence in language education (Porto, 2020). For over a century Korean nationalistic ideologies that promote forms of nativism have influenced various facets of Korean language education both domestically and abroad. This paper is a qualitative examination of the ways that Korean language instructors and learners in U.S. based institutions of higher education situate so-called native speakers in the learning process. The primary objective of this paper is to establish a snapshot of the constructed ideologies of a small sample of Korean language learners and instructors. Data was collected through a document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and class observations. The data analysis depicts how learners maintain well defined characterizations of “native” speakers without necessarily relying on them as their learning model while instructors paradoxically maintain the idealized native speaker model without confidence that it is indeed achievable. I argue that because instructor and learner language ideologies can often be contrary to one another, critical multilingual and post-native-speakerist pedagogies are one option that can transform Korean language education into a space that is more efficacious and equitable. I also raise such issues as how nativism perpetuates the isolation of languages and cultures in a world where, more and more, people need the ability to move between different language and culture communities, which necessitates a priority on mutual intelligibility and intercultural communicative competence as they expand their linguistic and cultural repertoires.