Abstract
The present paper is based on the preliminary results of my recent research and aims to challenge from a post-modern perspective (Kramsch 2012) some views and practices given for granted in the field of “Korean as a heritage language”, with specific reference to the Australian context. I will first outline the main characteristics of the language use of the Korean community in Australia by using data from the last Australian census (2016) and I will then consider the Korean discourses of mother language and nationality through looking interconnections of language education and the content of the Overseas Koreans Act (1999). Then I will introduce the concepts of authenticity, native speakerism and identity in order to analyze from a post-modern perspective some issue surrounding Korean language education for Koreans abroad. I will show how multilingual speakers, and specifically how young Korean-Australians live one of the paradoxes of modernity, namely feeling an illegitimate speaker of one’s own mother language. I will also demonstrate how this sense of non-authenticity is fostered by a monolingual discourse alive in the Korean society and by the motherland’s view on overseas Korean. Finally under this light I will critically review two aspects of the broader field of Korean language education for Koreans abroad: the terminology itself and the figure of the teacher.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | Korean Language as Socio-Educational Resources |
| Subtitle of host publication | A refereed proceeding of the Australian Symposium on Korean Language Learning and Teaching 2017 |
| Editors | You-il Lee, Seong-chul Shin |
| Place of Publication | Adelaide |
| Publisher | University of South Australia |
| Pages | 22-31 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781922046215 |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Nov 2017 |
| Event | Australian symposium on Korean language and teaching 2017 - University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia Duration: 20 Nov 2017 → 20 Nov 2017 |
Conference
| Conference | Australian symposium on Korean language and teaching 2017 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | ASKLLaT 2017 |
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Adelaide |
| Period | 20/11/17 → 20/11/17 |