Korean English Fever in the U.S.: Temporary Migrant Parents' Evolving Beliefs About Normal Parenting Practices and Children's Natural Language Learning
Chung, Kayoun
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/80052
Description
Title
Korean English Fever in the U.S.: Temporary Migrant Parents' Evolving Beliefs About Normal Parenting Practices and Children's Natural Language Learning
Author(s)
Chung, Kayoun
Issue Date
2008
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Daniel J. Walsh
Department of Study
Elementary Education
Discipline
Elementary Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies
Language
eng
Abstract
"The purpose of this study is to investigate the contemporary social phenomenon in which Korean parents, driven by Korean English Fever, bring their young children to the U.S. for English education. By using the framework of a Figured World (Holland, Skinner, Lachicotte, & Cain, 1998), I investigated what motivates parents to undertake the seemingly extreme practice. I conducted an ethnographic study of Korean short-term resident families with 3- to 8-year-old children living in a Midwestern university town. Through in-depth interviews with parents and observations of their daily lives, I began to understand their belief systems regarding their children's English education and how they enacted these belief systems in their daily lives. For the parents, English education in the U.S. is not just for language learning, but for preparing their children for a globalized and cosmopolitan future. The parents continuously validated, altered, and revaluated their practices in this figured world. As they stayed in the U.S., their beliefs about what were extreme and what were normal practices evolved, and they eventually normalized seemingly extreme practices, for example, becoming Wild Geese families. Parents' folk pedagogy (Bruner, 1998) of learning English, in which a belief in children's ""natural"" English learning was initially strong, also changed. In time they lowered their expectations about ""natural"" English learning."
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
