Eric 1

Describe the students in your Korean 3 class. Is it obvious which students would be classified as a domestic learner versus a heritage learner?

I: How large are classes this, this semester in Korean?

E: Korean 3, um, it’s kind of hard to tell because there’s a couple students that only come for like, the exams because, I’m just assuming, they already know, they already technically know how to speak it. But um, (2) oh let’s see, (4), I’d say around ten probably.

I: Mm-hm. And what’s the split between domestic and heritage language learners?

E: U::m, (4) well there’s another person that’s kind of like me, they’re adopted, so they’re like in-bet—I guess, domestic but half-way, and then um, see there’s a couple people that’re hard to like class them, ‘cause like my one friend is Taiwanese, but he seems to have a real ease with uh, learning Korean, perhaps because of uh, similarities in his language, but u::h, I’d say there’s, there’s, at this rate there’s probably either half and half or like 60/40.

I: Mm-hm. And do you think then that that’s a, is that an appropriate classification for the students, at least as you know them, to call them or to place them in either uh, the group of heritage or domestic or do you think there’s another or better way of, of defining or, o:r um, grouping the students?

E: M:m, I can’t really say. I mean, you would probably do it better than me since I’ve never tried researching anything like that, but u:m…

I: Well, I mean, just even as you talk, I’m, I, made me think when you said well you’re domestic but, but you’re not domestic like I would be domestic, because I mean you have a connection that I don’t have. And so already to me then, there’s that little bit of a difference and I, I thought that was interesting.

E: Like um, I took developmental psychology last semester and I found out that like, when your brain is developing as an infant, by the eighth, by like, I think like the eighth month or something like that, you’re already have registered all the different sounds and stuff you have to make for that language that you’re learning. So I think like, some of the speaking I can kind of do if I just practice it a little bit, I don’t seem to have as much trouble as some of the other students back in like Korean 1. It was really hard for some people to like speak the dialogues. But mimicking the uh, the accent was a little bit easier for me, I think.

I: Hm.

E: I thought that was a little helpful, but um, I, I guess for the most part, I’m just domestic.

Reflections – Listen to Eric 1, Lindsey 2, and Sara 2 describe their classmates in terms of interpersonal relationships and classification as heritage or domestic students. Would you anticipate these responses? How would you characterize the relationships in your classroom? In what ways do these relationships help or hinder student learning?

Eric 2

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