Casey

Do you consider yourself a domestic or heritage language learner? Describe your past experiences as a learner or speaker of Korean. Describe your experiences of Korean culture.

I: So based on that, what do you consider yourself?

C: Um, actually I would consider myself a heritage learner because my dad was in the army, so we lived in Korea for two years.

I: Oh, cool!

C: I was there from fifth to sixth grade and in, when you go to an American school there, Korean is required, so we took the class in fifth and sixth grade. I had a lot of exposure, I went off base all the time, talked with, you know, recognized some of the words, had to say some of it when you’re buying something off base, um when it’s just Korean speakers off base.

I: Mm-hm.

C: So, I guess that would make me yeah a heritage learner, since I did live there for two years, I went back to visit and um, practice some of the language again, but—

I: When did you go back to visit?

C: Um, I went back when I was (2) fifteen. So I was there for fifth and sixth grade, I think I was ten/eleven/twelve, and then I went back a few years later to visit. I went with, to visit a friend, I went with my sister. (2) Um. That’s pretty much it.

I: And did you have, u::m, classroom experience with Korean here before you got to the university?

C: No, I didn’t. I actually wanted to, but they didn’t offer it at my high school, so it was just while I was in Korea.

I: Mm-hm. And so then when you started your Korean heritage, you start in the first, at the first [level?

C: Yep, I start]ed Korean 1. Um, it was very easy to begin with. I came in knowing the alphabet, I knew a lot of words, but, I didn’t know any of the grammar or anything, I was really young when I learned it, didn’t really care about it in fifth and sixth grade, but then when you get to the classroom, you realize how much you knew, and then again how much you don’t know, like sentence structure and um, you know, the different levels of saying different things if it’s someone older than you. Or if it’s like a best friend you use a different level of language. So I didn’t really come in knowing any of that.

I: What about connections with the culture? Did you, uh, continue with, uh, your interest in Korea, in Korean or…?

C: Well, when I went to Korea, I loved all the food and so that was one of the biggest things that my sister and I did when we went back to Korea to visit was we you know, got all of our favorite foods. My mom makes it for us all the time at home, we have bulgogi night which is just steak fried up, you have to marinate it for a long time. She always makes us um, California rolls, which is the seaweed with rice in the middle and different like crab and carrot and spam. It sounds gross to some people but it’s one of my favorite things probably because I had it while I was over there. Um, and when I went back, I found out that one of my favorite foods was actually, um, fish intestines, but I still love it, so ((laughing)), um, so we continue some of those cultural Korean things in our home, just mostly the food. My mom is really interested in Asian Studies, she’s doing a program this year, so…

I: Oh, that’s pretty neat.

C: Yeah.


Reflections – All five of these students engage with Korean culture and language outside of the classroom. This real-life interaction seems to act as a motivation to their language learning. What out-of-class resources are you aware or have you taken advantage of that provide opportunities for your students to use the language in more naturalistic settings? What have been your students’ reactions to these resources or experiences? Have you been able to link these out of class experiences with your required curriculum? In your experience as a language learner and/or language teacher, what role has informal language learning played in language development?

Lindsey and Eric are both domestic students who were adopted from Korea. Lindsey describes studying Korean as a way of getting back to her roots. Eric speculates that his affinity for spicy food and pronunciation skills may be due to his Korean heritage. Do you think that domestic learners who are adopted from countries where the language they are learning is spoken have a motivational advantage over domestic students who begin the study of the language with no such ties? Why or why not? Would you predict that these students identify themselves as domestic or heritage language learners? Is it necessary to know the backgrounds of your students in order to be an effective language teacher? How important is it to understand how they identify themselves?

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