Literature Review - Part 4: Heritage language acquisition among 1.5 generation East Asian immigrants

The study by Jung (2016) found that Korean mothers had less positive experiences with their children’s Korean language use. This was due to the preference of Korean mothers to speak Korean in communication while children generally wished to speak Korean only when necessary. Korean mothers also reported that heritage language maintenance helped keep strong family bonds and reduced cultural gaps between first generation immigrant parents and their children. Mothers found that they would transfer cultural values while watching Korean television shows and teaching Korean to their immigrant children. However, Korean mothers once again carried the dual expectation that their children would be proficient in English in order to successfully integrate into the host culture. Adolescent Koreans also believed that Korean speaking skills were not a practical asset to have in the host society, and expressed a lack of motivation to maintain their heritage language. Overall disinterest in Korean heritage language maintenance signified a smaller degree of cultural and ethnic identity, while increased proficiency in Korean heritage language speaking skills led to increased ethnic identity and cultural identification with Koreans.

Jang (2016) examines the relationship between levels of acculturation, ethnic identity, and heritage language maintenance amongst 1.5 generation Korean and Chinese immigrants (East Asian immigrants). In the study, 1.5 generation immigrants are defined as those that were born outside of a host country but immigrated to the host country during adolescent years. Eighteen East Asian 1.5 generation college students were interviewed. Data was collected through questionnaires. Jang (2016) found that there was no correlation between identity and lexicon scores that account for proficiency in the heritage language, and hypothesizes that proficiency in heritage language and cultural identity do not necessarily depend on each other for 1.5 generation immigrants.

Conversely, Jang references J. Lee’s study (2002) to suggest that the cultural identities of second generation immigrants are dependent on heritage language maintenance. The study also found that second generation and 1.5 generation East Asian immigrants both carry negative attitudes towards the educational institutions within their country of origin. One of the reasons for this was the perception that schools in East Asia were more rigorous and stressful for students. Another participant claimed that the United States provides a higher quality of education than schools in East Asia. Overall, this led to finding that East Asian immigrants are generally reluctant to raise children in their country of origin. Meanwhile, parents of second generation East Asian immigrants generally attempted more to teach their children about culture and language as opposed to parents of 1.5 generation East Asian immigrants. This was mainly due to the perception of 1.5 generation East Asian parents that their children were native speakers of their heritage language and shared the same cultural values as those from the country of origin. Overall, the study found that for 1.5 generation immigrants, heritage language acquisition does not have a significant correlation with cultural identity, but for second generation East Asian immigrants, heritage language was considered as a marker for ethnic and cultural identity.

References

Becker, D. J. (2013). Parents’ Attitudes Toward Their Children ’s Heritage Language

Maintenance: The Case of Korean Immigrant Parents in West Michigan. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=theses

Jang, S.-J. S. (2016). Social Capital and Cultural Identity for U.S. Korean Immigrant

Families: Mothers' and Children's Perceptions of Korean Language Retention. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://www.proquest.com/docview/1800272194/9A941F3AF2A14628PQ/1

Jeon, M. (2008, March 5). Korean heritage language maintenance and language ideology.

Brill. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://brill.com/view/journals/hlj/6/2/article-p206_4.xml

Kang, H. (2004). Heritage language maintenance, acculturation, and identity: Chinese and

Korean 1.5 generation immigrants in New Jersey. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1143819278&disposition=inline

Kim, J. (2011). Korean Immigrant Mothers’ Perspectives: The Meanings of a Korean

Heritage Language School for Their Children’s American Early Schooling Experiences. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://www.proquest.com/docview/864079246/fulltextPDF/9A941F3AF2A14628PQ/3?accountid=41837

Kim, M. (2015). Running head: Heritage language loss in Korean immigrants heritage ...

Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/bitstream/handle/1993/30381/Kim_Minji.pdf?sequence=1

By Ryan Lee

Editor Suhh Yeon Kim