Korean Identity Maintenance/Reinforcement of First-Generation Korean Language Teachers in the US

Abstract

This paper explored the identity formation of first-generation Korean language teachers in the United States, particularly in the workplace. Also, drawing from the immigrant replenishment hypothesis embedded within the literature on assimilation, this study examined how consistent interaction with co-ethnics and ethnic culture in the workplace helped to maintain or reinforce ethnic identity. Furthermore, concepts such as social and ethnic identity as well as ethnic pride were considered in helping to explain the impact of the Korean teaching environment. To achieve this goal, I interviewed 20 participants, ten of whom were Korean language teachers and ten of whom were non-teachers. All twenty interviewees worked for the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, California and all shared their invaluable experiences of working at DLI and how the DLI teaching or non-teaching work setting influenced their ethnic identity or sense of Koreanness. Findings from the ten teacher interviews showed that the Korean teaching work environment actually did help many of the teachers maintain or reinforce their Koreanness. The primary reasons for this reinforcement was due to the fact that the Korean teachers spent the majority of their workday speaking in Korean, interacting with fellow Korean teacher colleagues, and keeping up with Korean news and pop culture in order to share those materials with their students. In addition, a sense of pride in sharing Korean authentic materials with non-Korean students helped in positively reinforcing Korean identity. Results of the ten non-teachers showed that the non-teaching workplace setting helped non-teachers become more Americanized or in tune with American work and cultural values. In light of social and ethnic identity, nine of the ten non-teachers who began their DLI careers in teaching positions also expressed feeling more Korean or patriotic towards Korea while teaching as opposed to in their current positions. Furthermore, the non-teacher interviews also revealed that some of those who switched from teaching to non-teaching positions switched to their non-teaching positions due to a desire to get out of the Korean bubble that the teaching environment created; this aligns well with the social and ethnic identity theories discussed. Overall, my findings suggest that many aspects of the teaching environment align with the ethnic enclaves or communities created by immigrant replenishment and that working in non-teaching positions led to greater Americanization in the workplace. Contemporary Korean culture and language were also generally seen as positive, instilling a sense of ethnic pride in the participants which helped to maintain their Korean identity. Finally, while some participants felt the need to get out of the Korean bubble, all participants still seemed to have some level of attachment to their Korean ethnic identity, it was rather their attachment to Korean society and culture that diminished.

본 연구는 미국에서 한국인 교사로 재직중인 한국인 이민1세대를 대상으로 직장에서의 정체성 형성에 대해 알아보고자 한 것이다. 또한 문화적 동화와 관련된 연구 자료들에서 발견되는 지속적 이민자 유입 가설(immigrant replenishment hypothesis)을 토대로 직장 내에서의 동일 문화 및 동일 민족과의 지속적인 상호작용이 민족 정체성의 유지 또는 강화에 어떤 도움을 주는지에 대해 알아 보았다. 그리고 한국어 교육 환경이 끼치는 영향에 대해 보다 자세히 설명하기 위해 민족적 자긍심을 비롯해 사회적 민족적 정체성 같은 개념도 짚어 보았다. 본 연구를 위해 한국어 교사로 재직중인 10명의 참가자와 비교사직에 재직중인 10명의 참가자, 총 20명을 인터뷰하였다. 20명의 참가자는 모두 미국 캘리포니아주 몬트레이 소재 국방외국어대학 (Defense Language Institute, DLI)에 재직중이며 인터뷰를 통해 자신들의 DLI 근무 경험과, 교사직 비교사직 근무 환경이 민족 정체성 또는 한국성 (Koreanness) 형성에 어떤 영향을 미치는지 진솔하게 진술해 주었다. 10명의 교사들과의 인터뷰를 통해 확인한 사실은 한국어 교육 환경이 이들 중 많은 참가자들의 한국성 유지나 강화에 실제로 영향을 미친다는 것이었다. 또한 한국어 교사들이 대부분의 근무시간 동안 한국어를 사용하고, 동료 한국인 교사들과 교류하며, 학생들을 위해 계속적으로 한국 뉴스나 한국 팝문화를 교재로 준비한다는 점이 한국성 강화의 주된 원인인 것으로 나타났다. 더불어 한국인이 아닌 학생들을 대상으로 한국 실제 자료를 사용하며 느끼는 자부심이 한국인으로서의 정체성 강화에 긍정적인 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났다.