Study abroad, heritage language learning, and identity: a study of a mixed-heritage learner of Korean

Abstract

ABSTRACT This narrative study focuses on how Gina, a Korean learner with a Korean immigrant mother and a European-descent New Zealander father, constructed her identities and engaged with Korean as a heritage language (HL) before, during, and after studying abroad in Korea. Gina’s transformative experiences illustrate the links between HL learning and learners’ understanding of themselves in racial/ethnic/cultural terms. The study highlights raciolinguistic ideologies’ complex influence on the HL development and identity (re)construction of learners who consider themselves to have multiple racial/ethnic/cultural heritages. Although Gina’s HL learner identity hampered her classroom education during study abroad, her family background provided her opportunities outside the classroom that strengthened her sense of belonging and encouraged her (re)construction of her identities. The study provides practical implications for study-abroad program developers and educators concerning the raciolinguistic ideologies that HL learners who identify as having multiple heritages might bring to their HL learning and participation in study-abroad programs. Being aware of raciolinguistic ideologies, preparing students for how their own and others’ ideologies might impact their experiences during study abroad, and providing the means for multiheritage HL learners to share their experiences could all contribute positively to these learners’ continued identity (re)construction, HL development, and study-abroad experiences.