Week 5: Korean Immigrants

Dr. Kang’s article allows me to reflect on the importance of bilingualism with the aid of parental involvement. We usually have Spanish courses that can help Spanish speaking students retain their Spanish, but there are not many Chinese, Korean, Indian or Japanese courses in schools that can help these minority students remain bilingual. This is why we need the help of parents to help their kids maintain their first language at home. As a future language educator, I can help by allowing students to share their language and culture in class as well as learn some of their language in class to help them maintain bilingualism. The study focuses on parents in professional fields wanting their kids to remain bilingual. These parents know the importance of being bilingual in a professional field because it increases their chances for a better job and allows them to communicate with a wider range of people compared to monolingual people in a professional field. Many of these Korean participants were college professors, but what if the parents worked as store clerks, cooks or janitors, (as question for Dr. Kang) do you think these parents would be as highly encouraged to help their kids remain bilingual? Do you think there would be a difference between careers, or would their encouragement for their kids to remain bilingual be the same? I was wondering about this question throughout the article. I guess it also depends on the family and their traditions (like Young Ju in A Step from Heaven).  Many of these parents wanted their kids to be bilingual so they can communicate with family members in Korea. I would also like to know if there were other language struggles for these kids to become bilingual that you were not able to add to the article? 

Young Ju’s family wanted their kids to be bilingual so the kids can communicate with them and help them socialize with Americans. As an immigrant myself, I encountered some of the things Young Ju experienced, such as helping my mom translate and socialize with immigration services and the mainstream society. Unlike Young Ju, I was not encouraged to be bilingual and retain my Spanish, because my mom felt kind of embarrassed if people heard us speaking Spanish, but I would have to speak Spanish anyways to communicate with my mom and translate for her. I enjoyed reading this book (A Step from Heaven) so much, not only does it help me realize the problems of a Korean immigrant living in the U.S, but also lets me reflect on the fact that I have to realize my kids can encounter several struggles outside of my classroom, such as I would not know how their families treat them (only if I would decide to intrude), the language problems they stumble upon with Americans when they need to get important documents to follow U.S. laws, such as speaking with the immigration services, the need for a better living condition, if they are eating healthy meals outside of school, or even the cultural shocks they encounter. Every kid brings their own culture and experiences to the classroom, as a language teacher, I need to be considerate to every aspect of every child’s life. This book is so inspirational because it helps me realize the problems ELL students can encounter outside of the classroom. Even though it is not an autobiography of the author, she mentions she has encountered many of the feelings that come with assimilating to a new culture. I like how the author embraces the Korean language in the book, by mentioning words such as: Halbugi, Halmoni, Apa and Uhmma, as well as using Korean and kid language such as when the teacher says “Tees es Yung”, to picture how the child interprets the English language in her own words. I also like how the author writes the book from when the family is in Korea until she reaches college. It will probably use this book as a source someday.