“It Will Always Be a Hobby”: Korean Language Learners Disengaged From Native-Speakerism

ABSTRACT This study delves into the evolving landscape of native-speakerism, with a particular focus on nonheritage Korean as a foreign language (KFL) learners in the United States. While native-speakerism, the practice of elevating native speakers as the reference point in language education, has been critiqued from various sociocultural and critical perspectives, this research aims to examine how U.S. nonheritage learners navigate native-speakerism via a third space (Bhabha, 1994) between their dominant language and a less commonly taught language (LCTL) as their target language. Through ethnographic qualitative research, including autoethnography and cross-sectional interviews, the study unveils three distinct patterns of disengagement from native-speakerism via a third space between monolinguals and bilinguals. First, learners exhibited detachment from the native speech community while carefully structuring their exposure to it, driven by self-conscious concerns about their performance in the target language. Second, learners were detached from native-like proficiency goals with a shift toward socialization and leisure-oriented language learning while utilizing English resources within their own community. Finally, learners were detached from native-like language use while negotiating with their English-speaking identities during the learning process.