Korean-speaking spaces: heritage language learning and community access for mixed-race Korean Americans

This study examines the experiences of mixed-race Korean Americans in their journey to develop and use their heritage language, Korean, through in-depth autobiographical interviews. Participants highlighted the role of ‘Korean-speaking spaces’ such as Korean churches or grocery stores, where the expectation is to speak Korean, as important sites for informal heritage language learning. More importantly, for many mixed-race Korean Americans, these spaces afforded the main opportunities for authentic, interactive heritage language use. However, despite the availability of Korean-speaking spaces, findings reveal how early experiences of marginalisation in these spaces due to perceived racial difference resulted in a hyperawareness of the ways in which they were being racialized. In addition, in more formal heritage language learning settings via community-based or college-level heritage language courses, the participants experienced persistent microaggressions and multiple logistical, socioemotional, and ideological barriers that contributed to their decisions to stop attending or resulted in demotivating language learning experiences. Their stories demonstrate how these mixed-race Korean Americans displayed resilience and strong motivation to maintain their heritage language by creating their own alternative communities via social media and varied opportunities for heritage language use. Implications for heritage language education are discussed.