Abstract

This study explores how a transnational sense of belonging is constructed within and through heritage language (HL) learning among second-generation Korean American adults throughout their life trajectories. Drawing from eight semi-structured interviews, I show how engaging in HL learning has situated these individuals within transnational social fields, where they, as children of immigrants, were consistently invited through the learning and use of HL to revisit an imagined Koreanness. From being forced speakers of an HL to being willing and inclined to speak it, my participants started to pursue a transnational sense of belonging as a response to the impossibility of being a full American. Findings from this study suggest that their HL learning trajectories, characterized by care and support from the wider immigrant communities, enabled them to become attuned to the broader transnational community while rearticulating belonging from both worlds. This study challenges the notion of transnational connection as a one-generation phenomenon and highlights the need for longitudinal research that can provide us with vital insights into the continuities of second-generation immigrants’ transnational connections.

摘要

这项研究探讨了在第二代韩裔成年人的整个生活轨迹中，如何通过传统语言（HL）学习来构建跨国归属感。通过八次半结构化访谈，我展示了参与HL学习如何将这些人置于跨国社会领域中，在那里他们作为移民的孩子，通过学习和使用HL不断受到邀请，重温想象中的朝鲜族。从被迫成为HL的讲者到愿意和倾向于讲HL，我的参与者开始追求跨国归属感，以回应不可能成为一个完整的美国人的问题。这项研究的结果表明，他们的HL学习轨迹以广大移民社区的关心和支持为特征，使他们能够与更广泛的跨国社会融洽相处，同时重新确立来自两个世界的归属。这项研究挑战了跨国联系这一代现象的概念，并强调了纵向研究的必要性，该研究可以为我们提供有关第二代移民跨国联系连续性的重要见解。