Abstract This paper examines how entrepreneurial visions of the future contribute to neoliberalism’s appropriation of language learning as a strategy for capital accumulation. Taking as an example South Korea’s heavy investment in children’s English language learning – commonly known as early English education (yeongeo jogi gyoyuk) – it discusses how affective conditions of anticipation (Adams, Murphy and Clarke. 2009. Anticipation: Technoscience, life, affect, temporality. Subjectivity 28(1). 246–265.) may serve as a basis for rationalizing the incorporation of language learning as an essential element of entrepreneurial visions of the self. Based on examples from the discourse of the Korean private English education market and ethnographic observations from early study abroad (jogi yuhak) families in Singapore, we show how the English language learning of young children in the Korean context was framed and justified as an investment in the future. We then discuss how parents’ hopes and fears about their children’s future played a major role in transforming English language learning into a matter of neoliberal anticipation. We conclude by considering how this affective orientation to the future inherent in early English education may serve as a juncture for critiquing the entrepreneurial vision of the self that underlies the logic of human capital development.

中文翻译：

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未来投资：韩国早期英语教育是对青年的新自由主义管理

摘要本文探讨了未来的企业家愿景如何有助于新自由主义将语言学习作为资本积累的策略。以韩国在儿童英语学习方面的巨额投资（通常称为早期英语教育（yeongeo jogi gyoyuk））为例，它讨论了预期的情感条件（Adams，Murphy和Clarke。2009）。预期：技术，生命，影响力，主体性28（1）。246–265。）可以作为合理化将语言学习纳入企业家自我观的基本要素的基础。根据韩国私立英语教育市场话语中的示例以及新加坡早期出国留学（jogi yuhak）家庭的人种志观察结果，我们将展示如何在韩国语环境下学习幼儿英语，并以此作为未来投资的合理依据。然后，我们讨论父母对孩子未来的希望和恐惧如何在将英语学习转变为新自由主义预期的过程中发挥重要作用。最后，我们通过思考这种对早期英语教育固有的对未来的情感取向如何充当批判构成人力资本发展逻辑基础的自我企业家眼光的关头。