ABSTRACT

In the process of neoliberal globalization, the number of pre-college-aged educational migrants from English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) countries, often referred to as an early study abroad (ESA) student, has dramatically increased over recent decades in many English-speaking countries. Much of previous research on these educational migrants has primarily focused on parents’ perspectives and involvement, and ignoring the engagement of and investment made by ESA students themselves. By analyzing transcripts of qualitative interviews with fifteen former early study-abroad students from Korea, this paper investigates how these ESA students narrate their experiences of early study abroad and how they understand their roles and experiences in the process. Findings of this paper show that ESA students’ ways of thinking and approaches to their educational trajectory and language learning strongly resonate with a practice of neoliberal responsibilization, by which each student is made responsible for her own choices and their consequences.

摘要

在新自由主义全球化进程中，来自英语作为外国语言（EFL）国家的大学预科教育移民人数（通常被称为早期出国留学（ESA）学生）在最近几年中急剧增加。在许多说英语的国家里已经有几十年了。先前有关这些教育移民的许多研究主要集中在父母的观点和参与上，而忽略了ESA学生本身的参与和投资。通过分析对15名来自韩国的早期早期留学学生的定性访谈的笔录，本文研究了这些ESA学生如何叙述他们在国外进行早期学习的经历以及他们如何理解其在过程中的角色和经验。