ABSTRACT
The chapter explores how various ideas about and beliefs in English held by Korean adult sojourners in Sydney play out in realities. Research on study abroad and international students in Australia has primarily focused on interrelationships between English language proficiency and academic performance, and little has been said about diverse meanings attached to English in relation to transnational mobility held by international students. This chapter aims to fill the gap by examining language ideologies and mobility desires among Korean students studying English-Korean translation and interpreting at a post-graduate level in Sydney. Interview data analyses show that English was initially associated with positive ideologies such as an object of cultural consumption for pleasure and an instrument for self-enhancement. As dreams were in constant conflicts with realities overseas, however, it acquired more diverse meanings – a source of anxiety, insecurity and inferiority. By focusing on the gap between dreams and realities in English, the research highlights multiplicity and fluidity of language ideologies that are constructed from the sociocultural experience of the speaker.
