ABSTRACT
This chapter retells Korean American adult heritage learners’ experiences in translanguaging space(s) and the counter-experience that they faced from other speakers of the Korean language. The study of translanguaging values the use of two languages in the processes of making meaning, gaining understanding and knowledge, and constructing identities. For this study I interviewed five Korean Americans, aged 25–56, living in the Midwest and learning their heritage language as an adult through self-studying, using books and online resources, or through classes at community-based centers. The participants included second-generation Korean Americans and biracial Koreans learning the language for various purposes, including strengthening their identity as Korean or Korean American. These participants not only showed a strong desire to learn the language but created translanguaging space(s) to practice the language or connect to the local Korean community. Through the interviews, participants shared that they would try to speak Korean to other native Korean speakers or identify ethnically as Korean to feel connected, but in return, they were criticized for their level of language proficiency, the incorrect use of formality, or their Westernized accent. In this chapter, I hope to share the counter-experience that the adult Korean heritage language learners faced at the translanguaging space(s) that they created.
