Demystifying the Popular Narratives of English Fever in South Korea: From Mothers' Perspectives
Open Access
- Author:
- Kang, Suyoung
- Graduate Program:
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 25, 2015
- Committee Members:
- Jamie Myers, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Patrick Willard Shannon, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Mari Haneda, Committee Member
Meredith Christine Doran, Special Member - Keywords:
- English fever
globalization
education fever
Korean motherhood
neoliberal motherhood
intensive mothering - Abstract:
- While some scholars look at the spread of English as a global language a neutral or positive process in the history of English language (Crystal, 1997; Graddol, 1997), other scholars see it differently (Canagarah, 1999; Kumaravadivelu, 2003; Pennycook, 1998, 2007; Phillpson, 2002; Rassol, 2007; Watts, 2011). Some see it as linguistic imperialism (Philpson, 1992), as an extension of colonial discourse (Pennycook, 1998, 2007), as colonial and imperial projects (Kumaravadivelu, 2003), or as the spread of English through commodification (Watts, 2011). In South Korea, gaining the name of English fever, English language education has been integral part of education fever for the last two decades. When the Kim Young Sam administration (1993-1998) ignited the globalization project, emphasizing the English communication skills as the silver bullet in global competition, it happened to engineer English fever in South Korea, which is often criticized as "collective neurosis" (Y. M. Kim, 2002), "fever ruining the nation" (D.R.Lee, 2010), and "social fraud" (Nam, 2012). English fever positions mothers, who are popularly considered in charge of children's education, to be responsible for children's English language education, while access to quality English language education is not equal to all, let alone the uncertainty of what it is. Hoping children would succeed and thrive, mothers experience pressure, struggles, and frustration in teaching children English. Drawing on mothers' stories, this multiple case study investigates mothers' challenges and struggles, which constitute their motherhood in the prevalent rhetoric of 'Wise Mother, Good Wife' in South Korea.