The linguistic and cultural influence of Korean ethnic churches on heritage language and identity maintenance among Korean Canadian students in Quebec

Abstract

In this qualitative study, I explore the linguistic and cultural influence of Korean ethnic churches on Korean Canadian students' heritage language and cultural identity maintenance in Montreal. Despite the extensive involvement of Korean immigrants in ethnic churches, very little is known about the linguistic and cultural role of these churches for adult Korean immigrants, let alone for their younger generations who grow up in Canada. Therefore, my research questions focus on how Korean ethnic churches support heritage language and cultural identity maintenance for the younger generations of Korean immigrant families in the Montreal context. I employed an ethnographic and qualitative approach and elicited data from qualitative interviews, participant observation, and group discussions. Data collection took place over a four month period from January through April, 2008. The participants (n=37 in total) were Korean Canadian students who live in Montreal and attend a Korean ethnic church (n=15), their parents (n=10), heritage language and Bible study teachers (n=4), and pastors of the church and of other Korean ethnic churches in the city (n=4). Another group of Korean Canadian students who were not members of a Korean ethnic church was also included (n=4). The results of the study show that Korean ethnic churches in Montreal do indeed play important roles for the maintenance of the HL and cultural identity for the younger generations of Korean immigrant families as major ethnic community institutions. Thus, the Korean ethnic churches are found to have roles far beyond their original religious role. The findings of this study suggest that all the members of the Korean ethnic churches should be more aware of their responsibility for upholding the linguistic and cultural role of the Korean ethnic churches. In addition, all the members of the Korean ethnic churches should make better use of current institutional resources such as the use of heritage language within t

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