This study explores the significantly growing number of Korean secondary students' study abroad experiences in the U.S. This study examines how these students deal with potential cultural conflicts as they move between Korea and the U.S. and how their parents cope with these changes in order to help their children to learn English and get an education abroad. They consider the U.S. education a beneficial tool used to gain cultural capital. In order to gain their cultural capital they come to the U.S. as elementary and secondary students. These families see this action as a way to gain educational and cultural benefits. The central argument about these students has been focused on the benefits from the study abroad experiences in the U.S. Uniquely this study investigates how these students pay psychological and cultural costs for gaining cultural and educational benefits from studying and living in very different cultural environments in the U.S. Therefore, this study seeks to understand how cultural conflicts influence the negotiation process of these students' cultural identities while they transition across different cultural boundaries among home, school, and community in the U.S. To support the main arguments of the students' cultural identity crafting among different cultural boundaries in the U.S., Wenger's concept of identity in community of practices, Phinney's concept of bicultural identity, and Bourdieu's cultural capital theory will be used as tools for understanding the Korean secondary study abroad students underlying experiences in the U.S. This study takes an ethnographic approach to a qualitative methodology in addressing the importance of negotiating cultural identity and understanding cultural capital from the perspectives and experiences of the participants. The data was collected from field notes, the transcripts from interviews and club meetings, video recordings (the Korean Club Meeting), audio recording (in-depth individual interviews and the Korean Club Meeting), and research diaries. This study was conducted by recruiting two Girugi families and five Chogi-Youhacksangs and their guardians in Springville, a medium size city in a South East area of U.S. These participants agree with the idea that an American education brings more benefits than a Korean education. There were, however, somewhat different perspectives of the benefits of the education in the U.S. among the parents and the students. Their parents asserted that American education would be an advantageous tool used to gain cultural capital. The students also admitted that their educational experiences in the U.S. will provide a better position for them compared to their friends in Korea, whether they go back to Korea or not. The Girugi students and Chogi-Youhacksangs lived within very different cultural boundaries among home, school, and community. Their cultural boundaries are not only constructed by physical locations but also by relationships. While the students live within two different cultural boundaries, they try to manage their life accordingly in order to integrate the different cultural boundaries. Interestingly, the students seemed to keep practicing Korean cultural habits in the U.S., and the Korean cultural habits strongly influence their cultural identity negotiation. Moreover, huge cultural differences between their home/school and school/community sometimes hindered the students' smooth transition between two different cultures. / A Dissertation submitted to the the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2011. / October 18, 2011. / Biculturalism, Cultural Capital, Cultural Identity, Immigrant Youth' Identity Construction, Korean-Americans, Study Abroad Students / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeffrey Ayala Milligan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephen McDowell, University Representative; Peter Easton, Committee Member; Stacey Rutledge, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183051 |
| Contributors | Park, Youngwoo (authoraut), Milligan, Jeffrey Ayala (professor directing dissertation), McDowell, Stephen (university representative), Easton, Peter (committee member), Rutledge, Stacey (committee member), Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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