The semiotics of learning Korean at home: an ecological autoethnographic perspective. Issue 6 (19th September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jenks, Christopher J.
• Is Part Of: International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism. Volume 20:Issue 6(2017)
• Page Start: 688
• Page End: 703
• Publication Date: 2017-09-19
• Subjects: Language ecology -- language learning -- semiotics -- autoethnography -- Korean; Education, Bilingual -- Periodicals; Bilingualism -- Periodicals; 370.117505
• DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2015.1070788
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-0050

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This autoethnographic study examines how I re-learn Korean in, and through, interactions with family members at home. The analysis, which is informed by language ecology and sociocultural concepts of development, shows how semiotic and human resources, including material objects and more proficient speakers, play a mediating role in how I deal with the social and linguistic challenges of re-learning Korean. My findings uncover how temporally displaced events are interconnected and demonstrate that language learning can follow a non-linear trajectory. The paper ends with a number of methodological observations regarding the benefits of investigating language learning from an ecological, autoethnographic perspective.