Introduction
Korean parents are strongly committed to investing time, effort, and money into improving their children's English competence in order to maximize their human capital in the era of globalization, a phenomenon often referred to as ‘English fever’ (Park, Reference Park2009). However, because of the Korean socio-economic structure, there is considerable disparity among families in the financial investment they can afford. Therefore, in the educational privileges and especially English learning support that Korean children receive is an inequity often overlooked by the majority of Koreans. One response to this issue is the newly emerging movement among Korean mothers called ‘maternal English education’ (eommapyo yeongeo), which has become a widely used term throughout the country.Footnote 1
The main premise of maternal/parental English teaching is the combination of English learning with typical familial interactions and play with children in the home. Due to an increasing number of success stories of home English teaching, mostly by mothers, an increasingly widespread practice for Korean parents is to provide a friendly English-learning home environment for their children. This practice is not only supportive of children's learning but more cost-effective than investing in private English education.Footnote 2
To further investigate this movement, it is important to examine not only parents’ beliefs about and expectations for their children's English education but also their struggles while practicing bilingual parenting as non-native speakers of English, often referred to as ‘nonnative bilingual parenting’ (Seo, Reference Seo2019) or ‘nonnative bilingualism’ (Szramek–Karcz, Reference Szramek–Karcz2014). Thus, the present study is an examination of parental efforts and struggles in their bilingual parenting. I focus on an analysis of blogs posted in one online community of Korean mothers. The following research questions are addressed in this study. 1) How and to what extent are the parents involved in their children's English education? 2) What challenges in their home bilingual parenting do mothers face as non-native speakers of English? 3) How do they cope with the difficulties?
Methodology
Data for this study comprise blogs posted by Korean parents on one of the most prominent Korean social websites, Mom, the Reader (https://blog.naver.com/afantibj); the parents are engaged in or interested in raising bilingual children through family literacy practices at home. This website has been run for 18 years by a Korean mother who raised two Korean-English children as bilinguals from early childhood. With over 35,000 members, the website is open to the public as an information source and source of support for parents who want to raise children through bilingual homeschooling. Her book entitled A mother's success story: Raising two bilingual sons through maternal English education (eommapyo yeongeo 17nyeon bogoseo) (Nam, Reference Nam2016), recounting her personal experience of successfully raising her two sons as fluent English speakers through home language schooling without sending them to private English institutes, became an overnight bestseller in Korea. It was especially popular among parents seeking ways to raise their children as fluent English speakers without incurring the financial burden of supplementary private education. The author has been idealized among Korean mothers with high aspirations of raising bilingual children, and her blog is a popular site to discuss their experiences with this approach.
Members of this blog community are primarily Korean mothers in their 20s and 30s who aspire to their children becoming Korean-English bilinguals without having to send them to private institutions or abroad. These mothers share ideas with each other and try out various suggested methods. The participants also share their personal information including gender, age group, family composition, and other specifics about their situation. This information reveals several commonalities among the members of this blog community. First, they are mothers living with their children in Korea. As typical Korean parents, they themselves learned English in regular public schools and have always lived in a monolingual Korean culture, so in most cases they lack English speaking skills. Lastly, they have high aspirations for their children's education, especially English education, and are willingly investing their effort and time on bilingual parenting.
Data were collected throughout 2016 and 2017, during which about 60 specific discussion topics and over 300 responses to questions were posted in Korean. Topics included book selections, places and times for English exposure, different methods depending on the child's age, and the mothers’ own English learning. After having reading all of the contents of the Q&A section of the blog, I categorized them into three topics: 1) Korean mothers’ investment in children's bilingualism; 2) mothers’ bilingual practices in the home domain; and 3) the challenges faced by the mothers as non-native speakers of English. Using a thematic analysis method, I coded the postings and found several emerging themes under these three main topics. Finally, I translated the themes and excerpts representing each theme into English for the readers’ convenience.
Findings
Three themes emerged through the blog analysis, i.e.1) mothers’ investment in improving their own English proficiency in order to successfully raise bilingual children; 2) mothers’ struggles with children's resistance to learning and using English; and 3) a lack of guidance and support for bilingual parenting.
Non-native-speaking mothers’ lack of English proficiency
One of the main discussion topics among blog community members was how to have sufficient English proficiency to talk with their children in the target language without great difficulty. The Korean mothers wanted to provide a home bilingual environment in which children were exposed to large quantities of high-quality English. They believed parental language proficiency in particular was crucial in order to demonstrate correct pronunciation in their English conversations with their children. For example, the mother of a 24-month-old boy (ID: EngMom22) worried about her lack of English proficiency in raising a bilingual child who was willing to speak and listen in both Korean and English:
Please let me know how to improve my current English skill. I wonder if you have particular ways to do this [and] for your English proficiency to be adequate for you to communicate with your children in English. I've learned English over 10 years, but I have much trouble in speaking English to my kids. (EngMom22)Footnote 3
Another mother of two sons (ID: Sun84) shared methods by which she could upgrade her English skills. Her primary method was reading books or watching DVDs in English. However, EngMom22 still wanted to gain ‘know-how’ from a successful mother who had her own strategies. Weighing in on the dialogue, the blog owner (ID: EnaMom2) gave her answer to the question:
Try to find one way to fit into you. There are a lot of effective methods to increase your English level; however, the problem is how much you invest your time and effort into that. In my experience, I decided to listen to American dramas and practiced speaking English every day whenever I had time such as while washing the dishes, preparing dinner, or doing the house chores. (EnaMom2)
Many Korean mothers had self-doubts and worried whether their imperfect English might harm their children's balanced bilingual development. They had made up their mind to provide bilingual parenting, but constant doubts made them question their way of parenting. One of the beliefs often shared among the members of the blog was the need for at least one parent who speaks the language fluently. For example, a mother of two sons (ID: Allie) expressed the mothers’ general concern that as the parent who spent the most time with the children, they should fulfill this role:
There are a lot of good tools out there to help children learn. I think they are useful, but there needs to be at least one person in their life that speaks the language. That should be ME because I'm the person who spends most time with my two sons. However, I sometimes struggle with a loss of confidence that as a monolingual mother I could be a good language teacher for my children. When my first son was one year old some people told me that this would never work, as English is not my native language, such as not having a perfect native accent or affecting the child-parent relationship negatively. (Allie)
Children's resistance to learning English
Although they are well aware of the difficulties of learning a foreign language within the Korean context because of a lack of language input, many Korean mothers tend to have high aspirations for their children to develop native-like English speaking skills despite heavy reliance on such learning materials as English books, songs, or DVDs. However, such expectations may be frustrated because language learning requires development of productive as well as receptive skills so there is a need for interaction and output in the process of language learning. A related issue may be that children regard certain kinds of media simply as entertainment.
One mother (ID: Joony's mom) complained that her child was obsessed with watching DVDs and resisted reading English books:
I started to have him watch DVDs because he strongly resisted listening to English books. I sometimes wonder it was wrong. My child doesn't want to listen to books saying, ‘No! No!’ because he acquires Korean very fast. Is it okay for me to trying to get him interested in English books? I failed several times to find and provide good books like board books or pop-up books. Nowadays, I regret not providing Korean and English input equally to him. His private English tutor says that my son recognizes English passively. Is that right? Should I restrict his DVD watching to prevent him from being an inactive English learner? (Joony's mom)
One blogger (ID: EnglishLove) answered the questions as follows:
In my opinion, it seems to be a lack of mother-child relationship. You should have spent more time in physical activities such as finger play, chanting, or listening to English songs. If your child doesn't enjoy playing with you, he may be addicted to watching DVDs. That is my concern … I think you had better play with him along with reading English books. In fact, reading English books has the least impact on the relationship as the time spent reading books is very short and is just speaking out the text. Just have mutual communication while doing whatever your child likes such as drawing, doing puzzles, or building with blocks. And talk to each other about daily lives. That is real communication. (EnglishLove)
After receiving this reply, Joony's mom decided to make more effort to engage in conversations with her child, saying, ‘From now on, I will start to talk with my son even about trivial things.’ Another mother of a 24-month-old boy (ID: imokHee82) had also been struggling with his resistance to reading books in English.
I am a mother of a 24-month son. I have been reading English picture books to my child. However, nowadays, he resists, saying ‘No! No! Not this one.’ In the past, he was listening well when I read books about cars, but now he doesn't want to listen to me read books. He just looks at the pictures without paying attention to content written in English. In my opinion, he has recently shown a huge increase in both input and output in Korean language. How about reading both Korean and English books interchangeably? Or what if I read English books in English, and then repeated them in Korean? Or in opposite? I wonder what if I read Korean books that my son especially likes in English. Is my son confused in understanding two languages? (imokHee82)
The blog owner (ID: EnaMom2) answered the Korean mother's question as follows:
It's very natural that your son doesn't want to listen to your book reading and wants you to stop. In your child's perspective, it may be very annoying because it's hard to accept the reason why he should listen. Only YOU know the reason (because of the importance of English input through book reading). So, stop for the time being and read the book tomorrow again only when he feels good. Let's imagine that when you read an English book line by line, your son closes his ears while hearing English sounds, waiting for the Korean contents. Stop your current way, and read to him in a natural mood. Read Korean books in Korean, and read English books in English. If your son asks any questions related to the content, answer him in Korean. There is no strict principle (in book reading), but no more line-by-line reading interchangeably both in Korean and English. (EnaMom2)
After consulting with the blogger, the mother tried exaggerating the sounds of words with onomatopoeia. Her son's response was much better than before, and she expressed her appreciation to the blogger for this newly learned strategy. The mother reflected on her previous methods when reading books, saying that ‘I should have read Korean books in Korean language and English books in English.’ (ID: imokHee82)
Lack of parental guidance
Mothers have difficulties in selecting the right English learning materials from the vast array available. Most parents have little background in English learning resources, and new materials are constantly generated in the English education market, all advertised as the best, making choices difficult for parents with little time and experience. Therefore, Korean mothers have a tendency to follow a mentor, that is, a mother who has successfully raised Korean-English bilingual children without spending a lot of money and is therefore a role model. Even though this mother's methods are not based on educational background, Korean mothers want to believe they would work with their own children. Among common questions posted on the blog are requests for recommendations: ‘Which book do you recommend me?’ or ‘Could you give me a book list to follow?’ One mother (ID: Happiness87) uploaded her concerns about her approach to her son's English learning:
I'm so worried about my son's phonics learning at his English institution. I've heard from many people that my child will not have adequate English proficiency unless he knows how to pronounce English spellings or he has enough opportunities for output of what he's learned. Because of that concern, I started to send my child to an English institution where the consultant recommended that my son's English learning should begin with phonics. However, I have been constantly questioning myself whether this is a good way for him. My son sometimes doesn't want to go there, but he shows interest from time to time. I have doubts about the method recommended in this blog, called ‘maternal English education.’ It's hard to make up my mind because of my lack of resolution. Of course, my own decision is the most crucial, but I want to hear any suggestions from other mothers in order to make up my mind. I have thought that bilingual parenting is allowable only for the mothers who are good at English. That's why I haven't even tried it yet. Am I wrong? (Happiness87)
Another mother (ID: brad3027) expressed a similar dilemma with regard to her fourth-grade daughter. She was disappointed with her current bilingual methods, which were recommended by a mother who was successful in bilingual parenting. The problem was that her daughter did not show any interest in reading books, especially new books:
I've tried to encourage my daughter to get involved in reading English books. However, I feel discouraged whenever she avoids or stops reading. If she sees any unknown words or difficult expressions in the book, she doesn't want to continue. Instead, she requests me to read them in Korean. Could you give me some tips or strategies how to deal with this situation? I've tried to find some information from books or the Internet, but I'm still in trouble. I wish anyone could give me a direction to help me out. (brad3027)
In response to this mother's challenges, one blogger (ID: SejinMom12) suggests that she use a variety of methods such as YouTube channels, English comic books or English newspapers, which would require the mother's time and effort. She added her response, saying that:
How about the online websites? In my case, I got a lot of support from this blog. Without this community to share ideas with others, I would have difficulties in managing my bilingual parenting methods. I've been uploading the progress of my bilingual parenting every six months, and some of the members give valuable responses to me. (SejinMom12)
She found value in sharing her experiences with others in the online community. Although she was unsure as to whether or not her teaching methods were effective, she decided to keep others updated with the latest news about her progress so that they could benefit from her experience and perhaps share the confidence she received from the blog.
Discussion and conclusion
In this study, I analyzed blogs that represented Korean mothers’ expectations and challenges in bilingual parenting as non-native English speakers. Three types of dilemmas were identified in their blogs, i.e. struggling with their own English proficiency, children's resistance to learning English, and difficulties in finding good tools for their bilingual parenting.
Maintaining constant contact with a community dedicated to children's bilingual development is essential when children may go through a period of ‘language shift’ when they enter school independently from their family (Clyne & Kipp, Reference Clyne and Kipp1997). Moreover, it is not easy for Korean mothers to use English in everyday life even though conversation with a young child does not require high English proficiency or native-like speaking skills. Most Korean mothers of young children are in their mid-20s to late-30s and have learned English as a foreign language as a school subject in Korea. Although some lived or studied English in English-speaking countries, they have few opportunities to use English in Korean society and find it difficult to use English in their daily lives.
Döpke (Reference Döpke1992) argued that schooling would negatively impact the use of the target language at home because children are likely to stop speaking the home language when they are exposed to the majority language in school and society. It is natural that parents become seriously concerned about children's resistance to use the target language, which is likely to lead to passive bilingualism or perhaps monolingualism. Therefore, in settings where English is not an official language of the country or likely to be heard in the public sphere, one purpose of bilingual parenting is to provide an English-use home environment, at least until the child goes to pre-school or kindergarten.
For non-native English speakers, searching for good language education methods while improving their own English proficiency requires great sacrifice, especially on the part of mothers, who struggle with difficulties and uncertainties in an area in which there are few solid guidelines. Searching for good materials is especially a burden to most Korean mothers because they have had little English or no learning experience in their own early childhood. Moreover, they may have no idea how to choose quality resources from the huge amount of language learning materials created for commercial purposes.
All of the topics for discussion seem to be predictable among the many questions raised by Korean mothers who are non-native English speakers trying to raise bilingual children, an enterprise that is quite new in EFL contexts such as Korea. It is not easy to find good references to follow as little longitudinal research has been conducted in this area, which would clarify the children's bilingual development stages as they grow older. While children in Korea can attain native-like proficiency in both languages with the help of regular contact with native speakers or frequent visits to English-speaking countries, these resources are available only to families who can afford them.
Enabling their children to achieve Korean-English bilingualism is one of the most fervent dreams of most Korean parents whatever their socio-economic status. It cannot be judged only in terms of the outcomes of their efforts, which are constrained by their access to resources. Moreover, bilingual parenting involves more than just having children develop communicative skills in both languages; rather, it forges links among family members through their efforts to understand each other and builds family bonds through the amount of time spent interacting. Therefore, regardless of others’ attitudes and their own uncertainties, it is important for parents to maintain their bilingual home practices with their children from an early age and keep to their initial resolution and family language plans. If parents consistently show their strong beliefs in bilingual education, the children may develop positive views on both languages that they are using.
Many mothers have difficulties balancing their roles as a mother and a language provider at home. Being a mother of young children requires limitless efforts and consistent involvement, especially in the first few years of care-giving. Assuming this responsibility may be easier for stay-at-home than for working mothers, there are still dilemmas within the complex situations. As non-native speakers of English consistently providing an English-speaking home environment and leading children to communicate in a language that is different from their community, all mothers need the support of others, including other members of the family and especially spouses, as well as salient self-help communities.
The findings suggest that it is common for Korean mothers to have difficulties practicing bilingual parenting at home as part of their daily lives and interactions with their children. Providing a home bilingual environment as a monolingual mother in a monolingual society is completely different from having the support of a bilingual culture. Therefore, most mothers in this study were experiencing difficulties and facing the dilemma of whether to maintain their current efforts or stop and send their children to private language institutions.
However, enabling their children to acquire bilingual language skills is not the mothers’ only aim. Rather, they want to build good child–parent relationships through language homeschooling. Through online communities like the blog in this study, they can receive ideas, encouragement, and guidance as they strive to provide good bilingual environments for their children and feel less isolated as they undertake an enterprise that others might criticize. These spaces may function as more than simply a forum in which to share stories and obtain advice; they can provide a comfort zone in which mothers obtain validation through sharing concerns and difficulties. There is no right way to raise bilingual children, but the resolution of the parents and regular practice despite difficulties are keys to successful bilingual parenting. Non-native input might not always be ideal, but it will positively affect children's bilingual acquisition.
YOUNGJOO SEO completed doctoral coursework at Hunkuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea, and obtained her PhD in the Department of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education, Indiana University. She is currently teaching business English to international students in the division of undeclared and exploratory majors at Pukyong National University, South Korea. Her research interests include language policy, language ideology, bilingual education, multicultural education, language teacher/learner identity, and critical pedagogy. Email: yjseo0922@gmail.com
