Too Korean to be White and Too White to Be Korean: Ethnic Identity Development Among Transracial Korean American Adoptees

2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy Hoffman ◽  
Edlyn Vallejo Peña
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-213
Author(s):  
Hyonsuk Cho ◽  
X. Christine Wang

Informed by positioning theory as well as a nexus of multimembership, the year-long case study examined how a 7-year-old Korean American bilingual child, Meeso, constructed her ethnic identity across different educational contexts. Data were collected through observations of Meeso’s interactions with her monolingual and bilingual peers and teachers. Discourse analysis revealed that Meeso constructed fluid ethnic identity positionings depending upon how she desired to position herself and to be positioned by others. We also identified that the social context, language proficiency, and peer dynamics were related to the process. Based on the findings, we discuss the roles of context, language, and peer interaction for bilingual students’ ethnic identity development.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moin Syed

The purpose of this chapter is to showcase how narrative, or the stories that people tell about their experiences, is a useful theoretical and methodological tool for understanding ethnic identity development. Over the past two decades, research on ethnic identity development has primarily relied on quantitative, rating-scale instruments (Phinney, 1992; Sellers et al., 1998). While this methodology has contributed to a strong knowledge base regarding the correlates and developmental course of ethnic identity (Quintana, 2007), what has been lacking is an analysis of the lived experiences that constitute one’s ethnic identity and contribute to its development. To this end, the chapter includes a synthesis of published and ongoing studies to illustrate how a narrative approach can contribute to theoretical issues of major importance to the study of ethnic identity: how ethnic identity develops, the role of context in development, and the dimensionality of ethnic identity. These examples highlight the close connection between method and theory, as well as how narrative research can inform subsequent survey-based work.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document