• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.180-194
• /
• 2016

The local identity of a female marriage migrant is not fixed to certain boundary or location, but rather comprised flexibly according to geographical movement or new settlement to different place. This research focuses on the local identity and life change of female marriage migrants that are constituted/reconstituted according to spatial transition, or migration. The analysis was conducted to find out traits of changes in the periods of migration and settlement based on the following categorization: multiculturalism and bicultural identity, assimilation and host country identity, exclusion and origin country identity, marginalization and marginal identity. The results are as follows; while having identical experience in terms of a migration, the local identities of marriage migrant women differed according to individual/regional characteristics as well as their respective roles within those traits. In addition, most of females showed passivity in maintaining and exposing their cultural identities of original states. Moreover the life satisfaction change of female marriage migrant that is type of assililation and host country identity is appeared more than others. through this assimilation and accommodation mean adaptation to female marriage migrant lived in Korea. However the intercultural competences of both marriage migrant woman and children in multicultural families facilitate the connection among different cultures. Based on these outcomes, with the transition to multicultural society and space, this research proposes the necessity of fostering global citizenship for mutual recognition of each culture, thus enabling coexistence.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.65 no.6
• /
• pp.63-78
• /
• 2015

This study explored culture adaptive attitudes and traditional dress donning practices among Japanese women who immigrated to Korea after marrying Korean men. Quantitative research was conducted on Korean-Japanese multicultural families. Participants were 233 married women who emigrated from Japan to Korea currently living in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. The data was analyzed using frequency analysis, t-test and correlation analysis. The findings were as follows: First, a positive relationship was found between Hanbok acceptance attitudes(HAA) and Kimono transmission attitudes(KTA). Both HAA and KTA had a positive relationship with ethnic identity. 43.3% of the respondents thought that they belonged both to Korean and Japanese ethnicity, 30.5% to Korean ethnicity, and 26.2% to Japanese ethnicity. Similar tendency (64.8% to bicultural identity, 31.3% to Korean, and 3.9% to Japanese) was found in the ethnic orientation towards their children. Both HAA and KTA had no difference in accordance with nationality, education and income level. Second, 70.4% of women had no experience of wearing Hanbok, and 90.1% had no experience of wearing Kimono. The women mostly wore Hanbok and Kimono for social events and family weddings.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.269-274
• /
• 2008

Consuming regular meals has been studied in relation to better health, while higher regularity of eating-out has been linked to obesity. This study examined whether acculturation was associated with regularity of meals, eating-out, and overweight in Korean Americans. Pre-tested questionnaires were mailed to a U.S. national sample with Korean American surnames, and 55% of the deliverable sample responded, producing 356 usable questionnaires. Acculturation was measured using a two-culture matrix model and Gordon's theoretical work, and showed there were three distinct groups (acculturated, bicultural, and traditional). Only 36% reported that they regularly ate three meals a day. Breakfast was the least frequent meal of the day with 43% reporting eating breakfast everyday. More than half (58%) reported that they usually eat out or get take-out food at least once a week. After controlling for age, sex, income, education, and working status, higher acculturation was related to greater regularity of eating-out, but not meal regularity. A total of 28% of men and 6% of women were overweight (BMI>25), and there were significant and positive relationships between body weight status and acculturation in men but not women. However, no significant relationships between frequency of meals and eating-out and overweight status were present. This study did not find significant relationships of meal regularity and eating-out with body weight, however, given the positive relationship between acculturation and eating-out among the subjects and the well-established relationship between eating-out and obesity, nutrition education about skipping meals and eating-for Korean Americans may be useful to prevent such relationships from developing.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.237-261
• /
• 2016

This study analyzed readers' responses of children of families with immigration background on children's literature that describes similar life experiences with the readers, based on Brooks & Browne's Culturally Situated Reader Response Theory. Six children between 10 and 16 met the researcher three times each, and read along four different texts about multiculturalism in Korea. The texts include On the Road Together, a picture book, and three short stories in The Black Egg. Participating children showed various ethnic identities - identity as a Korean; identity as a foreigner; identity between a Korean and a foreigner; identity as a child of a multicultural (bicultural) family. The children empathized with the characters or showed their frustrations against racism portrayed in the texts. The four texts used in this study worked as a mirror that reflects each child's own self, and further allowed the children to contemplate their own identities and speak out about their deepest thoughts and feelings. The children were dissatisfied with the main characters' powerlessness and depressing endings of the stories. They wanted the characters with immigration background to be positive and bright, and expected stories about peaceful relationship between children of families with immigration background and children with non-immigration background.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.15-29
• /
• 2015

The purpose of this study was to explore ethnic socialization enacted by Japanese marriage migrant women currently raising 7- to 18-year-old children in Korea. To accomplish this goal, we examined the following research questions: (1) What is the level of ethnic socialization enacted by Japanese marriage migrant mothers? (2) Does the level of ethnic socialization vary by demographic and ethnocultural factors? (3) To what extent do demographic and ethnocultural factors influence the enactment of ethnic socialization by Japanese marriage migrant mothers? The sample consisted of 243 Japanese marriage migrant women currently raising 7- to 18-year-old children in Korea. For data analysis, T-test, correlation, ANOVA, and hierarchical regression analyses were used. Also, we performed separate analyses for two subtypes of ethnic socialization in particular, namely cultural socialization and preparation for bias. Ethnocultural factors examined in this study were the level of discrimination experience, Japanese ethnic identity, and husbands' ethnic orientation in childrearing. The main results of this study were as follows. First, results showed that Japanese marriage migrant women enacted moderate levels of cultural socialization and preparation for bias. Second, Japanese marriage migrant women's cultural socialization and preparation for bias were both positively related to the levels of women's discrimination experience and Japanese ethnic identity. Also, the younger the age of the firstborn child, the more preparation for bias these women performed. In addition, women whose Korean husbands wanted to raise their children more biculturally performed more cultural socialization compared to those with Korean husbands who wanted to raise their children as Korean. Third, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that women's discrimination experience and ethnic identity positively predicted both types of ethnic socialization. Also, Korean husband's bicultural orientation towards childrearing predicted a higher level of cultural socialization by Japanese marriage migrant women. Results of this study provide basic information about ethnic socialization among multicultural families in Korea, which can be useful for promoting positive self-identity among multicultural children. Furthermore, the results suggest that husbands' support and cooperation in ethnic socialization can be crucial for marriage migrant women to socialize their children utilizing their cultural and experiential resources.

• Korean Journal of Comparative Education
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.97-121
• /
• 2018

The numbers of Korean immigrants and students in the United States are steadily increasing, but there have been very few studies of their second language literacy development (Cole, Maddox, Lim, & Notari-Syverson, 2002; Scarcellar & Chin, 1993; Shin, 1994; Skilton-Sylvester, 2001; Yu, 1994). Nor do the very few studies explore the inseparable relationship between Korean literacy and English literacy within a cultural context. This study aims to compare their views on Korean writing with those on English writing to see trace the multiliteracy development of Korean learners of English in the United States. I conducted in-depth oral interviews with Korean immigrants and students of various ages. They were asked to state everything they could remember about what they have learned to write and read in their native language and in their second language across their lifetimes, focusing particularly on the institutions they attended, materials they used, people involved in their learning, and their motivations for writing. The results reveal that the participants developed a view of writing specific to the Korean context and after they moved to the United States, they struggled to readjust the values and meanings they had had for Korean literacy to the second language context. The results of this study suggest future multiliteracy studies are needed to explore multiliteracy development in terms of the meanings and values language learners associate with their multiliteracy and help educational institutions and communities to approach second language learners' multiliteracy development as a life-long experience.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.117-149
• /
• 2011

This study examined the relationship between discrimination experienced by children of multicultural families and their psychological distress. As new minorities growing up with bicultural identities in Korean society, children from multicultural families are often exposed to racial discrimination and such experience often acts as a stressor in their everyday life. In order to examine the effect of discrimination on their psychological distress as well as the role of social support, a survey was conducted in 25 elementary schools in Daejeon city and Chungnam and Chungbuk province. Results indicated that children's experiences of discrimination significantly affected their psychological distress level that the more they were exposed to discrimination, the higher levels of depression and anxiety they experienced. Among social support domains, only peer support was found to be significantly related to both the experience of discrimination and their depression and anxiety levels. Supporting the social support deterioration model, the findings showed that more experiences of discrimination led to reduced peer support which in turn, increased the likelihood of being depressed and anxious. Peer support was also significant in partially mediating the discrimination-psychological distress relationship. Implications for social work practice with children from multicultural families are provided.