Voices of Korean elementary students with study abroad experience and their parents: A language socialization approach to public school English classes

Voices of Korean elementary students with study abroad experience and their parents: A language socialization approach to public school English classes

This study examines the perception of Korean elementary school students with study abroad experience (SAE) and their parents toward public elementary English education as educational agents. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Korean returnee class students and five students from general classes of public schools in South Korea, along with interviews with ten parents, each lasting approximately twenty minutes. Based on the interview transcripts, the researchers conducted a thematic analysis from language socialization and ecological perspectives to derive subcategories emphasizing the learner’s agentive role and classroom ecology. The findings of this research recognize the participants’ limitations mainly due to their ambivalent position in public elementary English classes and their possibilities of affiliation with school-based English learning as authentic language users and knowledge constructors. Finally, the researchers present future considerations to enhance their agency in public English classrooms and to facilitate a collaborative educational atmosphere.