The semiotics of learning Korean at home: an ecological autoethnographic perspective

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Language ecology
• language learning
• semiotics
• autoethnography
• Korean

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.