‘I read webtoon every day!’: young adult k-pop fans’ language learning and literacies with korean webcomics

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the transnational multimodal literacy practices of non-Korean college students in America who use the webtoon app, which showcases Korean webcomics (also called webtoons). The findings suggest that these practices promoted agency in reading, learning the Korean language, and developing critical cultural awareness. Along with the burgeoning outgrowth of Korean pop culture in the United States, Korean webtoons have become popular among adolescents and young adults. Yet, there is no literacy research on webtoon readers in a Western country. This qualitative study is drawn from three cases of non-Korean avid webtoon readers to examine their experiences. The findings showed that these young adults do not read webtoons just for pleasure. They had an explicit learning goal related to improving their Korean language skills and learning about Korean culture, which they had little opportunity to learn about during primary and secondary school. The purpose of this paper is to reiterate the importance of out-of-school literacy and transnational multimodal literacies by introducing how webtoons promoted reading and learning for its readers.

KEYWORDS:

• Korean webcomics
• webtoon
• multimodality
• korean popular culture
• out-of-school literacy
• transnational literacy

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor Dr. Nathan Phillips for his endless supports and invaluable guidance throughout the study. Lastly, I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics for their helpful suggestions and guidance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Hanae Kim

Hanae Kim is a Ph.D. Candidate in Language, Literacy, and Culture at the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and a Lecturer and Coordinator of Korean Basic Language Program at UIC.