Korean Christian Students' Adaptation and Integration in British Society: Their Identity Formation and Negotiation Processes

1 This paper explores Korean Christian students' adaptation and integration process in Britain, and their identity formation and negotiation, primarily based on ethnographic research. Korean student migrants undergo peculiar types of challenges during their integration process and experience conflicts between previously obtained and newly formed identities. Their attendance of and involvement in either a Korean or a British church helps them to overcome these challenges and influences them to continually (re)form identity/identities. While negotiating between different identities, their Christian identity – as their original identity that transcends cultural boundaries and influences – reminds them of their ontological value and encourages them to continue their life as migrants despite the challenges. Nevertheless, I will examine at the same time the notion that the migrants' Christian identity is a Korean Christian identity with cultural identity markers that define a Korean ethnic identity, which provides them hope in British society not only to survive but even to flourish as migrants.

Ki-Yong Nam: A Korean Marathon Runner Under Japanese Colonial Rule

This article presents a biographical investigation of Ki-Yong Nam, revealing a little-known story of a Korean marathon runner who lost the opportunity to compete in the canceled 1940 Olympics under Japanese colonial rule. During the Japanese colonial and postcolonial eras, Korean marathoners produced world-class performances in elite events including the Olympic Games and Boston Marathon. Their achievements served as an inspiration to ethnic Koreans during Japanese colonial rule. Today, many Koreans remember these athletes as sport activists and heroes. However, athletes who endeavored to express Korean ethnic identity received scant attention during the war period. This article explores a significant individual whose experiences and ethnic identity were largely erased from history due to the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, while also illuminating his life after athletics as a coach and physical education teacher in postcolonial South Korea.

The functions of Code-switching in a Korean Sunday School

In a bilingual community, people often switch from one language to another in their daily conversations and the use of code-switching often reflects the social or cultural identities of the speakers. The switch to a particular language in the bilingual discourse can also be employed as an effective vehicle to signal ethnic identity. This paper seeks to explore the functions of code-switching in a Korean Sunday school through an analysis of codeswitching data. I identify situation-related code-switching by examining participants’ talk and the particular situations which prompt the use of Korean. I also demonstrate how Korean is used in particular conversational acts, for example in directives, to invoke figures of authority and how Korean may also be used to avoid saying things which might be found offensive. In this vein, I argue that the use of Korean in bilingual discourse may index Korean ethnic identity by evoking the traditional social ideology of relative status and increasing solidarity.