Erika Sertic

5 June 2018
Critical Discussion #2
Throughout the article, there are few ideas that shape the article. One of the most critical
ideas presented is the relationship between language, be that L1 or L2, and the speaker’s self-
identity. Another idea that is important to the discussion in the article is the idea of gender
ideology. Within the article, they mention “hegemonic gendered ideals” which ties back into the
discussion that we had in Module One. Although Module One was linguistic hegemony rather
than gender ideals, the concept of hegemony and where the power is a critical piece of teaching
TEFL. The author also discusses how the participants in the study described liberation or
empowerment from learning a second language. The last idea presented as a key concept was the
idea of externalization; the speaker’s L2 identity becomes more important to their self than their
L1 identity.
Gender can be a barrier in most languages. However, in a language like English, it’s
women that feel the most liberated by learning. The example given in the text was how Japanese
women who learned English felt empowered, because English gave them a medium to talk about
topics they can’t in Japanese. These included “their relationships with their mothers, their
experiences with gender discrimination at work, and their responses to societal pressures to be
married and raise children” (82). Another example of empowerment was brought up in our group
discussion with Tanetha. She had mention she had friends who are international students. They
found English empowering because they could have frank discussions about things like sex,
which was taboo in her friend’s country. These conversations weren’t possible in her friend’s
home country due in part to her gender.
From my observation as a foreigner, I have not noticed a feeling of betrayal from Korean
speakers to speak English. The only reactions that I have seen is shopkeepers and other people
attempting to accommodate me by using the English they do know. On the other hand, for Jaime
she has experienced this idea of betrayal to her L1. During our discussion, she spoke about
students talking behind her back about “Oh, if she’s Korean, why isn’t she just using Korean?”.
These comments have also been echoed by teachers. While I don’t have experience with this,
because I very blatantly look like a foreigner, people that are Korean often have the experience
of being judged by other Koreans for their use of English, when they could be using their L1.

At Kyunghwa, I feel that some of the girls’ comments have had similar impressions as
the women referenced in the article. While they learn English, it is unlikely that they want that
English for more than a competitive resume or college application. That being said, for the most
part, the students don’t desire to live in America or another English majority country. They also
believe that just having English skills will help them to secure a good job, but in South Korea.
This relates particularly well with the students that were interviewed by Vasilopoulos.

I think that the most important ideas in this article was the idea of empowerment from
SLA. Both genders can feel empowered, but only the male respondents felt that they needed to
get away from their L1 home. However, while not the case for the female respondents, women
can feel empowered by language learning as well. Their language learning can provide an
essential way to communicate thoughts that can’t be discussed in their L1. This empowerment I
felt like was the most important idea of the article.
 Works Cited

Vasilopoulos, Gene. “The Multiple Roles and Functions of English in South Korea.” Iranian
Journal of Language Teaching Research, vol. 1, no. 3, Oct. 2013, pp. 79–94.