Jay Adamczyk

Gonzalez

ENC 1102

1 March 2023

Annotated Bibliography

“The Cost of Code Switching | Chandra Arthur | TEDxOrlando.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Aug.
2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
app=desktop&v=Bo3hRq2RnNI&ab_channel=TEDxTalks.
In this TedTalk, speaker Chandra Arthur talks about the ways in which code switching can

impact the life of a person and includes a personal experience in which it saved her life. Arthur

defines code switching as the action of someone reflexively or subtly changing the way they

reflect themselves. She speaks on a situation in which she was confronted by police officers with

loaded guns pointing at her, and how she was able to make it out of that situation alive due to her

ability to code switch. Aurthr brings up the idea that the expectation to code switch “threatens

true diversity”. By this she means that the expectation of African Americans to adapt their

language and appearance to be ‘suitable’ in professional settings takes away what connects them

to their culture. She talks on how there is a coined term for African Americans that ‘act’ white,

being the word Oreo, and how that term reflected her childhood in a way that she would change

the way she acted around her white friends in school in order to fit in. To bring the discussion to

a close, she states that the ability to code switch should not be seen as a lack of intelligence or

education, but rather as a showing of the individual's heritage and their ability to stay connected

to it.
 The reason I chose this particular TedTalk to be one of my sources is because it speaks

on the importance of code switching for African Americans in today's society. What Arthur says

is credible seeing that she herself is an African American woman who experiences and applied

the act of code switching throughout her entire life. In order to begin to understand code

switching and the impacts of it in Korean culture, I first must understand the origin and

importance of it, and this TedTalk highlights that well.

Lee, Wonseok. “Diversity of K-Pop: A Focus on Race, Language, and Musical Genre.”
OhioLINK ETD: Lee, Wonseok, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_olink/r/1501/10?
clear=10&p10_accession_num=bgsu1526067307402648.
In this paper written by Wonseok Lee, he explores the ways in which race and language have

begun to impact Korean music. He uses the term “Kpop” to define the Korean music he is

referring to and talks on how although Kpop is Korean pop music, it does not always mean the

lyrics are only in Korean. Lee talks on how in recent years the influence of the American music

industry has been large in Kpop. Seeing as the American music industry is the largest in the

world and thus has the most consumers, Korean music companies appeal to the American taste

by including English phrases in their songs and producing fully English songs. English has been

prevalent in Kpop lyrics since the 1990s, whether it be a few words or full sentences to

emphasize certain lines. However, prior to then Western culture was considered unhealthy and to

be avoided. Japanese was also considered ‘bad’ by the Korean government, and prior to 1998,

popular Japanese culture was banned in Korea. English ultimately started making its way into

Kpop lyrics as Western music’s influence started increasing with economic growth and

modernity. Lee states that the successful use of English in Kpop constructs a sophisticated image
and builds a linguistic gateway for international fans; he specifically uses Kpop group BTS as an

example because of the large growth they began to receive following the appeal to the Western

music industry. To end it, Lee says that the continued use of foreign languages in Kpop are an

indication of the globalization and diversity of Kpop.

The reason I included this paper is because it really highlights the topic I am looking at in how

the presence of English in Kpop has allowed for global growth. It goes along with the claim that

English inclusions in Kpop has positively impacted the music industry.

Blanco, Natalia. The Impact of the English Language in Korea: Konglish, 2018,
https://www.academia.edu/download/60346213/TFG_-
_The_Impact_of_the_English_Language_in_Korea20190820-129521-1tqzwez.pdf.
In this paper, Natalia Blanco talks on the different impacts English has in Korea, but what I am

specifically looking at in her paper is her mentions of Konglish. Konglish is described in many

ways, so it is hard to find a proper definition, but Blanco defines it as the English that is spoken

and written by native Korean speakers. Many view Konglish as a form of ‘broken’ English due

to the common vocabulary and grammar mistakes often made. Blanco explains how Konglish

goes beyond this definition in that it has evolved into a variation of language to fit Korean needs.

It is often considered a sub-language because it has linguistic considerations in that Konglish

“Koreanizes” English words to be used by native speakers. She brings in the common Korean

expression “Fighting” and how some English words are not code-switched but “borrowed” and

used as vocabulary regularly. The term “Fighting” is used as a form of encouragement and is

pronounced differently due to the Korean alphabet lacking the /f/ sound, so it is pronounced with

a /p/ sound instead. Blanco includes a statement about how Konglish has become an essential
part of Korean culture and that it is used almost everywhere in daily life. She specifically points

out that this use is found in areas where Western culture has gained popularity, particularly in

music. She talks about the influence of Western cultures in Kpop and how the use of Konglish is

found commonly in lyrics.

The reason I chose this paper to be one of my sources is because it talks on a similar topic of my

previous source by Wonseok Lee, however this paper coins it with the term Konglish and talks

on the influence of it. It digs deeper into the impact English has had on the language native

Korean speakers use, and briefly brings in Kpop into the discussion in regard to the lyrics.