Introduction:

I have spent more time in Korea in the last ten years than in my homeland. Now I find myself back in Korea, more deeply immersed than ever before, living with my Korean parents-in-law. Despite all this experience with Korean culture, what I am learning now only makes me feel that there is still a great deal more I have to learn. I am still at a loss to explain their behavior and thinking and at an even greater loss to communicate appropriately in Korean. I have serious doubts that I can ever be a part of Korean society but am confronted with the prospects of staying here and even raising my child here. No longer am I just another English teacher doing an ethnography on Korean culture so I can understand my students better, I am like a child trying to learn the rules of his own society.

Research Methodology:

This is the report of an ethnographic interview conducted in fall 1999 between a Korean informant and I, the interviewer. The research methodology was an attempt at getting as close as possible to the methods prescribed by J.P. Spradley in his text The Ethnographic Interview. This was not an extensive ethnography of the entire Korean culture but merely an ethnography of one informant’s self-reported role in Korean society at the time of the interview.

Divergence from the Methodology: Failure to Completely Put Presumptions Aside.

No longer satisfied with collecting data about the surface level aspects of Korean culture (e.g., karaoke and kim chi) I pushed hard for information from my informant and was rarely satisfied. In fact, I would have to admit that my pushing may have outstepped the guidelines prescribed by Spradley in his text The Ethnographic Interview (1979) in that I felt I knew too much and couldn’t always pretend to be ignorant, putting my judgement and presumptions aside. I could not be satisfied with superficial answers and may have been too impatient when I knew that my informant was leaving out details. At times I directly told her what I thought I knew to be true in order to get her to talk about these things.

Frustration in Obtaining Personally Satisfying Data: Resorting to Secondary Sources

As stated earlier, this was not my first exposure to Korean culture, I was striving for a deeper understanding of my informant’s culture but I feel that my relationship to the informant (we were academic coeds) was placing limits on her ability to open up with me. I followed the ethnographic interview procedure with this one informant for a while and got very little information to help me understand her culture better than I already did. In fact, I would later find out that the picture she was painting of her life in Buffalo was not accurate. She was reluctant to give me the information I was seeking, possibly out of fear that it might affect her relationship with her peers. Many of her answers seemed superficial to me. Perhaps this was due to my own inability to establish a rapport sufficient enough to get at such sensitive information. To get some of the information I wanted and verify what I was learning, I sought secondary informants with whom I was already closer and with whom I could check my hypotheses. I also sought literature to give me more insight and leads for deeper questioning. In the search for relevant literature I found Park’s doctoral dissertation on Korean’s social behavior while attending the English Language Institute at the University of Buffalo (1998).

Finding an Informant:

From this experience in ethnographic interviewing I discovered that one’s choice of informants and one’s relationship to that informant strongly affect the data obtained in the ethnographic interview; and therefore, affect the conclusions one might draw about the informants culture. Admittedly my informant was found by default. I wanted to interview a Korean so I started with one of my Korean classmates as it seemed convenient for both of us and would help me become more acquainted with my classmates. In retrospect, this may have been a mistake because having some relationship with her and her circle may have made her feel more inhibited since I had some contact with her peers and could hurt her image and her relationship with them. Falsely believing that I had made a logical choice though, I began interviewing her.

The First Interview: Introductions and Rapport Building

The first interview went much like any conversation except for my posing of questions that might normally be considered intrusive among strangers if not for the stated purpose of conducting an ethnography. I attempted to get to know her better. I wanted to get acquainted with her and build some rapport and trust (this is recommended by Spradley). We talked for a while so I could find out who she was and what she felt her role in her society was (both Korean society and American society). Little did I know that I was touching on what would become some of the most important details already - her identity as built by her affiliations. After transcribing the first interview I thought that I hadn’t found any domains I could pursue with structural questions, so, in accordance with Spradley’s guidelines, I focused on descriptive questions in the next interview.

Finding and Stating a Purpose for the Interviewing:

As my informant was attending an American university with a large Korean community at the time of the interview, I felt that it was more appropriate to inquire about her role in the community she was currently a member of instead of her life in Korea. I decided to focus on obtaining her descriptions of Korean’s lifestyles in her society at the University of Buffalo. In the second interview I asked her to describe the ways she and other Korean U.B. students typically spend their spare time while here in the United States. I asked her for narrative style descriptions of gatherings and events. This naturally led to structural questions about the various groups she and others associate with. This interview, like the first, maintained a conversation-like demeanor as prescribed by Spradley, and because I wasn’t investigating with any apparent hypotheses or prejudices and the investigation was somewhat collaborative, I could say that the research at this point was naturalistic inquiry (Seidman, 1991). From this second interview however, I was left with the impression that she was totally enclosed in an enclave of Korean culture and began to take interest in why this was often so with Koreans living overseas.

Inquiry Versus Conversation:

The guidelines from Spradley’s text, The Ethnographic Interview (1979), describe various types of questions that must be asked in a certain way in order to keep the integrity of the data. While Spradley stresses that these must be followed, he also stresses the importance of keeping the interview conversation-like to the point that it allows rapport to be maintained and doesn’t become an interrogation. Question types represent a disciplined inquiry and vary from conversation in a number of ways, yet may be interspersed with one another as they might naturally occur in a conversation. The primary difference between this sort of inquiry and conversation is its stated purpose and the putting aside of prejudices and presumptions.

Question Types and Techniques:

In the first interview I focused on asking friendly questions that I felt would establish a rapport and give me a better idea of what I my purpose could be. These gave me domains that I would later follow up on with structural questions but didn’t realize were domains at the time. These domains included: social groups my informant was a member of, activities that she enjoyed, and the places that she frequented.

In the second interview I gave my informant a project explanation more specifically explaining what I was interested in so she and I could collaborate more. I told her that I was interested in her life at the University and the social lives of Koreans there. This stated purpose may have led her to believe that talking about her friendships with non-Koreans was irrelevant, and this, coupled with her believing that I was only interested in Korean things, may have led her to give information that gave me the impression that she was totally enclosed in a Korean foreign student micro-culture.

The second interview asked more about the groups she affiliated with at the University. Eventually she told me about the TESOLians, a group of Korean TESOL graduate students she associated with. I asked descriptive questions about what they do when they get together and what they talk about. This led to many native language explanations my informant used to describe their social groups. One example of a native term that was used and defined is the Korean word mo-im, which means a get-together and could be a party or some event. The second interview focused largely on understanding mo-ims through descriptive questions such as the grand tour question in which I asked her to describe a recent mo-im as a detailed narrative from beginning to end and another when I asked her to describe how she would feel if a non-Korean showed up uninvited.

On her own accord, the theme of collectivism came up repeatedly during the second and third interviews. I later took this as a cue that much of what connected my domains were the manifestations of collectivism in Korean culture in their societies at the University of Buffalo. In the third interview, I incorporated many of her native terms into my own questions and used structural questions and contrast questions to clarify the domains members and boundaries and their relationship to the theme of collectivism.

In the fourth interview, I followed the guidelines of Seidman (1991) to engage in member checking and thus check my hypotheses with the informant by letting her see the work in progress. This was extremely useful as it clarified many misconceptions I had and finally brought out the fact that she was not really as enclosed in Korean society as I had assumed (or been led to believe). I found out that she did what she could to keep some distance and that her best friend and constant companion was Japanese.

Discussing My Hypotheses with Secondary Informants:

Finally, I began to ask my Korean friends what they thought of the hypotheses I was making. This stage was very interesting and worthwhile as each interaction resulted in interesting conversations full of valuable insight into the life of Korean students in the United States. Although these dialogues were not the descriptive or structural questions Spradley talks about and are the opinions of various informants about their society at the University of Buffalo, I found their comments to be quite helpful, intelligent and well thought-out. Consequently, I also discovered that all the Koreans in the department could easily tell who my informant was merely by examining a few of the details about her life and doing a process of elimination. I soon realized why she was being so protective and was told by her peers that much of the image she was portraying to me was contrived out of self-preservation.

Finding Themes:

The theme that I finished with was the question

• "How might Korean culture be affecting Koreans’ ability or willingness to integrate with non-Korean groups while studying in the American university programs?"

• "What are the manifestations of Korean collectivism in the societies in American universities?"
• "How is my informant’s behavior restricted by or affected by her Korean peers?"

• How has my informant successfully avoided becoming completely enclosed in Korean groups at the university?

Collectivism in Korea:

It is hard to make generalizations from one culture to the next, including with such terms as collectivism; yet it is clear that collectivism manifests itself in many ways, and that understanding the influence of collectivism is key to understanding Korean culture. Koreans have a few words that might translate into collectivism, each with its own specific associations and implications. The most common one, kong dong chae, always has positive connotations and is associated with cooperation. Examples of kong dong chae include farmers in a village coming together to help an individual farmer in need of a few extra hands, or students in a class offering special help to one who is having difficulty understanding the material. This behavior is viewed as social and positive. Another common word with either negative or positive connotations, jib dan ju wi, can be used to describe any kind of group thinking, ranging from the way that alumni of the same university may share many of the same personality qualities to the sometimes cult-like behavior attributed to some of the Korean religious groups.

This use of the informant’s language’s terms to describe her life is in accordance with Spradley’s guidelines. First language terms taken from the primary informant and checked with over five Korean secondary informants. Korean-English / English Korean dictionaries were consulted and found to be grossly inadequate for this purpose.

One thing I learned in my research was that Koreans as collectivists are strongly influenced by their peers. In the case of Americans, we may be influenced by our peers and conforming to norms too, but all too often we do it unaware. In fact, in our culture, it is generally considered immature to be influenced by other people and peer pressure is viewed negatively. We place a strong emphasis on "being ourselves". This is not the case in Korean culture. Koreans who are always conscious of the group and considerate of other’s opinions are considered to be mature; those who are concerned only about themselves and don’t conform to groups are considered poorly adjusted to society. I was very surprised to find how aware my Korean informants were of the influence that groups had on their behavior.

Chae Myon – a normative concept of face:

Being collectivist doesn’t necessarily imply being egalitarian however. The groups that one belongs to are highly stratified, and moreover, one group may be more prestigious than another. Korean groups are highly stratified and often competitive even. One member has authority over others often based on seniority, education, achievement, occupation or affiliation with other more prestigious groups. This prestige is known in Korean as chae myon. It is what westerners might call face, but unlike the western sense of face, chae myon is highly normative. Thus the individual does not set the standards by which he will gain chae myon, but is instead dependent on his society to set these standards. The closest word I can find to this concept in English is prestige. One way such prestige might be gained is from having graduated with a certain degree from a certain university. This sounds nice to us academics but unfortunately the name means more than the education. In another example, in simple day to day events, chae myon may come just by being right about something (or just having everyone agree that you are right), or any other such formal acknowledgement of your worth. See Lim and Choi (1996) for a definition of chae myon

My Primary Informant’s World: Group membership

Based on the previous revelations it becomes imperative that we know what groups my informant is a member of and then determine how it is affecting her behavior. At first, gathering this information about the groups my informant belonged to seemed to be a rather unimportant "getting to know you" stage in the interviewing process, but later I realized that it was some of the most important information of all – the most significant domains in my research.
 

Racial Identity:

Firstly, my informant is a Korean. Koreans always identify themselves as Korean first - the first in-group. In a room full of people, the people who they generally affiliate themselves with first are the other Koreans. In group thinking or jib dan ju wi, they must be considerate of the others in their group and maintain appearances for them. In the case of living overseas, this notion seems to extend as far as every Korean person. In some cases overseas, they might be even more worried about what their Korean peers are thinking since it is a smaller community. In extreme cases of jib dan ju wi, the Koreans may feel that one is betraying their group by associating with other groups, and in the case of Koreans overseas, this would lead to a reluctance to associate with non-Korean groups or integrate in general.

The notion of Korean peers as a group with a great influence makes it necessary to raise the question

As stated earlier "we Koreans" is the first group to which Koreans belong, are obligated to, and must protect the face of. This may make it very difficult for a non-Korean to discuss Korean culture with a Korean. This notion is based on my own experiences and on verification with secondary sources. This might also explain the difficulty I had in obtaining more sensitive information about Korean culture from my informant. A secondary informant told me that if my primary informant gave me information that might lead me to a negative view of Korean culture then not only would she loose face as a member of that group, but she would also look extremely bad once I presented it. To make matters worse, it was soon obvious to me that I couldn’t keep the identity of my informant secret in such a small community. The secondary informant warned me that if I caused Koreans to look bad in my class presentation, then my informant would "get a hard time" from her Korean peers.

Emotional and Behavioral Features:

Another thing that makes a person Korean is emotions and behavior. This is not to say that one can become a Korean by acting or feeling a certain way, but that by acting and feeling a certain way, one can become like a Korean. As stated previously, being Korean implies identifying with Koreans before non-Koreans and sharing in their face or chae myon. Park (1998) describes chae myon as a sort of peer evaluation. Put into those terms, fear of negative evaluation from her peers would clearly make my Korean informant more inhibited about cooperating with me for my presentation. Besides that, there are many feelings and personal characteristics that Koreans often assume are only found in Koreans and therefore, set them apart from others and make it more difficult for outsiders to relate. I have seen this in the times that Koreans told me that a Wei Guk In could never understand what they were feeling. Only another Korean could understand.

Han:

One of these emotions that is commonly believed to be unique to Koreans and traditionally very important in Korean culture as seen in Korean folk art, music, drama and dance, is the concept of the Han. The Han is so much a traditional part of Korean culture that it is getting to be seen as old fashioned by the younger generation, especially since they associate it with negative things. To those who don’t really know the Han it is often misconstrued as Koreans traditionally placing a value on looking sad, even when they aren’t. My informant found it humorous and strange that I would zero in on the Han to characterize one of the emotions Koreans feel are unique to them. The Han is a sense of dignified suffering and acceptance of hardship and the strength that comes with it. It is a certain depth of character that Koreans are attracted to. In the old days, when society was more oppressive and unyielding, Han was a major part of life. Later, during the Japanese occupation, Han was what set the Koreans apart from their oppressors as they believed it gave them more soul and character. Today it is not such a part of the younger generation’s values but it is still considered something that sets Koreans apart from foreigners. The only English language parallel I can find would be the African-American concept of "the Blues". It is not that Koreans believe that non-Koreans cannot have such a feeling, but it is more likely that they cannot see how it is expressed in people of other cultures.

Jung:

Jung is a sense of affection and mutual understanding that may exist between two people whether they be partners or enemies, but is traditionally considered to be stronger and less superficial than love. While love may at times be temporary and fickle, jung is built up over time. Jung is what makes relationships "solid". This notion was expressed by all my informants and literary sources. Although Koreans don’t tend to believe that jung is unique to Koreans they do tend to be unable to identify it in non-Koreans and will therefore think that something is missing. This definition is taken from all of my sources.

This Korean manifestation of collectivism was already explained some earlier but deserves more treatment. The word chae shows us that this is a sense, a feeling that someone can develop. A good example is when a Korean eats his food in the office he won’t eat in front of others as that would be rude. He must consider others hunger. In such a situation it would be common and expected for him to share his food with everyone in the office. For this reason, lunch is usually a communal endeavor. Even if he chooses to eat out, he still must be concerned about whether someone in the office is going hungry. Another good example would be when a Korean walks by a bakery and sees a delicious looking cake in the window. Instead of thinking about how nice it would be to eat the cake, he thinks about how nice it would be to share that cake with friends. Obviously, this sense is something Koreans would find lacking in most Americans. This definition is taken from my informants and elaborated on by my own experiences in Korean society.

Noon chi:

Just as material gains and losses are shared in Korean collectivism, so are immaterial gains and losses ranging from sorrow to the loss of face. Chae myon, or face, must be attended to constantly, by oneself and by others because causing another to loose face is causing yourself to loose face. Because of this, a highly valued social skill is noon chi, the skill of attending to or maintaining face. This involves seeing were some face-loosing situation might arise and averting it. Sensitivity enough to be able to do this for others is necessary in Korean society. Noon chi often involves indirect communication. See Lim and Choi (1996) for a definition of noon chi. Park (1998) reports that many Koreans believe English lacks the means to engage in noon chi. English is a low context language with an emphasis on directness not suitable for noon chi speech acts.

• A Korean is a Han Guk In [a tautological definition].

• A Korean has Hyeol Tong (Korean blood coming from his father)

• "Koreans are very interested in the people around them" – kong dong chae – a sense of collectivism.
• A Korean has a stronger emotional bond with her parents, respects them and feels responsible to them.
• Likewise, Korean parents are more supportive financially; this support is reciprocal, a sort of interdependency.
• Koreans always consult their parents or friends when making decisions so they often lack the ability to make their own decisions.
• Koreans are concerned about chae myon.
• Koreans are careful about attending to others chae myon; this consideration is called noon chi and often involves being indirect.
• Jung
• Korean people don’t like to do things by themselves

• Han
• Seeking "sound" relationships and not neglecting previously established relationships even at the expense of creating new relationships (Park, 1998)

• A Korean shares in the chae myon of all Koreans and likewise affects the chae myon of all other Koreans.

• Han Guk In
• Koreans living in North America
• Koreans attending the University of Buffalo – KSA and KOGSA
• Ewha In
• TESOLians
• Her marriage

Korean student union events are something that my informant admits feeling obligated to attend and contribute to, although usually quite willingly as they serve food and provide Korean entertainment. Another informant however, complained of being bossed around by the Korean student union. Both reported that they are not invited to participate in decision making but are still expected to take orders on how they should contribute. Overall, the planning seems to be done by one man who is not afraid to tell others what to do. Having attended some of these events I found that they didn’t seem to have considered whether non-Koreans would attend or whether they should be welcomed and served. Despite the size of these organizations and the frequency of their activity, they do little outreach to non-Koreans. My informant even seemed uncomfortable to see me there. While the Koreans who knew me personally welcomed me, the goings on were conducted in Korean and the entertainment revolved around them knowing one another. An M.C. was using Karaoke as a way to draw them up to the front and make them sing and act for the group. Inside jokes were made in Korean to the audience. Korean church ministers moved about the crowd trying to build ties. I found it interesting that the Korean graduate students have to have a separate student union from the undergraduates but yet somehow reign over them.

Ewha In – Alumni of Ewha Women’s University:

According to my informant, the university one attends is a name that stays with him for the rest of his life. My informant cited her alumni as one of the groups that she belongs to and that influences her. That university is Ewha Women’s University and her affiliation with it is so strong that she is considered to be an Ewha In or an Ewha person. To put it less strongly she might simply say that she is an Ewha. In American culture only Ivy League people would refer to themselves by their university (i.e., a "Yale person" or a "Harvard man"). Others might find it intimidating or arrogant. In the case of Koreans though, this affiliation lasts them their whole life and is important for gaining access to many routes of success or favoritism. Like a fraternity, they continue to do favors for one another and "pull strings" long after their college days are over. Moreover, they wear the name like a badge on their chest that increases their chae myon thus making them better candidates for employment and even marriage. Another thing that distinguishes the Korean sense of alumni is the way that certain behavior can be expected of them; certain behavior is unbecoming of an Ewha In as it would cause the group to loose chae myon. Thus it can be concluded that membership in such a group is affecting behavior and opportunities for success.

TESOLians – Korean members of the TESOL program:

I was surprised as a member of the TESOL program at the University of Buffalo to find that the Korean members had their very own group and their very own activities. They have picnics and parties but never invite non-Korean TESOL majors. They even have a term for members of their group – TESOLian (as in Sicilian or Brazilian only with Korean pronunciation "tesol-LI-un"). This group has a leader who arranges events or get-togethers and tells all her members how they should contribute. TESOLian get-togethers are entirely Korean in membership, choice of activity and language, even if it is a study session.

Marriage – being an ajima:

While my informant maintained that her marriage was not one of these groups (or at least does not fit with the other items I am categorizing it with) she agreed that it was affecting the way she related to the rest of the Koreans at the University. The informant reported that her husband had spent much of his life overseas and was thus very "western". He was not very possessive or controlling so she enjoyed a lot of liberty and was even encouraged to spend time with non-Koreans.

"Marriage completely separates them." – Secondary informant
 
 
 

Domain #5 – How being an ajima (married woman) affects my informant’s relations with the Korean UB society.

• Other ajima may want to talk to her about ajima things (e.g., marriage, raising children, educating their children, cooking for their family) but since she is young and has no children this isn’t likely.
• Men treat her "more carefully".

• She is viewed as being more "mature" but likewise is expected to behave more "maturely" (i.e., in a manner befitting an ajima).
• According to a secondary informant "marriage completely separates" women from the rest of society (except for other ajimas).
• According to Park (1998) ajimas are somewhat above a lot of the peer pressure, ostracism and other enforcement mechanisms, so, they are freer to associate with non-Koreans if their husbands allow it.

Couples who are already married might miss out on this opportunity and feel less of an incentive to go out and mingle with the locals. They would be obliged to spend time with their spouses and children; wives may even be restrained by their husbands or shut out of certain groups. This seems to be the case for many of the Koreans interviewed by Park (1998).

Christian churches seem to be major centers of Korean social activity here in the United States to the extent to which, according to my informants’ and my own observations, some Koreans will "become Christians" just for the support they offer. A secondary informant remarked that for some ajimas in the Buffalo Korean community, the churches are all they have left, so they get fanatical. My informant didn’t attend Korean church services and felt somewhat cut out of much of the community because of it, thus she disliked Koreans who pretended to be Christian just so they could join. From my own observations, the churches actively recruit new coming students and offer a great deal of assistance to them. According to Park (1998) this would create a feeling of obligation to that group. These churches meet as many as three times a week and could take up much of their members’ time; time that might otherwise be spent out in the general community. This may create a type of enclosure that makes integration with non-Korean groups unlikely (see Schumman 1978 for the definition of this term).
 

It’s very difficult to picture the informant’s world as ven diagrams because one circle or in-group isn’t necessarily equal to others and members of any in-group may vary on the degree to which they are "in" and also fall into a sharp hierarchy within the group. This notion is based on information from all of my sources. It is also important to note that as an ajima (married woman) my informant is insulated from much of what goes on in her own groups as she is primari family unit. To be an effective illustration, this diagram would have to be a four dimensional model.

Due to Korean collectivism, identifying the groups to which a one belongs and their place within that group’s hierarchy is essential to understanding a Korean’s behavior and thinking. (normative che myon, Lim & Choi, 1996)

According to informants in the study by Park (1998), "real Koreans" feel a sense of obligation to those whom have helped them and with whom they have already established relationships. This feeling of obligation may be so strong with some that they may have to pass up opportunities to meet new people in order to stay with their group. In some cases Koreans may feel that they are betraying their group when they associate with those outside of it, and this feeling may be reinforced by signals sent from their group that show they acknowledge and resent this betrayal. In the case of my informant however, she felt free about associating with non-Korean groups and spent much of her time with a Japanese friend with whom she had established a sound relationship. She even reported feeling that her Japanese friend was somehow "like a Korean" inside. Yet, my informant still felt obligated to attend mo ims (get-togethers) organized by the TESOL or KOGSA groups and reported a lot of pressure to conform or at least maintain an image within the Korean community. Overall, being an ajima (married woman) and not being a Korean church member loosened her obligations though.

My informant repeatedly expressed a belief that Koreans to one another are closer than Americans are. This belief was mostly supported by describing activities that Koreans tend to think make people closer. A secondary informant confirmed that Koreans do these activities because they believe it makes them closer but expressed some doubts that this closeness was genuine and worthwhile. She spoke rather pessimistically about such activities and the obligation Koreans feel to participate in them. These obligatory gatherings or get-togethers for people within a certain circle are called mo-im in Korean. They are central to Koreans’ feelings of obligation to one another and were a topic of much of my interview with my primary informant.

Domain #6 – "reasons why Korean people are closer"

"Koreans say that eating together and sleeping together make people close."

"They will do these things [with other Koreans] anywhere [in the world]."

• Secondary informant

The mo ims provide little opportunity for the members to talk about who they are and how they feel because they are so busy doing things. The closeness they claim to foster may in fact be cosmetic. Korean circles are not necessarily more open, warm or trusting than American circles, in fact many latent hostilities can exist and brew. Members aren’t necessarily more open about their personal lives than American circles, in fact they may be more reluctant to talk about themselves out of fear of gossip and judgement. Finally, collectivism in Korea is accompanied by hierarchical feelings that put some in lower roles that may at times be restrictive, or even degrading, and verbal abuse is rampant. It is necessary to try to rise up in such a pecking order, and this leads to competitiveness. Competitiveness and jealousy are not contrary to Korean collectivism.

• Informant in the Park study (1998).

Fighting or at least quarreling, according to may informants is viewed as a sign that people care for each other. Generally it is believed that people who don’t fight don’t care for one another. Not fighting is viewed as indifference and stories abound about the couple that stayed married for fifteen years without fighting but one day divorced (I get these from my wife and friends). The following are some sayings about drinking taken from Korean:

I was continually shocked at how thoroughly Korean everything was (i.e., Korean music, Korean food, Korean television and so on). I was put under the impression that she was living in a complete enclosure (see Schumman, 1978) and suspected that there may also be some retreat going on (see Wurzel, 1996). If they were engineering students it might seem more acceptable to live in a little enclave of their own nationality and culture, but these were English teachers behaving this way. Is it acceptable for language teachers to go to the nation of their study and then not take the opportunity to immerse themselves in the language and culture? What sort of example are they setting for their students? The good news is that, after observing my primary informant’s social networks, I found that her description of the Korean-ness of her lifestyle was inaccurate. She associates with many non-Koreans and does not enclose herself in Korean groups as she claims. This is especially evident in her resisting participation in Korean church services and activities as well as lying to escape from mo ims. I suspect that she put up a front with me in order to protect herself.

The following comes from an interview with a secondary informant in which I asked her to explain the retreat:

"Because there is such a strong sense of collectivism… Koreans feel more out of water [when they come to America] then other people do… because of that strong bond… so they yearn more for Korean things."

• Taken from the primary informant

"They don’t interact with other international students because they compare themselves to them and find people who speak English better than them. It causes an inferiority complex. They wonder, "What I did was nothing?""

Communication and the Question of "Closeness":

From the perspective of an American who lives in Korea, I am not convinced that Koreans are necessarily closer than Americans. Firstly, "closer" is a subjective word and is probably culturally laden. What is considered to be closeness in American culture is probably different than that of Korean culture. My informant seems to define closeness as the sharing of property, action, beliefs and experiences. Certain events or activities make people closer according to her. One "evidence" of their closeness is their ability to "read each others minds" or sensitivity to other people’s needs, feelings and face. From an American point of view, this closeness may be considered as cult-like behavior or intrusive into ones privacy and autonomy. Americans might feel that this closeness is something to be liberated from and would question the lack of trust. As an American I feel that Americans place a high value on honesty and directness and would see a contradiction in Korean’s closeness and their inability to talk openly to their friends.

High-Context Speech and Noon Chi:

The Korean language may be one of the most high context languages in the world. One of my secondary informants complained that Koreans always expect her to be able to read their minds. I have a similar problem with my wife. I often have to do detective work to find out what she’s really upset about. Sometimes what she appears to be upset about isn’t what she’s really upset about. The fact that she is upset is open, but what it’s about is unclear. Much of Korean communication is like this. If someone has to state something directly, then both parties loose face. This is the reason for noon chi, Korean’s indirect negotiation for the saving and maintaining of face. Korean is an extremely expressive language, highly suitable for poetry. While English communication often requires information about agents, objects, time, quantities, countability, and who shares the knowledge, Korean demands information about social relations and allows for an incredible ability to imply feelings. Much of this is done through its ability to create new adjectives (actually "descriptive verbs" in linguistic terms). One color can be described in as many as thirty ways without changing the actual physical color, but instead implying the feelings of the speaker. All of this flexibility and indirectness allows for a great deal of negotiation and face saving.

Linguistic Expressions of Collectivism:

Besides the high-context nature of the Korean language, there are many other examples of how collectivism is expressed in Korean. One such way is the concept of "oo-ree". Oo-ree basically translates into the pronoun "we" but takes on a whole philosophical meaning in Korean culture, one strongly rooted in Korean Confucianism or Yu-Kyo. When Koreans speak, they usually speak from the point of view of a group of which they are a member, such as their family, their company or their classmates. This is seen in the way they often choose to express their feelings by starting with "We Koreans believe…" Needless to say, this quickly begins to bother Americans. The use of Oo-ree is not necessary in modern spoken Korean though because it requires no stated subject as the subject is easily inferred by the conjugation of the verb, the choice of words and the context. In classical literature it is much more common. A more common expression of the oo-ree concept in Korean is its use in the possessive form as "our" in describing possessions that are private as shared. An extreme example is saying "Our wife" when the speaker has no intention of actually sharing his wife.

Suitable Topics of Conversation:

As I was saying earlier, Korean society places many restrictions on what one may say, to whom, at what time. These restrictions are by no means unique to the Korean language; such pragmatics are universally existent in language but vary in their rules. Let me give a personal example from my own experiences with attempting to speak Korean. Once I tried to tell my Korean father-in-law that I was really impressed by how much English he had recently learned. My genuine exclamation of surprise was met with a look of shock and disapproval from my Korean family though. I was quickly told by my wife that I wasn’t supposed to say those things to him because I had no right to judge him positively or negatively. It is like all those times I asked my wife "How do you say this in Korean?" and she answered "We don’t."

The task at hand now is to get some idea what a conversations at a mo-im is typically like. The following data were provided by my informant:

Domain #8 – Informant’s preferences for topics of conversation:

Based on my personal appraisal of their social order and my interpretation of the comments made by my informants I believe that there is a strong lack of trust between members of the Korean community at the University of Buffalo and elsewhere. When with one Korean (women in particular) I am always being told to "be careful around X"; "She can’t be trusted. She’s a backstabber. She is two faced. She loves to spread bad gossip and lies about others." This is not what I consider "closeness" as an American. To me it suggests a strong fear of other people’s judgement and a lack of security and trust. Similar data about bad gossip is seen in the Park study (1998) and is something I hear constantly within Korean communities, but especially those in the United States. Perhaps their small size makes them a little too intimate.

• my primary informant

Women are under other restrictions to a degree that varies according to their age. In particular, women are not supposed to be bossy or opinionated (I have been told this by many Koreans, including my wife). According to Park (1998) "persons who behave forcefully are ostracized". I would like to insert here that what qualifies as "forceful behavior" is defined by the actor. A young woman for example, would be seen as forceful if she were to take any sort of aggressive action such as openly expressing some grievance without checking for the consensus of her group first. An older man however, could behave just about as forcefully as he likes. From what I have seen, it is possible for an older man to physically assault a younger person and in such a situation it would be the younger person’s duty to avoid him somehow. This is from my own personal observations but the following rules were given by Park’s informants:

According to Park’s informants and my own observations, the use of English is particularly problematic between Koreans. Many behaviors that are appropriate and acceptable in modern American English are not appropriate or acceptable among Koreans. For example, informants in Park’s study (1998) commented that it was completely unacceptable for one Korean to correct the English usage errors of another. I believe this needs to be clarified. Teacher, or sonsangnim in Korean, is a title of extreme respect and authority synonymous with elder. A younger person cannot correct an older person but since all older people are sonsangnim, they may correct anything they like. This is particularly touchy when women are doing the correcting. Women who correct other people’s mistakes are often viewed as bossy. Men don’t like to be corrected by women. In my time as an English teacher I have seen many problems between male Korean students and their female teachers. Another example is the issue of noon chi touched on earlier. This maintenance of face through indirect speech requires the highly developed ability to imply messages that distinguishes Korean. In Park’s study, he found that many of his informants believed noon chi speech acts could not be conducted in English; and that therefore, che myon could not be preserved when communicating in English.

Communicative Ability and Risk Taking:

Koreans are generally reluctant to speak in English for other reasons than their inability to express noon chi through it; foremost of these is a fear of taking risks that could result in face loosing errors or even just simple misunderstandings and miscommunication. It is already apparent that many Koreans suffer from an intense fear of being compared to others or of having their abilities judged. This is exacerbated by the fact that their previous language education in Korea has typically stressed grammatical accuracy at the expense of communication and punished errors harshly. Language learning in Korea often involves exercises in which the learner must translate one sentence to another and then come up with the one "right answer" that the teacher expects to see. The result of these methods is that when they arrive in America they are shocked by their inability to communicate effectively in some of the "most basic" situations. People may laugh at them and say "Pardon?" "Excuse me?"

• Informants from Park (1998)

Such values and beliefs about communication may further alienate Koreans from non-Koreans.
 

Conclusions: