Racism without race in South Korea: linguistic racism within a curriculum embracing language diversity

Abstract

Despite the growing body of research exploring the nexus of race, racism, and language education, there remains a need to examine language teaching practices in non-English contexts. South Korea, with its diverse migrant population and history of racial discrimination that is not strictly based on colour, offers a unique perspective on the intricate facets of linguistic racism. This study investigates how linguistic practices in South Korean schools contribute to students’ racialized exclusion, emphasising the role of language in perpetuating racism within similar racial groups. By highlighting the contradiction of promoting linguistic diversity while perpetuating linguistic racism at a self-declared multicultural school in South Korea, this study demonstrates that bilingual education, which fails to counteract monolingualism, reinforces racial and ethnic disparities instead of addressing them.