1.5 Generations of Korean Americans’ Transnational Identity: Stories from four college students

Abstract

This study explores 1.5-generation Korean Americans’ perception of their identity in the southeastern region of the United States. The study focuses on four college students who immigrated during the middle of their childhood. Data were gathered during a semi-structured interview and were analyzed through a thematic analysis. Informed by a poststructuralist perspective on identity, 1.5-generation immigrants were found to have hybrid ethnic, linguistic, and cultural identities in citizenship status, language choices, and local-base transnational communities. The findings offer implications for educators to understand how immigrant students situate themselves as well as practice literacy differently in specific transnational contexts.