Positional Identities of an International Student in South Korea: Denied Rights and Neglected Duties

This study investigates the experiences of an international graduate student at a South Korean university via positional identity theory. It reveals the positional identities that evolved out of the student's experiences studying the Korean language prior to starting her graduate degree, and during her time as a graduate student. Applying narrative research methodology that employed interviews and journal entries, the findings reveal that the student's self-perceived right to receive her lectures in English coupled with negative experiences learning Korean prior to her graduate studies influenced her willingness to learn the Korean language and impacted upon her experiences during her graduate lectures. Perceived neglected duties and denied rights clustered to form positional identities which were radically different to described identities held prior to her time in the South Korean educational context. Implications on what these results might mean for the newly developing international graduate student market in Korea are then discussed.