“Oppa, Hold My Purse:” A Sociocultural Study of Identity and Indexicality in the Perception and Use of Oppa 'Older Brother' by Second Language Learners

Abstract

This paper looks at the way that six female second language learners of Korean (two heritage learners and four non-heritage) at a US college perceived the kinship term oppa 'older brother (of a woman)' and applied it (or avoided its usage) to express various aspects of their identities. Although previous research (such as Siegal, 1994, 1996) suggests that western female learners are likely to avoid linguistic forms that they view as gendered, the findings of the current paper show a more complex picture. Although the learners perceived oppa as “infantilizing,” excessively “cute,” “manipulative,” implying a gender imbalance, and possessing uncomfortable sexual connotations, only one of the six learners avoided its usage altogether. Other learners used oppa within certain restricted contexts, where they perceived the term as indexing more positive meanings (“affection”). In addition, heritage learners used oppa due to pressure from the diasporic community to adopt Korean-style patterns of address. The ways that these learners restricted their usage of oppa to specific fields displayed certain aspects of skillful and strategic language use and expression of identity.