Native-speakerness: A Case Study of Two Korean-English Bilinguals

Abstract

One of the purposes of learning foreign languages is to achieve near-native-like language proficiency, i.e., “native-speakerness.” The current study explores the nature of the native-speakerness, which may have been confined to the speaking proficiency or the grammatical accuracy. To study the characteristics of the native-speakerness, a set of interview data from the Korean-English bilinguals are analyzed. The study found that the native-speakerness, in addition to the linguistic proficiency, is closely related to the personal identity of the speaker and the membership of the speaking community. Further it is found that the bilingual’s native-speakerness remains incomplete for both languages. The results provides the new perspectives on English teaching pertain to the learner’s identity and the language development.