Abstract

This article explores the place-making of Vietnamese married immigrant women in South Korea through Vietnamese language classes for multicultural children. Utilizing mixed qualitative research methods, including participant observation and narrative interviews, the study presents several findings. The paper first contends that Vietnamese language classes constitute one kind of place-making for Vietnamese married immigrant women and explores the meaning of place-making among these women. Accordingly, these women face certain barriers in performing place-making, as their gender roles as foreign wives and mothers are deeply embedded in the discourse of the host society. Thus, it leads to the desire to engage in place-making in a form as simple as speaking their language, along with their engagement with Vietnamese language classes for their children. This study contributes to the feminist discussion as well as place-making discussion by combining gender, race, and ethnicity in the consideration. Keywords:married immigrant women, place-making, marriage migration, Vietnam, South Korea