“What's Your Name?”: Names, Naming Practices, and Contextualized Selves of Young Korean American Children

Abstract

This study examined how young Korean American children and the adults around these children perform naming practices and what these practices mean to the children. As part of a large ethnographic study on Korean American children's peer culture in a heritage language school in the United States, data were collected by observing 11 prekindergarten children in a Korean language classroom and by interviewing nine guardians, including seven mothers and two grandmothers, and teachers during the 2007--2008 academic year. Our analysis showed that children's naming practices reflected their developing sense of self. The children negotiated adults' naming practices based on their shared meanings and norms in peer culture. The findings of this study shed light on the role of naming practices in children's self-concept and in their peer relations. The authors conclude with implications for the education of and research on young children from diverse cultural backgrounds.