English, Nationalism, and The Politics of Language Use: Language Ideologies in Media Criticism of Yoon Suk Yeol’s Speech

Abstract

Within a speech community, language practices are informed by multiple, sometimes competing, ideological frameworks. In South Korea, language practices are shaped by long-standing linguistic nationalist sentiments surrounding the Korean language, alongside neoliberal orientations that position English as valuable global linguistic capital. Against this backdrop, former President Yoon Suk Yeol (2022–2025) was repeatedly criticised within the media for his apparent penchant for incorporating English-origin words into his Korean-language speech. Situated within these broader ideological tensions regarding language, national identity and pride, and the place of English within Korea, this thesis examines why the media criticised Yoon’s linguistic behaviour. Following a language ideological approach, this study analyses discourse within media texts that explicitly criticised Yoon’s use of English- origin words into his speech, with particular attention paid to metalinguistic commentary and evaluative framing. Treating such discourse as a site where language use is rendered socially and politically meaningful, these texts are analysed to identify how Yoon’s linguistic behaviour was discursively constructed within media’s criticism, which language ideologies underpinned these constructions, and how such ideologies shaped the discourse itself. The findings of this study show that the media’s criticism was structured predominantly through a linguistic nationalist framework, within which English was conceptualised as symbolically opposed to the Korean language itself and its associated values as the national language. While this framing enabled sustained critique of Yoon’s use of English-words at this symbolic level, it simultaneously constrained the focus of the media’s criticism to that level, leaving other ideologies of English that contribute to the reproduction of social and class inequalities in South Korea unchallenged. By demonstrating how linguistic nationalism both motivated and limited media criticism of language use in political discourse, this thesis contributes to research on language ideology, language use within political discourse, and the sociolinguistic context of English within South Korea. Show more