Transnational communication practices of unaccompanied young Korean students in the United States

Based on a study of unaccompanied Korean student migrants, this article investigates how transnational communication helped the students continue their transnational journey for educational success. Although suffering perennial loneliness, the students continued with their studies because they still believed acquiring education in the United States would be advantageous in securing their success. They became actively involved in transnational communication to cope with stresses and to gain emotional support. Transnational communication played an important role in mediating between their pursuit of education and desired cultural capital on the one hand, and the loneliness and isolation as migrants on their own on the other.