• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-48
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• 2011

This study examines the perception and its meaning of child education and mother]s role for children of Korean mothers for their children to study abroad in Malaysia. For this purpose, data was collected through in-depth interviews with seven mothers and one grandmother. All participants were lived in Malaysia for at least 6 months above. As a result, the most of recommenders of studying in Malaysia were fathers. And the purposes of studying in Malaysia were the improvement of their children's English learning skills and abilities, and not-good academic achievement in Korea. They made a decision for their children to study in Malaysia in that it was good to study in Malaysia for early 'spec' management for their children. But in the case of Korean mothers, they had a diverse desires internally. For example, they had a desire to escape from the relationships with mother-in law or complicated social relations of their family, kin, and neighbors in Korea. In Malaysia, Koran mothers carried out their roles of children's time management, information network management and 'distinction' strategies to their friends and neighbors for their children to study well and up their achievements' levels. Lately, they had planning to develop for their children's long term life design and their choices of universities in Korea, with special reference to the various connections of school-ties and religion-ties in Malaysia.