The timing was never right for Sydney Castligia to learn Korean growing up. Her parents shared cultural traditions, but as a military family that moved a lot, their priority was helping their daughters adjust to new cities and master proficiency in English. 

Castiglia experienced milestones like a doljanchi, when a family gathers for a child’s first birthday with traditional Korean clothing, foods, gifts and blessings, and her family celebrates Korean New Year, but as she grew older, she felt the absence of knowing the language.  

“I always felt disconnected from my roots, even though I was raised culturally Korean,” Castiglia said. “I felt that I wasn’t a ‘real’ Korean compared to those in my community who grew up bilingual.” 

That changed when she took Korean classes offered by the University of Delaware’s Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. The experience impacted much more than her studies — it transformed her life and her family.

Family inspiration

Castiglia began taking Korean classes at Temple University. She kept it up after transferring to UD after her sophomore year. Now a senior, she is a cognitive science major with a concentration in speech-language pathology, with minors in disability studies and Asian studies with language. 

Castiglia didn’t tell her mother right away that she was trying to learn Korean. She struggled with imposter syndrome and feeling discouraged, but eventually the mother and daughter could have conversations. 

“The first time we spoke back and forth, she said, ‘I feel like I can talk to you and explain my feelings better now that you can understand my language.’ And I cried,” Castiglia said.

Her father was adopted from Korea by an American family when he was very young and didn’t grow up connected to Korean culture or the language, but after Sydney, and later her sister Sierra, began learning, he was inspired to follow their example. Now, the family can speak a bit of Korean together at family dinners. 

Intertwined experiences

Sierra, who received speech therapy as a child for a minor issue, was also the inspiration for Castiglia’s cognitive science major. 

“I thought it was so cool that something like that can be fixed early on because children are very moldable and adaptable,” she said.

Lynsey Keator, speech language pathologist and assistant professor of linguistics and cognitive science, said Castiglia’s background gives her a unique perspective on her studies. Speech language pathology looks at things like syntax, grammar and semantics, but the sociolinguistic aspect of how language is used in a community is also a factor. 

“Sydney has the language learning piece — understanding grammar and syntax,” Keator said. “But coming from her own Korean background, she’s got first-hand experience with how culture overlays language.” 

“My favorite part about my language classes and my speech classes are that they intertwine, and both have taught me how crucial it is to expand my horizons,” Castiglia said.  

Language, diversity and ability  

Castiglia also draws on her personal experience as a co-chair of diversity, equity and inclusion for Delaware’s chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA). The role helps her inform other future professionals in the field about how dialects can be wrongly diagnosed as speech disorders. 

“I’m focused on educating others about racial, gender and sexual discrimination because I’m so passionate about the dialect versus disorder debate,” said Castiglia, who is looking at graduate schools to continue her education and hopes to work with military families and veterans.