Korean Language Proficiency Research Articles

Investigating Korean Language Learning Motivations: Trend and Implications

ABSTRACT Due in part to the influence of Hallyu, student enrollment in Korean language courses at universities across America has skyrocketed. This study examines the various motivations college students have for studying the Korean language, paying particular attention to three variables. Six hundred and fifty-three responses collected for over 5 years in Korean language courses at an American university were categorized via an original framework for language learning motivations and analyzed using descriptive statistics to see a trend. The results demonstrated that the popularity of the various motivation categories differed noticeably by course level, gender, and heritage/nonheritage learner background. The desire to become a global citizen through travel and consume Korean popular culture drove many beginners to learn Korean, whereas students in the higher-level courses tended to be motivated either by a desire to connect with their families (for heritage learners) or by career prospects associated with Korean language proficiency (for nonheritage learners). Familial connections were also an important motivation for male students, whereas female students tended to note interests in Korean popular culture as most important. The study suggests that similar data at other universities could be useful in developing and utilizing effective curricular resources to motivate and retain Korean language learners.

중도입국 초등학생의 문화적응 스트레스, 한국어능력 및 학교적응의 종단적 관계 분석

Objectives The purpose of this study is to examine the longitudinal relationships among acculturative stress, Korean proficiency, and school adjustment in immigrant elementary school students. Methods To this end, we analyzed the data from 2019(1st) to 2021(3rd) of 327 immigrant elementary school panel of Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study (the 2nd term) using autoregressive cross-lagged modeling. Results The findings are as follows: All latent variables including acculturative stress, Korean proficiency, and school adjustment showed significant autoregressive effects across all time points. Additionally, cross-lagged effects consistently exhibited in the same direction across all points, but yielded different findings depending on the variables. Specifically, acculturative stress significantly impacted both Korean proficiency and school adjustment at the subsequent two time points. Across the next two points, Korean proficiency had significant influences on acculturative stress, but not school adjustment. School adjustment significantly influenced both acculturative stress and Korean language proficiency at the subsequent two points. Conclusions We discuss the findings of this study in relation to previous studies and then draw theoretical and practical implications.

Developing and Validating the Health Literacy Scale for Migrant Workers: Instrument Development and Validation Study.

Research concerning health literacy among migrant workers in South Korea has been limited, especially given the lack of validated instruments and the lack of focus on the cultural diversity of migrant workers. This study aimed to develop and validate a health literacy scale for unskilled migrant workers (HLS-MW) in South Korea. We first generated a pool of potential items based on a literature review and in-depth interviews with 23 migrant workers. Subsequently, we reviewed empirical referents from the first step to select relevant medical terminologies and passages, ultimately choosing 709 words. The study team initially generated 35 items with 709 health-related terms through empirical referent reviews. After content validity testing by an expert panel, 28 items comprising 89 terms on the 2 subscales of prose and documents were selected for psychometric testing. Overall, 402 unskilled migrant workers in South Korea completed a web-based survey between August and September 2021, with 334 responses included in the final analysis. We used multiple analytic approaches, including exploratory factor analysis, Rasch analysis (item response theory), and descriptive analysis, to examine the new scale's validity and reliability. The final sample primarily included young male workers from South Asian countries. The HLS-MW yielded 2 factors: prose and documents. The item difficulty scores ranged from -1.36 to 2.56. The scale was reduced to 13 items (10 prose and 3 document items), with the final version exhibiting good internal reliability (Kuder-Richardson index=0.88; intraclass correlation coefficient=0.94, 95% CI 0.93-0.95) and test-retest reliability (r=0.74, 95% CI 0.57-0.92). HLS-MW scores differed significantly by Korean language proficiency (F2,331=3.54, P=.004). The HLS-MW is a reliable and valid measure to assess health literacy among migrant workers in South Korea. Further studies are needed to test the psychometric properties of the HLS-MW in diverse migrant groups in South Korea while also establishing cutoffs to help identify those in need of health literacy support.

생태체계적 관점에서 살펴본 다문화아동·청소년의 학교생활 적응 결정요인

This study was conducted to examine the factors influencing the school adaptation of multicultural children and adolescents from an ecological systems perspective. The aim was to propose intervention strategies to enhance the school life adaptation of multicultural children and adolescents. For this purpose, data from a study on the adaptation status and support measures for children of multicultural families in the Busan area conducted by Choi Jeong-Rak et al.(2021) was utilized for analysis. The research analysis data consisted of a total of 402 participants, including 190 elementary school students, 126 middle school students, and 86 high school students. The results of the study are as follows: First, among the individual system factors, current academic performance and Korean language proficiency self-esteem positively impacted the school life adaptation of multicultural children and adolescents. Second, among the microsystem factors, relationships with friends, relationships with teachers, and the Korean language proficiency of foreign parents were found to have a positive impact on the school life adaptation of multicultural children and adolescents. Based on these findings, intervention strategies were suggested for direct interventions targeting multicultural children and adolescents and for indirect interventions through parental or social support to improve their school life adaptation.

Types and Predictors of Acculturative Stress Among Multicultural Adolescents in Middle School

Objectives: This study examines how acculturative stress in multicultural adolescents changes during their middle school years and categorizes groups with similar patterns of change. Additionally, the study explores predictive variables influencing these distinct acculturative stress trajectories and verifies how depression and life satisfaction vary according to different patterns of change.Methods: Leveraging data from the Multicultural Adolescent Panel (MAPS 1) conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs across the fourth to sixth waves, the researchers analyzed a cohort of 1,316 participants, including multicultural adolescents and their parents. Logistic regression analysis and ANOVA were employed to investigate potential disparities in growth mixture modeling and acculturative stress latent classes based on predictive factors.Results: Three latent groups of multicultural adolescents’ acculturative stress were identified: low-retention group, persistent increasing group, persistent decrease group. The logistic regression analysis revealed that gender, bicultural acceptance attitude, Korean-language proficiency, foreign parent’s native-language proficiency, parental acculturative stress, and peer support were significantly associated with latent groups. Additionally, significant differences in depression and life satisfaction during the third grade of middle school were observed according to the types of acculturative stress changes.Conclusion: Our study results indicate the need for various support programs aimed at promoting the psychosocial adaptation of multicultural adolescents. These programs should take into account the characteristics and individual differences in acculturative stress and should be implemented at the family level to facilitate social adaptation.

이주배경 독거청년노동자의 한국생활만족도에 영향을 미치는 요인분석

The purpose of this study is to examine factors that affect the satisfaction with life in Korea among young migrant workers living alone. To do this, this study used the 2022 Survey on Immigrant’s Living Conditions and Labour Force data conducted by Statistics Korea and Ministry of Justice. The sample consisted of 2,138 young migrant worker living alone between the ages of 15 and 39. The data were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis, T-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis using the SPSS 26.0 statistical program. The main results of this study are as follows: First, satisfaction with life in Korea was correlated with Korean language proficiency level, subjective health status, discrimination experience, and crisis helper. Second, ultimately factors affecting life satisfaction in Korea included subjective health status, experience discrimination, and crisis helper, excluding Korean language proficiency level. Based on those study results, this study discussed practical and policy implications for enhancing the satisfaction with life in Korea among young migrant workers living alone.

외국인 중급 유학생의 한국어 음소 인식 및 철자 능력 분석 연구

This study aimed to explored the relationship between basic Korean literacy skills and Korean language proficiency among international students who are learning Korean in a university language institute. Participants’ basic Korean literacy skills were measured by a set of tests including phonemic awareness and spelling. One hundred and eight international students who attended intermediate level Korean language classes participated in this study. The results showed that there was a significant correlation between their basic Korean literacy and Korean language proficiency. In particular, notable correlations with Korean language procificency were observed for basic vowels and the diphthongs ㅑ (ya) and ㅘ (wa), which are integral components of phonemic awareness and spelling tests conducted in a one-syllable (CV) structure. Furthermore, participants’ average accuracy in phonemic awareness test was only 59.92% and the average accuracy in spelling test was 72.48%. Considering that the test items were constructed with basic phonetic features of Korean language and orthography, their Korean literacy skills were found to be pretty limited, which were comparable to the native first-graders in Korea. Authors also compared the basic Korean literacy test scores between two groups who passes language course and who failed the course. The findings revealed that the basic literacy skills of the failed group was significantly lower than that of the passed group, indicating that phonemic awaeness and spelling abilities may affect Korean language proficiency and academic achievements. Authors discussed that Korean literacy of the foreign Korean language students are in needs of atttention among educators and researchers

한국어능력시험(TOPIK) 읽기 영역 텍스트의 난이도 분석

The Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) stands as a reputable examination capable of assessing Korean language proficiency for various purposes. In order for TOPIK, with its pivotal significance, to be effectively utilized for multifaceted objectives, the validity and reliability of its evaluations must be substantiated. Thus, this study aims to scrutinize the disparities between TOPIK I and TOPIK II, focusing on reading texts, across various factors. Initially, a corpus was constructed comprising reading texts from the 35th session (post-2014 revision) to the most recent 83rd session available as of March 2014, obtained from the TOPIK website's archive. Subsequently, utilizing the Data Evaluation Unified System (DEUS), linguistic indicators including surface features (vocabulary and sentence length), lexical factors (vocabulary frequency, diversity, pronoun usage, emotional vocabulary usage), syntactic factors (proportion of function words, sentence constituent ratio), and discursive factors (referential coherence, patterns of adverbial conjunction usage) were employed to compare the text difficulty. Additionally, recommendations for future test construction were proposed based on the outcomes derived from each factor analysis.

Validation of an elicited Imitation test as a measure of Korean language proficiency

This study presents a modified version of the Korean Elicited Imitation (EI) test, designed to resemble natural spoken language, and validates its reliability as a measure of proficiency. The study assesses the correlation between average test scores and Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) levels, examining score distributions among beginner, intermediate, and advanced learner groups. Using item response theory (IRT), the study explores the influence of four key facets—learners, items, raters, and constructs—on performance evaluation. An explanatory item response modeling (EIRM) analysis identified linguistic factors impacting the EI test’s performance. Notably, the study uncovered a robust positive correlation between EI test scores and TOPIK levels. Significant score disparities were observed between beginner and intermediate, as well as beginner and advanced, learner cohorts. An IRT-based exploration of each facet revealed that item difficulty was comparatively lower in contrast to learners’ commendable performance, and raters exhibited a high degree of scoring consistency. The EIRM analysis underscores the significance of variables such as the number of syllables, vocabulary score, and content word density in influencing test performance.

Analyzing Educational Environment Factors in Higher Education Institutions that Affect International Students' Korean Language Proficiency

Analyzing Educational Environment Factors in Higher Education Institutions that Affect International Students' Korean Language Proficiency

분석적 계층화 과정(AHP) 기법을 활용한 재미 한글학교 학부모의 한국어 학습에 대한 태도 연구

This study is grounded in the examination of parents' attitudes toward Korean language learning as a foundational element in the development of Korean language proficiency among students in Korean language schools in America. In this research, parents' attitudes regarding the acquisition of heritage language were categorized into five main dimensions: motivation for learning Korean, variables affecting Korean language acquisition, pedagogical theories in Korean language education, difficulties encountered during Korean language learning, and the learning environment for Korean language acquisition. The analysis results revealed that the expert group assigned importance and priority rankings to the evaluation categories as follows: motivation for learning Korean, pedagogical theories in Korean language education, variables affecting Korean language acquisition, the learning environment for Korean language acquisition, and challenges encountered during Korean language learning. Conversely, the parent group indicated the relative importance of motivation for learning Korean, variables affecting Korean language acquisition, the learning environment for Korean language acquisition, pedagogical theories in Korean language education, and challenges encountered during Korean language learning. To further explore differences between the expert group and the parent group, a non-parametric test, the Mann-Whitney U test, was conducted. The results demonstrated a statistically significant difference (p<0.5) in the relative importance of "variables affecting Korean language acquisition" within the evaluation category. Furthermore, statistically significant differences were identified in two internal motivation indicators, one external motivation indicator, and two communication strategy indicators, which were not statistically significant within the overall evaluation category.

Acculturation of Chinese migrant employees in the hospitality industry of South Korea: a profiling study

This study investigates the acculturation process of Generation MZ Chinese migrant workers in the South Korean hospitality industry, focusing on their experiences in overcoming language barriers and cultural differences. Employing snowball sampling, the study gathered data through online questionnaires from Chinese employees working in South Korea's hotels and restaurants, yielding 312 valid responses. The findings highlight the influence of individualism-collectivism orientations on acculturation strategies. Workers with a tendency towards horizontal individualism and collectivism generally prefer assimilation, whereas those with a vertical individualism orientation lean towards marginalization. Interestingly, vertical collectivists, who value social hierarchy and group responsibility, show a predilection for both segregation and integration strategies, underscoring the complex nature of acculturation. The study also found that educational level, Korean language proficiency, and length of stay in Korea significantly affect their acculturation strategy choices. Based on these findings, the study provides vital insights into the adaptation processes of Chinese migrant workers in South Korea's hospitality industry and offers theoretical and practical guidance for effectively recruiting and managing foreign employees, particularly those from China.

해외거주 유아를 위한 스마트폰 앱 활용 가정 연계 한국어교육 실행연구

Objectives The purpose was to explore the changes experienced by parents and young children residing overseas through examining the execution process of Korean language education with a focus on smartphone app uti-lization and fostering home-school connections.
 Methods Following Elliot's (1991) action research model, a 15-week Korean language education program was conducted for ten preschoolers and their parents at a Korean school in City B, State A, USA. Data were collected through observations of children's behavior and language during class, parent-child interactions, teacher-parent conferences, peer teacher workshops, and Korean language proficiency assessments.
 Results In the first implementation, ‘Korean language education centered daily routines for young children’ and ‘home-school linked education encouraging parental participation through smartphone apps’ were conducted. The second implementation focused on ‘one-on-one support-based Korean language instruction’ and ‘intensive home-school linked education using portfolios’. Through these processes, the children progressed from ‘increased interest in Korean’ to ‘formation of confidence and improvement in Korean language ability’, while parents devel-oped ‘trust in Korean language schools’ and eventually ‘experienced the benefits of active participation in Korean language education’.
 Conclusions Korean language education for overseas-residing young children can facilitate emotional develop-ment, including improved self-confidence and self-identity formation, not only enhancing Korean language profi-ciency but also when communication and participation frequency with parents through home-school collabo-rations are increased.

Defining competencies for training non-native Korean speaking teachers: a Q methodology approach

Abstract Learners of Korean are increasing globally, but this growth can only be sustained by training local non-native teachers. To address this issue, this paper identifies the subjective perspectives of Korean language teaching professionals about the main competencies needed by non-native Korean teachers. Following a Q methodology protocol, 35 teachers sorted 42 statements about non-native Korean teacher competencies. The analysis identified four perspectives. Factor 1 stresses the ability to adapt teaching to the learning context and Korean language proficiency. Factor 2 stresses the importance of pursuing continuous professional development without deeming a near-native language proficiency essential. Factor 3 stresses the need to love the language and the ability to maintain advanced language skills. Factor 4 again stresses the need to love the Korean language, the profession, and the importance of a strong sense of responsibility as an educator. Results are discussed with reference to teacher training program design.

Academic adjustment of international students studying in South Korea: the Global Korea Scholarship program perspective

Abstract The study was to investigate the academic adjustment of international students studying in South Korea under the Global Korea Scholarship Program. Previous research has shown that academic adjustment is linked to the achievement and satisfaction of international students at higher education institutions. Two research questions shaped the current study: (1) examining the correlations between the variables included in the study and (2) identifying the significant variables that contributed to international students’ academic adjustment. The Multicultural Personality Survey and Academic Adjustment Survey were utilized as the primary instruments and were administered online over one and a half months. A total of 100 participants from diverse demographic backgrounds were involved in the data collection. Correlational analysis and regression analysis were employed to answer the two research questions. The results of the correlational analysis revealed that there were higher correlations observed between multicultural personality and GPA, preferred language and multicultural personality, as well as multicultural personality and the Academic Adjustment Survey. Additionally, the regression analysis indicated that Korean language proficiency and preferred language proficiency emerged as significant variables that impacted international students’ academic adjustment. The results provided further insights into the factors contributing to academic adjustment among international students in South Korea.

외국인 유학생의 한국 정주 체류를 위한 한국어능력 입증 서류에 관한 고찰

The purpose of this article is to take a close look at the documents proving Korean language proficiency, which are essential requirements when issuing visas and changing residency status for foreigners, identify the problems, and propose ways to prove Korean language proficiency for permanent residence in Korea from the perspective of international students. there is. For this purpose, documents proving Korean language proficiency presented in the “Visa Issuance Guide Manual” and the “Foreigners Residence Guide Manual” were presented by residency status, and TOPIK and KIIP were compared and analyzed. This is a way to prove practical Korean language skills for international students settling in Korea. First, prove Korean language skills through integration with academic achievements. Second, prove your Korean language skills by submitting a letter of recommendation from the evaluator. Third, prove your Korean language skills through actual conversations or interviews. Fourth, it was proposed to demonstrate Korean language proficiency based on cultural activities and volunteer experiences.

한국어 학습자의 어휘 사용 양상 종단 연구

The purpose of this study is conducting longitudinal examination on lexical use development aspects of Korean learner. Written texts ranging from level 1 to level 4 were collected by targeting one learner of Korean regular course affiliated with university. In order to observe lexical use aspects, lexical diversity, lexical density, and lexical sophistication corresponding to components of lexical abundance were estimated. As a result, it has been found that lexical abundance of achievement assessment written text was lower than written texts from classes. Lexical diversity was estimated by using D value. D value increased as Korean learning period and Korean proficiency increased. Likewise with D value, lexical sophistication also increased as Korean language learning period and proficiency increased. This proves that proficiency influences lexical diversity and quality. Lexical density value did not differ greatly from lexical diversity and lexical sophistication. However, in the intermediate course, the amount of content words corresponding to lexical density estimating categories increased sharply. This result shows that texts created by learner have vast information according to proficiency. This study is meaningful as the basic material of lexical ability estimation even though it is a mere longitudinal study which targeted one person(Chung-Ang University).

“I Promised Growing up I Would Not Become a Teacher”: Exploring the Career Trajectory of a Language Teacher through Social Cognitive Career Theory

AbstractDespite some research attention given to expatriate native‐English‐speaking teachers' (NESTs) identities and the national educational ideologies that have led to their international recruitment, surprisingly little research has addressed their career trajectories as TESOL professionals. To address this gap, this case study explores the career of a long‐serving expatriate TESOL professional through the lens of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), which was designed to understand how people develop interest in, make decisions about, and commit to a particular career. The methods are qualitative, involving a deductive analysis of interview data and a career timeline according to constructs from SCCT. Despite an initial reluctance to enter the profession, the participant's interest in language teaching began after teaching part‐time as a young adult. After this experience, he changed his career interests and continued his educational pursuits in Korea. His background contextual affordances, predispositions, learning experiences, and Korean language proficiency provided new opportunities and outcome expectations as he advanced his career. Although we focus on a single case, the SCCT model is further explored for its potential to better understand the factors involved in the development and commitment to a career in TESOL and for illustrating the career trajectories of TESOL professionals at scale.

학문 목적 한국어 학습자를 위한 예비과정 경영학 교재 개발 기초 연구

This study aims to suggest directions of developing textbooks in the preparatory course for international students preparing to major in business administration at the university. To this end, this study conducted a preliminary survey to evaluate international learners’ Korean language proficiency and their academic performance, as well as their perception of learning Korean for academic purposes. The survey findings revealed that learners had a limited understanding of business administration vocabulary and collocations. In addition, many learners did not write any sentence on their answer sheet, while some did not even know how to write the answer sheets primarily due to a lack of familiarity with academic writing conventions. The results of the perception survey also revealed that learners have difficulty in collating words related to business administration, recognizing the writing function as one of the most important skills for succeeding in their undergraduate studies, and feeling the necessity of a preliminary university course for international students majoring in business administration. Based on the results of the survey, this paper proposes the directions for development of textbooks in the preparatory course.

재한 중국인 유학생의 주체성이 대학생활적응에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between agency, acculturative stress, adaptation to college and Korean language proficiency among Chinese international students. For this study, online survey was conducted on 263 Chinese international students. The main results are as follows. First, agency directly affects adaptation to college. Second, acculturative stress partially mediated the relationship between agency and adaptation to college. Third, Korean language proficiency moderated the mediating effect of acculturative stress in the relationship between agency and adaptation to college. Based on the results, related suggestions were proposed to help Chinese international students better adapt to their college life in Korea.