The role of (de)motivational factors in the context of learning English in South Korea

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In November 2013, the Switzerland-based global English education company, EF EducationFirst, reported that, in terms of English ability in non-native countries, South Korea wasranked moderately proficient at 24th out of 60 countries, doing only slightly better than Japan(Education First, 2013). One of the findings was also that, despite the large amount of moneyspent on English education, Japan and Korea have declined slightly on the rankings(Education First, 2013). The objectives of this study was to determine the motivation ofKorean university students in the English language classroom. This study made use of threedifferent methods of data collection: firstly, semi-structured individual interviews wereconducted with 13 English teachers (native as well as non-native speakers of English) athigher education settings in South Korea, yielding qualitative data on these teachers'perception of (de-)motivational factors influencing their students' ability to learn English.Secondly, a questionnaire was given to 241 South Korean students in order to determine theirperceptions of, and attitudes toward learning English as a foreign language. This secondmethod yielded quantitative data on students' perspectives on and motivation for learningEnglish. Thirdly, English grades were obtained for a subsample of the students (N=45) whocompleted the questionnaire, and correlated with their responses on the questionnaire. Thisthird method yielded quantitative data on the actual performance of a sample of SouthKorean students on a series of English assessment instruments, and how it correlates withstudents' self-reported motivation for learning English.The results showed that a compositescore reflecting students' self-reported motivation correlated with student grades, and alsohighlighted some discrepancy between students' self-reported motivation to study Englishand perceptions of the interview participants.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University