KOREAN PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS and ATTITUDES TOWARD the STUDY of ENGLISH in SOUTH KOREA by Joohee Kim
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KOREAN PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARD THE STUDY OF ENGLISH IN SOUTH KOREA by Joohee Kim A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of English West Lafayette, Indiana August 2020 THE PURDUE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL STATEMENT OF COMMITTEE APPROVAL Dr. Margie Berns, Chair Department of English Dr. Tony Silva Department of English Dr. Dwight Atkinson University of Arizona Department of English Approved by: Dr. Margie Berns 2 I dedicate this work to my loving husband, Brian; my two beloved children, Victoria and Gloria; my mom and dad, Sanghee Han and Sukchul Kim; my parents-in-law, Beomjoo Maeng and Yesook Lee; and most importantly, to God, who gives all strength and power, guides me to pass through this long journey, and provides all that I need. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are so many people who have helped me complete this long journey. First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge and thank my advisor and committee chair, Professor Margie Berns, for her valuable time, thoughtful insights and advice, and most of all, for her patience throughout this whole process. Despite an extended pause in my work, she never gave up on me and has walked alongside me on this long path, offering continuous encouragement. She has been a wonderful mentor, not only in my academic life but also in my personal life. Without her considerate guidance and encouragement, I could not have finished this work. I have also been privileged to work with brilliant and caring committee members, Professor Tony Silva and Professor Dwight Atkinson. I deeply appreciate their continuous support. I am especially thankful for Professor Dwight, who I have spent most of my time in graduate school with and who helped me progress, supported me, and served on my committee even after moving to a different university. Finally, I would like to thank my beloved family in the U.S. and in South Korea; my husband who fully supports me in finishing my work; my dad and parents-in-law, who always support me and cheer me up; my brother, Woosung Kim, who takes care of everything I ask for in Korea; my two aunties, Jeongye Han, who has taken care of my eldest child while I have worked on this thesis, and Jungran Han, who is my closest friend and mentor; and most of all, my mom, who always believes in me and prays for me no matter what the circumstances. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ 9 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................... 10 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. 11 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 12 Goals of the Research Project and Research Questions............................................................. 13 Significance of the Project ......................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXTS ........................................... 16 The Three Concentric Circles of English ................................................................................... 16 History of the English Language in Korea ................................................................................ 18 English fever in South Korea ..................................................................................................... 26 American English in South Korea: Why is it Dominant? .......................................................... 31 Standard English ........................................................................................................................ 36 Korean English ........................................................................................................................... 38 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 40 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 42 Participants ................................................................................................................................. 42 Instrumentation .......................................................................................................................... 46 Procedure ................................................................................................................................... 47 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 47 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................ 49 Results of Part 1 ......................................................................................................................... 49 Results of Part 2 ......................................................................................................................... 65 CHAPTER 5: LIMITATIONS OF THE RESERACh AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH .................................................................................................................................. 76 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSTION AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS ............................... 78 APPENDIX A. SURVEY QUESTIONNARIE ............................................................................ 82 APPENDIX B. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF VARIABLES ............................................... 92 APPENDIX C. PAIRED SAMPLE T-TEST RESULTS ............................................................. 95 5 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 106 6 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Profile of Participants (N = 400) ..................................................................................... 43 Table 2 English-related Backgrounds of the Participants (N = 400) ............................................ 44 Table 3 Categorization of Items in the Survey ............................................................................. 46 Table 4 Descriptive Statistics of Importance of English .............................................................. 50 Table 5 Mean Comparison of the Measure of Importance of English (M1) across Demographic and Background Variables. ........................................................................................................... 51 Table 6 Descriptive Statistics of Negative Perceptions and Attitudes toward English. ............... 52 Table 7 Descriptive Statistics of Acceptance of Standard English ............................................... 54 Table 8 Mean Comparison of the Measure of “Acceptance of Standard English (M3)” across Demographic and Background Variables ..................................................................................... 56 Table 9 Descriptive Statistics of Recognition of World Englishes ............................................... 57 Table 10 Mean Comparison of the Measure of “Recognition of World Englishes (M4)” across Demographic and Background Variables. .................................................................................... 58 Table 11 Descriptive Statistics of Familiarity with American English ........................................ 58 Table 12 Mean Comparison of the Measure of “Familiarity with American English (M5)” across Demographic and Background Variables ..................................................................................... 59 Table 13 Descriptive Statistics of “Importance of Native-likeness” ............................................ 61 Table 14 Mean Comparison of the Measure of “Importance of Native-likeness (M6)” across Demographic and Background Variables. .................................................................................... 62 Table 15 Descriptive Statistics of Acceptance of Korean English ............................................... 62 Table 16 Descriptive Statistics for Preference for NETs .............................................................. 63 Table 17 Mean Comparison of the Measure of “Preference for NETs (M8)” across Demographic and Background Variables ............................................................................................................ 64 Table 18 All Part 2 Questions and their Results ........................................................................... 65 Table 19 Pairs of Questions in Part 2 and Part 1 .......................................................................... 65 Table 20 Pairs of Questions Regarding General Ideas of English ................................................ 65 Table 21 Pairs of Questions Regarding Negative Perceptions and Attitudes toward English ...... 68 Table 22 Pairs of Questions Regarding Native-likeness ............................................................... 69 Table 23 Pairs of Questions Regarding Standard English and WE .............................................. 70 7 Table 24 Pairs of Questions