South Korea, English, and Globalisation: Investigating Young Korean Adults’ English Regard
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SOUTH KOREA, ENGLISH, AND GLOBALISATION: INVESTIGATING YOUNG KOREAN ADULTS’ ENGLISH REGARD NEILL JOHN PORTEOUS Doctor of Philosophy ASTON UNIVERSITY March 2020 © Neill John Porteous, 2020 Neill John Porteous asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this thesis. This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright belongs to its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without appropriate permission or acknowledgement. 1 Thesis summary Aston University South Korea, English, and globalisation; investigating young Korean adults’ English regard Neill John Porteous Doctor of Philosophy Applied Linguistics 2020 The English language is an important part of South Korea’s globalisation push. However, there is limited understanding of what English is and means to Korean layfolk due to the effects of intensifying global flows being insufficiently considered and a focus on language attitudes. Consequently, awareness of different Englishes and potential variety associations are not evident. The desirability of specific English user models and particularly the reasons why are also unclear. Additionally, despite the perceived importance of English, there appears to be a lack of empirical investigation. This limited insight has been further compounded by gender imbalance in most survey samples. To better understand the perceptions of English among young Korean adults this study adopted a pragmatic world view and used the more expansive concept of language regard. A sequential explanatory mixed methods study using online questionnaires was completed by a survey sample with a well-balanced gender distribution. The data from the first phase (n=233) were used to inform the questioning of the study’s second phase (n=76). Summative content analysis was used to interpret the data. The findings indicate a lack of awareness of different English varieties other than American and British Englishes. Also, most participants were only able to provide associations with American and British Englishes. These findings combined with non-evaluative comments suggest language attitudes are often absent. English was considered important for several reasons, but communication rather than the commonly cited idea of employment was found most prominent. Further investigation, however, revealed that these two themes are often interrelated. The data also indicate that American English was the most desired user model. The most prominent reasons were status and perceived communicative effectiveness. Furthermore, the findings throughout the study suggest gender may affect English regard. In sum, these results have theoretical, methodological and pedagogical implications in Korea, as well as the wider context. Keywords: keyword analysis, Korean English, language attitudes, language regard, pragmatic world view 2 Acknowledgments I would first like to express my gratitude to Professor Urszula Clark for her expert guidance and patience throughout the course of my studies. I must also thank my wife, Yunyoung, for her support while I was focusing on this research project. Another individual I am indebted to is Dr. Marcus Grandon, my student mentor at Aston University. His help and advice in general, but particularly in the first two years of study, has been invaluable. Finally, I am incredibly grateful to the participants who gave up their time to take part in this research. There would be no study without you. Thank you. 3 List of contents Thesis summary ..................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................. 3 List of contents ....................................................................................................................... 4 List of abbreviations ............................................................................................................. 10 List of English variety abbreviations ..................................................................................... 11 List of tables ......................................................................................................................... 12 List of figures ........................................................................................................................ 14 List of appendices ................................................................................................................ 15 Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 16 1.1 English in a globalised world ....................................................................................... 16 1.2 English regard in South Korea .................................................................................... 18 1.3 Research questions .................................................................................................... 20 1.4 Significance of the study ............................................................................................. 20 1.5 Thesis structure .......................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................................ 24 2.1 Defining globalisation and neoliberal ideologies .......................................................... 24 2.1.1 Globalisation ........................................................................................................ 24 2.1.2 Neoliberalism ....................................................................................................... 27 2.1.3 Habitus, capital, and field ..................................................................................... 28 2.1.4 The linguistic capital of English ............................................................................. 31 2.2 Defining language ....................................................................................................... 32 2.2.1 Dialect, accent, and variety................................................................................... 33 2.2.2 Categorizing Englishes – World Englishes ........................................................... 35 2.2.3 Defining the native and non-native speaker .......................................................... 37 2.2.4 Translanguaging ................................................................................................... 40 2.2.5 Indexicality and enregisterment ............................................................................ 42 2.2.6 Chronotope and scales ......................................................................................... 43 2.2.7 The reality of English language teaching .............................................................. 45 2.3 English in Korea .......................................................................................................... 46 2.3.1 Korea’s modern history, capital, and ideology ...................................................... 46 4 2.3.2 English education in Korea ................................................................................... 50 2.3.2.1 Textbooks ...................................................................................................... 53 2.3.2.2 Private education ........................................................................................... 55 2.3.3 Migration .............................................................................................................. 56 2.3.4 Technology ........................................................................................................... 58 2.3.5 Media ................................................................................................................... 58 2.3.6 Identity ................................................................................................................. 61 2.3.7 Korean English ..................................................................................................... 62 2.3.8 Section conclusion ............................................................................................... 66 2.4 Language regard ........................................................................................................ 67 2.4.1 Defining language regard ..................................................................................... 67 2.4.2 Defining attitude ................................................................................................... 69 2.4.3 Language attitudes ............................................................................................... 71 2.4.4 Linguistic stereotypes ........................................................................................... 72 2.5 Previous language attitude measurement ................................................................... 74 2.5.1 Societal treatment method .................................................................................... 74 2.5.2 Direct approach .................................................................................................... 75 2.5.3 Indirect approach .................................................................................................