Culture and Motivation in Second Language Acquisition: A Case Study with Two Korean Graduate Students in an ESL Situation

Abstract

Han, Moon-Sub and Ha, Jong-Bum. 2006. Culture and Motivation in Second Language Acquisition: A Case Study with Two Korean Graduate Students in an ESL Situation. Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics 6-2, 351-371. Our study investigated how two Korean graduate students felt about their English learning in an ESL situation in terms of culture and motivation. Two participants, who had shown differential achievement of learning English, were interviewed based on the questionnaire that asked about their ultimate goal for learning English, their use of English and Korean, their motivation for learning English, the role of Korean culture on English learning, etc. The results showed that some of the aspects of Korean cultures (i.e. strong community) had been a negative factor for their English learning, and, above all, more use of Korean in their community and possibly less English input and use had been preventing them from developing their English competences. In our study, the motivation factor does not seem to explain their differential achievement of English, since it is high instrumental motivation that both the participants showed toward their English learning, although they also displayed some integrative motivation. Rather, it appears that target language input and some personal factors, such as aptitude, anxiety, attitude toward English, explain their differential achievement of English.