Korean Graduate Students Experiences in Doing Discussions in English-Medium Seminars: It is Not All About English

The purpose of this study is to illuminate Korean graduate students experiences in a discussion-based English-medium graduate seminar by looking at their experiences over a semester. In particular, this study focused on identifying and analyzing the factors that affect their participation by using qualitative methods. Interviews with eight Korean students in two graduate seminars from different departments at a university in Seoul were analyzed by using the constant comparative method. The findings show that while the students initial worries revolved around their use of English in the classroom, their actual performances were not absolutely determined by their proficiency of English. What students realized from their experiences was that they have not developed the appropriate discussion skills to participate in an academic discussion. Furthermore, their reticence was caused by lack of content knowledge which is the result of not fully comprehending the required reading. The results of this study imply that when analyzing the effectiveness of English-medium lectures/seminars, we should not consider language as the only factor that affects students performances. This study also suggests exploring other factors that cause difficulties for students to participate in the academic discussions in English-medium seminars in order to find the proper solutions for their reticence.