미국인 한국어 학습자의 교환학생 경험과 정체성 연구

American College Students’ Identity Development in the Korean Study Abroad

This study qualitatively examines the identity development of three non-heritage Korean language learners participating in a semester study abroad program in South Korea. The data in the present study were collected through weekly journals and pre-, mid-, and post-study abroad interviews. In a narrative inquiry, the analysis indicates that the non-heritage American students developed their identity as follows: (1) first-hand experience of the target language community helped to discover and to verify participants’ identities; (2) experiences in South Korea positively influenced the ethnic identity of an Asian American student; (3) study abroad can also affect students’ identity negatively developing foreigner identities especially in case they are not prepared culturally and linguistically; (4) the language learner’s imagined communities became real communities through study abroad experiences and it motivated the participant to invest more on Korean language learning and (5) the participants had different experiences with native speakers how foreigner-like they look to the eyes of the target language community. This study contributes to a more comprehensive theory of Korean language learners’ identity development.