미국 대학 한국어 학습자의 학습 지속 동기 연구

Non-heritage Korean Learners’ Motivation to Continue Learning Korean in the US

This article studies what makes a learner continuously invest in learning Korean. Narratives of nine non-heritage learners in the Korean program of a university in the US were qualitatively analyzed. The participants’ initial motivations were various, such as interest in Korean popular culture, having Korean friends, etc. However, the data indicate that the participants’ motivations have dynamically changed in the course of learning Korean as follows: (1) some students attained or strengthened integrative motivation as they contact target language speakers with their improved Korean proficiency, (2) some students attained their instrumental motivation as they discover benefits for their future job, (3) the participants seemed to shape their ideal L2 selves in details, and it was affected not only by integrative motivation but also by instrumental motivation, (4) some participants extended their cultural interest to various fields of Korean society and culture other than popular culture, and it was partly due to the strengthening of their integrative motivation, (5) Korean language learning seems to affect the identity of Asian American learners because they value Korean language and culture as Asian culture that they can relate.