A Qualitative Needs Analysis of Korean University Student-Athletes’ English Use

This study explores the English-mediated communication experiences of Korean university student-athletes and identifies their specific linguistic needs in international sports settings. Adopting a qualitative needs analysis approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 student-athletes from 11 different sports disciplines. Guided by the framework of Communities of Practice (CoP), the analysis reveals three main themes: initial engagements with the international sports community, the centrality of ESP speaking skills in competition and training, and limited communicative agency due to linguistic barriers. The findings highlight the athletes’ strong motivation to engage in interactions with members of the international sports community but also their struggle to participate fully in its CoP due to limited proficiency in sport-specific English. These results point to the need for more context-sensitive ESP instruction that reflects the situated nature of international sports communication.