Language attitudes of international students in an EMI environment: English and Korean in a multilingual context

Charmyee Kim^*

Dongshin University

Abstract

This study investigates the language attitudes of English-track international students at a Korean university operating under an English-medium instruction (EMI) system. Survey data from 195 students were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively to assess attitudes toward English (L2) and Korean (L3) across cognitive, affective, and behavioral domains. The finding shows that the students regarded both languages as important, but attributed different functional roles to each: English operated as academic symbolic capital, whereas Korean was essential for daily life. English consistently received high scores across all domains, whereas Korean showed a marked discrepancy between strong cognitive recognition and lower affective and behavioral attitudes. Furthermore, attitudes toward Korean declined with longer residence (p < .01), likely reflecting limited institutional support, discontinuities in Korean language education, and broader tensions arising from conflicting language policies. These results suggest that EMI programs should incorporate plurilingual pedagogical approaches that support the flexible and integrated use of students' linguistic resources.

영어매개강의(EMI) 환경 유학생의 언어 태도 연구
: 다언어 상황 속 영어와 한국어에 대한 인식과 태도를 중심으로

초록

Vol. 40 No. 4 (2022.12)

Journal Abbreviation j. Korea Saf. Manag. Sci.
Frequency Published four times annually in March, June, September, and December
Doi Prefix 10.14353/sjk.
Year of Launching 1993
Publisher The Sociolinguistic Society of Korea

Indexed/Tracked/Covered By