Attitudes towards Use of English in Korea's EFL Social Contexts

Abstract

The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 15(1). The purpose of this study is to examine the types of functional features of English language use in Korea's EFL contexts, and to find out the attitude toward and possibilities for organizing English speaking communities to be designed for more communicative situations. The social contexts of English language use in Korea are rather limited in terms of their scope, the number of English speakers, situational needs in daily life, i.e., there is no immediate sense of practical needs. The social settings for the Korean L1 run the whole gamut of education, business, and general life, yet international demands are so great that they require additional English needs regardless of local values in practice. This paper selected two groups, college students and company workers whose expectations of English use may be representative of Koreans in general. The results showed a dichotomy between language functional issues and the symbolic, imaginative status of English in Korea. In addition, the subjects' responses to the need for an English speaking community were contradictory to their attitude towards getting involved in creating that community. The needs are there, but they do not have a clear idea how to comply with these needs.