My Korean language teachers are YouTubers: learning Korean via self-instruction

Abstract

Developments in the affordances of the Internet provide language learners with easy access to learning resources as well as interactions with native speakers. This emerging learning landscape thus creates favourable conditions to learners who want to engage in self-directed language learning. This in-depth single case study reports on the self-instruction language learning practices over three months by a Filipino female learner of Korean. The Korean learner had the goal to work in a Korean factory and subsequently started to self-instruct Korean language learning to pass the high-stakes exam imposed on low-skilled migrant job seekers by the South Korean government. Drawing on the concepts of ‘agency’, ‘affordance’, and ‘context’, this study analysed the use of YouTube by a self-directed learner of Korean to design and create personal learning contexts. The study found that the participant exerted agency to construct highly personalised learning contexts across multiple learning stages. The participant located video clips and information relevant to her learning goals by strategically acting on the technological and social affordances embedded in the online applications. Using the multiple affordances provided by YouTube, she created highly personalised learning contexts to cater to her learning needs. The findings also suggest that the participant’s agency was mediated by personal, socio-cultural and technological factors. Thus, this study extends our understanding of the role of learner agency in creating self-instruction learning contexts in the digital age.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.1928227 .

Keywords:

• ICTs
• self-instruction
• informal language learning
• YouTube
• Korean

Notes on contributor

Hiromi Nishioka is an Assistant Professor at Tokiwa University, Japan. She received her PhD from Macquarie University, Australia. Her recent research interests are self-directed language learning using computer technologies as well as computer-based collaborative language learning projects.

Notes

1 Duolingo can be accessed at https://forum.duolingo.com/. (The researcher confirmed the link on March 5, 2020.)

2 Open-test and self-instruction resources for EPS-TOPIK can be viewed at http://eps.hrdkorea.or.kr/epstopik/book/std/standarTextDesc.do?lang=en

(The researcher confirmed the link on September 16, 2020).

3 Details of the assessment procedures, including the Skills test, can be found at

http://poea.gov.ph/epstopik/files/2020.01.10%20-%20Announcement%20of%20Point%20System.pdf (The researcher accessed the link October 13, 2020).

4 한국산업인력공단 (HRDSK) publishes a video clip describing the assessment procedures of EPS applicants at (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETzAi4Zk2yo&t=47s). Details of Korean interview can be viewed from 3:09-4:15. (The researcher confirmed the link on September 16, 2020).

5 According to Indeed (2019) – a website matching job seekers and employers – an average monthly salary posted for Filipino office workers over the previous 36 months was 15, 348 peso or around US$300 per month. (The calculation based on a rate; 1 Philippine peso equals to 0.20 US dollars.)

6 A home page of seemile Korean (씨마일 한국어) can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKIicR8VM3HczwmJM9UxtTw

(The researcher accessed the link on October 13, 2020).

7 Jundie recommended ‘seemile Korean’ as the best YouTube channel to learn Korean at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOTxssHJO18 (Watch 9:44-11:22)

(The researcher accessed the link on October 13, 2020).

8 Drops can be accessed at https://languagedrops.com/ (The researcher confirmed the link on 12 June 2020.)

9 The lecture video can be watched at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lddlrWPwajw&t=572s (The researcher confirmed the link on September 14, 2020).

10 A video clip of the 1000 important words for EPS-TOPIK takers can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am402iAlQw4&t=404s (The researcher confirmed the link on September 7, 2020).

11 TOPIK has two types of exams: one for general learning purposes and one for EPS applicants. Jass watched a series of video clips without knowing that they were catering for TOPIK for general learning purposes.

12 She still uses an erroneous word “임니다’(is) for ‘입니다’(is) at the end of the sentence.

13 An EPS-TOPIK mock video edited by Team Calalo is available at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lscxfli34IA&t=265s (The researcher confirmed the link on September 7, 2020).

14 Review materials on official EPS-TOPIK website can be retrieved at http://eps.hrdkorea.or.kr/epstopik/book/pub/publicWorkBookList.do?lang=en

(The researcher accessed the link on January 17, 2020).

15 Details of shadowing procedures and their benefits are discussed by language educator researchers such as Hamada (2016) and Kadota (2019).

Hamada, Y. (2016). Shadowing: Who benefits and how? Uncovering a booming EFL teaching technique for listening comprehension, Language Teaching Research, 20(1), 35-52.

Kadota, S. (2019). Shadowing as a practice in second language acquisition: Connecting inputs and outputs. London: Routledge.

Additional information

Funding

Publication of this paper is supported by a Waseda University Research Grant for young and early career researchers (2019年度特定課題研究助成費　若手・アーリーキャリア支援 2019E-074) and by a Waseda University Publication Grant.