The present study examines the language use of 1,333 students taking English medium instruction (EMI) courses in four elite universities in South Korea. It employs a quantitative method with qualitative comments. The study investigates three language practice issues in EMI courses, including: (i) the extent of use of English in EMI courses, (ii)…

Despite the unique status of English as a super-power among foreign languages in Korea, and researchers' increasing interest in Korean parents' zeal for achieving their children's early bilingualism and willingness to invest heavily in private English education outside of school, insufficient attention has been paid to the role of parental…

This paper explores the ways in which apology functions as a stance act at public speech events. Rather than focusing on speakers' intentions, in this study I pay attention to indexical meanings associated with apologies in a specific context. The study primarily analyses apology sequences that involve code-switching, which were drawn from…

This study examined perceptions of English as an International Language (EIL) by Korean English-major and non-English-major students. It also investigated factors that influenced their perceptions. The EIL Perception Scale was employed to assess two dimensions of EIL (i.e. varieties of English [VE] and strategies for multilingual/multicultural…

This study uses Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA) paradigm to analyse Korean Ministry of Education (MOE) policy documents legitimising the National English Ability Test (NEAT) and consolidating a testing regime wherein educational testing is strongly positioned as a social technology facilitating practical English use. Focusing on…

Although significant attention has been devoted to the notion of facework and its functions, facework among L2 speakers, whose cultural backgrounds and language proficiencies vary, has remained unexplored. The present study attempts to explore situations of intercultural communication in which facework is used as a way to remedy moments of…

This study examined the extent to which a one-year difference in age can influence college students' reported communicative behaviours in both the USA and South Korea. Korean students differentiated themselves far more than their American counterparts from other students one-year older or younger than themselves. The former reported that students…