The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 2025 KCI Impact Factor : 0.66
-
pISSN : 1226-4822
- https://journal.kci.go.kr/socioling
KJCKorea
Journal Central
Impact of SNS Contact: Motivation, Intercultural Competence, and Learner Perspectives in KFL and EFL
- The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea
- Abbr : 사회언어학
- 2025, 33(3), pp.241~269
- DOI : 10.14353/sjk.2025.33.3.08
- Publisher : The Sociolinguistic Society Of Korea
- Research Area : Humanities > Linguistics
- Received : August 1, 2025
- Accepted : August 20, 2025
- Published : September 30, 2025
1울산과학기술원
Accredited
ABSTRACT
As social networking service (SNS) platforms become increasingly integrated into foreign language education, their impact on learner motivation and intercultural competence may vary depending on the learning context. This mixed-methods study compares American college students learning Korean as a foreign language (KFL) and Korean learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to examine how SNS-mediated intercultural contact affects motivational orientations and intercultural development. A total of 107 university students (56 KFL, 51 EFL) engaged in semester-long Facebook-based interactions. Pre- and post-semester surveys assessed intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, intercultural communicative competence, and intercultural sensitivity, followed by qualitative analysis of students’ reflections. KFL learners showed a significant increase in intrinsic motivation across the semester, while extrinsic motivation remained unchanged. Compared with the EFL group, they achieved greater gains in intercultural communicative competence (attitudes and skills) and intercultural sensitivity (respect), reflecting deeper interpersonal engagement and emotional openness. Their reflections emphasized peer-based cultural learning beyond textbook knowledge. EFL learners, without significant motivational changes, showed growth in intercultural communicative competence (knowledge and awareness) and increased confidence and enjoyment in the SNS interaction. Their reflections portrayed the interaction as academically structured and limited in spontaneity. These findings highlight the critical role of learning context in mediating how SNS-based intercultural engagement supports motivation and intercultural development.
Statistics
-
341 Viewed
-
0 Downloaded
Tools
Issue List
Citation status
* References for papers published after 2025 are currently being built.
[journal]
Abella-García V.
/ 2019
/ To tweet or not to tweet: Student perceptions of the use of Twitter on an undergraduate degree course
/ Innovations in Education and Teaching International
56(4)
: 402~411
[journal]
Aydin, S.
/ 2012
/ A review of research on Facebook as an educational environment
/ Educational Technology Research and Development
60(6)
: 1093~1106
[journal]
Baker W.
/ 2021
/ 'So maybe I'm a global citizen': Developing intercultural citizenship in English medium education
/ Language, Culture and Curriculum
34(1)
: 1~17
[journal]
Baker, W.
/ 2019
/ Transcultural communication: Language, communication and culture through English as a lingua franca in a social network community
/ Language and Intercultural Communication
19(6)
: 471~487
[journal]
Barrot, J. S.
/ 2022
/ Using social networking sites as a language teaching and learning environment
/ Language Teaching
56(2)
: 1~16
[journal]
Byon, A. S.
/ 2008
/ Korean as a foreign language in the USA: The instructional settings
/ Language, Culture and Curriculum
21(3)
: 244~255
[book]
Byram M.
/ 1997
/ Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence
/ Multilingual Matters
[book]
Byram, M.
/ 2021
/ Intercultural citizenship education: Principles and practice
/ Multilingual Matters
[journal]
Byram M.
/ 2018
/ Making a difference: Language teaching for intercultural and international dialogue
/ Foreign Language Annals
51(1)
: 140~151
[journal]
Cadierno, T.
/ 2024
/ Contextual influences on L2 development: A comparative study of Danish and Spanish learners
/ Studies in Second Language Acquisition
46(2)
: 300~322
[journal]
Chen G-M
/ 2000
/ The development and validation of the intercultural sensitivity scale
/ Human Communication
3(1)
: 1~15
[journal]
Chiu, T. K.
/ 2022
/ Applying the self-determination theory (SDT) to explain student engagement in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic
/ Journal of Research on Technology in Education
54(sup1)
: S14~S30
[book]
Creswell, J. W.
/ 2007
/ Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches
/ Sage Publications, Inc
[journal]
Deardorff, D. K.
/ 2006
/ Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization
/ Journal of Studies in International Education
10(3)
: 241~266
[book]
Deci, E. L.
/ 2002
/ Handbook of self-determination research
/ University of Rochester Press
[book]
Dörnyei, Z.
/ 2009
/ The psychology of second language acquisition
/ Oxford University Press
[journal]
Dörnyei, Z.
/ 2005
/ The effects of intercultural contact and tourism on language attitudes and language learning motivation
/ Journal of Language and Social Psychology
24(4)
: 327~357
[journal]
Erhel S.
/ 2022
/ Tweet to teach: Using a Twitter-based instructional method to improve student motivation and academic outcomes in higher education
/ The Internet and Higher Education
55
: 100876~
[journal]
Fang F
/ 2024
/ Intercultural learning and identity development as a form of teacher development through study abroad: Narratives from English language practitioners
/ Language, Culture and Curriculum
37(2)
: 247~266
[journal]
Gordon, S. R.
/ 2018
/ Evaluating the international dimension in an undergraduate curriculum by assessing students' intercultural sensitivity
/ Studies in Educational Evaluation
59
: 76~83
[journal]
Gorham J. A.
/ 2023
/ Embodying intercultural communicative competence in French L2 video reflections: Illustrating skills, knowledge, and attitudes
/ Multimodality & Society
4(1)
: 80~107
[journal]
Grubišić, A.
/ 2023
/ Effects of contact with Korean popular culture on KFL learners' motivation
/ The Korean Language in America
22(1)
: 25~51
[journal]
Hammer M. R.
/ 2003
/ Measuring intercultural sensitivity: The intercultural development inventory
/ International Journal of Intercultural Relations
27(4)
: 421~443
[journal]
Han Y
/ 2025
/ Does the attractiveness of K-culture shape the enjoyment of foreign language learners of Korean?
/ International Journal of Applied Linguistics
35(3)
: 486~502
[journal]
Han Y
/ 2021
/ Motivation as individual differences and task conditions from a regulatory focus perspective: Their effects on L2 Korean speech performance
/ Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching
15(1)
: 1~12
[journal]
Hernández, T.
/ 2010
/ The relationship among motivation, interaction, and the development of second language oral proficiency in a study-abroad context
/ The Modern Language Journal
94(4)
: 600~614
[book]
Jackson, J.
/ 2010
/ Intercultural journeys: From study to residence abroad
/ Palgrave Macmillan
[book]
Jackson, J.
/ 2018
/ Interculturality in international education
/ Routledge
[journal]
Kim, H.
/ 2020
/ Foreign language enjoyment and motivation among U.S. university students learning Korean
/ International Journal of Korean Language Education
31(2)
: 57~82
[journal]
Kim, J.
/ 2020
/ International students' intercultural sensitivity in their academic socialisation to a non-English-speaking higher education: A Korean case study
/ Journal of Further and Higher Education
44(7)
: 939~955
[journal]
Kim, J.
/ SNS-based intercultural contact in an EMI context: Fostering EFL learners' motivation and intercultural competence
/ The Journal of Asia TEFL.
[journal]
Kim, Y.
/ 2023
/ Negotiating racial identity through Korean language learning: Perspectives of non-heritage KFL learners in a U.S. university
/ Journal of Language, Identity & Education
22(1)
: 55~70
[journal]
Kinginger, C.
/ 2008
/ Language learning in study abroad: Case studies of Americans in France
/ The Modern Language Journal
92(s1)
: 1~124
[journal]
Kormos J
/ 2014
/ A mixed-method study of language-learning motivation and intercultural contact of international students
/ Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
35(2)
: 151~166
[journal]
Kozaki, Y.
/ 2011
/ Contextual dynamics in foreign language learning motivation
/ Language Learning
61(4)
: 1328~1354
[book]
Kumaravadivelu, B.
/ 2008
/ Cultural globalization and language education
/ Yale University Press
[journal]
Lai, C.
/ 2021
/ Types of social media activities and Hong Kong Southand Southeast-Asians youth's Chinese language learning motivation
/ System
97
: 102432~
[journal]
Lantz-Andersson, A.
/ 2018
/ Language play in a second language: Social media as contexts for emerging sociopragmatic competence
/ Education and Information Technologies
23(2)
: 705~724
[journal]
Lee, I.
/ 2020
/ Hallyu and Korean language learning: Gender and ethnicity factors
/ The Korean Language in America
24(2)
: 30~51
[journal]
Mekheimer, M. A. A.
/ 2019
/ Developing and assessing the relationship between intercultural communication competence and intercultural sensitivity in the EFL classroom
/ Journal of Research in Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Technology
5(3)
: 107~133
[report]
N. Lusin
/ 2023
/ Enrollments in languages other than English in U.S. institutions of higher education, Fall 2021
/ Modern Language Association of America
[journal]
Morales, A.
/ 2017
/ Intercultural sensitivity, gender, and nationality of third culture kids attending an international high school
/ Journal of International Education Research
13(1)
: 35~44
[journal]
O'Dowd, R.
/ 2006
/ Understanding and working with "failed communication" in telecollaborative exchanges
/ CALICO Journal
23(3)
: 623~642
[journal]
Özdemir, E.
/ 2017
/ Promoting EFL learners' intercultural communication effectiveness: A focus on Facebook
/ Computer Assisted Language Learning
30(6)
: 510~528
[journal]
Park G
/ 2024
/ Fostering intercultural competence through digital ethnography in Korean language classrooms
/ Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages
35(1)
: 10~34
[journal]
Peng, R.
/ 2016
/ Measuring intercultural contact and its effects on intercultural competence: A structural equation modeling approach
/ International Journal of Intercultural Relations
53
: 16~27
[journal]
Reinhardt, J.
/ 2019
/ Social media in second and foreign language teaching and learning: Blogs, wikis, and social networking
/ Language Teaching
52(1)
: 1~39
[journal]
Semaan G.
/ 2015
/ The relationship between global competence and language learning motivation: An empirical study in critical language classrooms
/ Foreign Language Annals
48(3)
: 511~520
[journal]
Thompson, A. S.
/ 2017
/ Language learning motivation in the United States: An examination of language choice and multilingualism
/ The Modern Language Journal
101(3)
: 483~500
[journal]
Ushioda, E.
/ 2011
/ Language learning motivation, self and identity: Current theoretical perspectives
/ Computer Assisted Language Learning
24(3)
: 199~210