Understanding the Importance of English Education in South Korea and Exploring the Reasons Why South Korean Students Come to a University in the Midwest

participant for the interview dates and the interview places, the semi-structured 

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interviews were started on an individual basis.  The average interview lasted between one 
and two hours, and all of the interview questions and answers used the Korean language 
because of the lack of the interviewees’ English proficiency.  Every interview was 
recorded on an iPad and was noted on the field notes.  These were transcribed in the 
documents placed in the secure and confidential location.  The iPad was password 
protected by the researcher for the purpose of confidentiality.  The audio records are kept 
for one year, and the researcher will permanently delete all of the audio records in 
January, 2015.  Only the researcher has access to these audio resources and transcribed 
all of these audio resources. Hence, there was no transcriptionist for this study.  Moreover, 
the field notes, transcribed documents, and the informed consent forms were securely 
retained and locked in the file cabinet located in the researcher’s office for one year.  
Eighth, the researcher encouraged all of the interviewees to honestly answer the study’s 
inquiries by reemphasizing the confidentiality of the process.