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

Comparing Yin et al.’s previous findings with this study’s findings.  
Yin et al.’s (2010) findings described that their interviewees came to one of America’s 
colleges or universities located in the southern United States because of the following 
reasons: Yin et al.’s interviewees wanted to experience American college’s and 
university’s life through campus housing and courses; and 9 out of 17 Korean 
undergraduate exchange students came to the school to significantly improve their 
English abilities.  Furthermore, through Yin et al.’s findings, the researcher indicated that 
the following concerns were brought by Yin et al.’s interviewees: first, the majority of 
Yin et al.’s interviewees did not feel comfortable to take more than 5 academic courses; 
second, a couple of Yin et al.’s interviewees enjoyed joining in class discussions with 
American professors and their peer friends from America and the other countries, but the 
other Yin et al.’s interviewees were not happy with this type of class setting because of 
their English barriers; third, many of Yin et al.’s interviewees mentioned that it was not 
easy for them to build a strong relationship with American students while they attended 
the American colleges; fourth, several of Yin et al.’s interviewees were frustrated by the 
lack of public transportation in the city in where they lived; and fifth, 9 of Yin et al.’s 

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interviewees felt that tuition and living expenses in America were more expensive than in 
Korea.   
 
As previously stated, the researcher of this study found very similar results to Yin 
et al.’s findings.  In Chapter Four, the researcher discovered that two thirds of the 30 
Korean students said that they came to UNK because they wanted to significantly 
improve their English competency.  Eight out of 30 Korean students indicated that they 
wanted to have various experiences living at UNK, so many of them already lived in the 
UNK dormitories with American or foreign roommates.  Furthermore, the researcher 
already found the concerns of Korean students before and after coming to UNK through 
analyzing the interview data, and the above 5 concerns discovered by Yin et al.’s study 
were found through this research’s findings as well.  As a result, this research’s study and 
Yin et al.’s study have similar results.  Both studies’ interviewees were mainly exchange 
and visiting students from South Korea, so it might be expected both studies’ findings are 
similar.