The Influence Of Korean Drama In Korean Language Learning

Introduction of the study

1.1 Introduction

This section begins with the background of the study and the problem statement where it clarifies the reasons for the study of the influence of K-Drama in Korean Language Learning. This chapter also outlines the research objectives and research questions for the study.

1.2 Background of the Study

Korean waves, especially Korean drama (known as k-drama) have been spreading widely across the globe and be accepted by many people despite the differences in terms of cultures and beliefs. According to Amaran (2018), Korean drama have been popular in Malaysia for more than 10 years. Korean Wave started to penetrate into Malaysia since 2002 where Korean drama, Winter Sonata became a hit on TV3. Moreover, Amaran (2018) mentioned that Winter Sonata has become an all-time classic and a must-watch K-Drama for all K-Drama lovers worldwide, in which it ignites the starting point of Korean Wave all over the world. J. Tajul Ariffin, H. Abu Bakar and N. H. Yusoff (2018) stated in a research that Malaysia television stations commenced to subscribe and incorporated K-Drama into local programs, in which it gradually increased the popularity of K-Drama in Malaysia.

With the growing number of K-Drama in Malaysia television stations, viewers especially K-drama lovers have the tendency to learn Korean language to understand the aesthetic features and values of the language (S. W. Kim, 2018). According to S. W. Kim (2018), the translated text or subtitles might omit the said values due to limited vocabularies to match the intended meaning of the script of the storyline. Thus, S. W. Kim’s (2018) research showed that there are a number of viewers were motivated to learn Korean language due to the language barriers through drama.

The influence of television drama in language learning was not being investigated by many (e.g. Min, 2014; Uysal & Yavuz, 2018; Lin & Syanova, 2015), thus, this thesis reports the findings of a thorough study to establish the influence of K-Drama in Korean Language learning among Malaysians. This research also emphasizes the contributing factors in Korean Language learning besides K-Dramas. Moreover, the central to the research study is the style used by the respondents in Korean Language learning.

1.3 Problem Statement

Despite the increasing number of Malaysian that have learned Korean Language, little research has been carried out particularly on this topic. According to Amaran (2018), K-Drama is widely accepted and demanded by Malaysian viewers, and has been broadcast in various channels in Malaysian television stations. Although the research in the field of Korean Wave (known as Hallyu) has investigated how Hallyu affects the Korean Language learning (e.g Dator & Seo, 2004; Shim, 2006; Briandana & Ibrahim, 2015; E. M. Kim & Ryoo, 2007), little research on how K-Drama influence Korean Language learning. Thus, with the growing number of K-Drama in television stations, this has encouraged the viewers to learn Korean language since the number of K-Drama that they have watched is increased.

1.4 Research Aims

The research aims to contribute to the research on the influence of K-Drama in Korean Language learning. This research focuses on the influence of K-Drama in Korean Language learning by figuring out the effects of frequency of watching K-drama aids in Korean language learning, the use of captions or subtitles from K-drama in Korean language learning and aims to study the alternatives of learning used by the respondents in Korean Language learning.

1.5 Research Questions

The purpose of this research paper is to provide insights on the ways of K-Drama viewers obtain the knowledge Korean Language. Hence, the research questions are as followed:

1.5.1 How does K-Drama helped language learners in learning Korean Language?

1.5.2 What are the alternatives used by the respondents in learning Korean Language besides K- Drama?

1.6 Operational Definition

Operational definition referred as a precise statement of a conceptual variables is turned into a measurable variables (Dorsten, 2019). It specifies the ways to measure the variables in the study and defines what the researcher will be observing through the research, which helps the researcher to measure the research questions.

1.6.1 Influence

According to Merriam-Webster’s thesaurus (n.d.), influence is defined as “to act upon (a person or a person’s feelings) so as to cause a response” [Definition 1] and “the power to bring about the result on another” [Definition 3].

This research paper aims to study the influence of K-Drama in Korean Language learning. The term “influence” indicates the meaning of identifying how many K-Drama do the viewers need to watch in order to gain the knowledge of Korean Language. This will be reflected to the first research question (refer 1.5.1) and will be further discussed in Chapter 4.

1.7 Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will redound to the benefit of the language learners considering that there are many ways to learn and acquire new languages. This study wants to verify that the learners do not have to focus solely on formal language class, instead they could learn the new languages leisurely through television programs, in this case, K-drama.