Promoting Expanding Circle Englishes: Student Perceptions of the Korean Variety of English and an English as an Intercultural Language Classroom Strategy

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the perceptions of 30 Korean university students majoring in English on the use of the Korean Variety of English (KVE) as well as on a class activity that promotes its use. Designed within the framework of the English as an Intercultural Language (EIcL) paradigm (Green & Lee, 2018), which is supportive of the use of localized versions of English, the activity involved having participants re-write a story that uses inner circle English to a story that uses KVE. This activity was aimed at increasing students’ awareness of KVE and raising issues related to its use in the context of World Englishes. The findings revealed that the participants demonstrated a substantial awareness of many lexical forms of KVE but had less awareness of grammatical features of KVE. Regarding the legitimacy and use of KVE, a variety of opinions were expressed by the participants but the majority had negative perceptions overall; however, most participants felt the use of KVE was appropriate in certain circumstances. The majority of participants had positive perceptions of the activity used for this study. The implications of the study for both EFL learners and educators are discussed.