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

Chapter Three 
Measurement 
Subjects 
The subjects for this study are Korean students who have studied at the University 
of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK). There are many Korean students who come to UNK to 
study and learn English, so the subjects for this study were drawn for the student 
population. The South Korean students at UNK exhibited the following four 
characteristics: first, they previously attended one of the Korean high schools or the 
Korean universities; second, they came to UNK to learn and study English for a short 
period of time or for a long period of time until finishing their program at UNK; third, 
they wanted to experience the American culture and to have an opportunity to meet with 
American friends; and fourth, they took either UNK undergraduate courses or English 
Language Institute courses, depending on their English proficiency.
Recruitment Process 
The following information describes how 30 interviewees were recruited.
According to the list of UNK international students reported by the Office of 
International Education, there were approximately 150 Korean students attending UNK 
in Fall 2013. The researcher contacted all South Korean students about whether or not 
they would be willing to participate in this study. The researcher sent three emails to 
UNK Korean students, and the format of the three emails is shown in Appendix A. After 
the researcher received the first responses from the UNK Korean students who agreed 
with participating in the interview process, the researcher chose 30 samples out of all of 

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the first responses depending on the following two conditions: gender and the duration of 
the study abroad program. In other words, out of the 30 samples, the researcher recruited 
14 female samples and 16 male samples. Out of these candidates, the researcher ensured 
that 13 are new Korean students who just arrived at UNK and 17 Korean students who 
have been at UNK for over one semester. Therefore, the total number of the sample for 
this study was 30 respondents who agreed to become interviewees for the subject.