Globalization and the Diaspora of English: the Conceptualization of English in South Korea Inthe Era of Globalization

One of the most distinctive features thatcharacterizes 21st century is globalization. Thesweeping power of globalization not only changes thematerial conditions of human beings but alsoradically modifies how people position themselves andwhat they can share in a newly-defined world village. Also, ground-breaking developments in technologybring us many revolutionary means to communicate witheach other, and this has become the impetus forestablishing new relationships among people. At thecore of this process, the existence of a globallanguage as a medium of communication has become acritical agenda. This study focuses on therelationship between globalization and the diasporaof English in South Korea. More specifically, thisstudy investigates the attitudes of Korean studentstoward English in six different environments: social/cultural, economical, linguistic, pedagogical, technological, and globalizational environments. Using both quantitative and qualitative researchmethods, this study illustrates the profile ofEnglish in the 21st century globalized Korea.