Innovation in Language Learning

Cultural motivation (Gómez & Salinas, 2023) [1], a new term in the literature, may be the spark that some students need to start learning a second language (L2). Korean as a second language students are deeply interested by culture and are normally introduced to it for the first time through media (Wang & Pyun, 2020) [2]. Therefore, we can say they are culturally motivated. This study aims to compare the experiences and motivations of students learning English and Korean, and how these factors have influenced their language learning journey. The primary aims of this research are: (i) to explore the role of cultural factors such as food, makeup, music, and clothing in learning the L2 (RQ1); (ii) whether culture is a decisive factor to start learning a language (RQ2); and (iii) how important culture is for language learning (RQ3). This comparative study analyses the motivations of 20 Korean as an L2 students and 50 students of English as an L2. The participants answered a questionnaire with both open questions and Likert questions, validated through a Delphi method (Dalkey & Helmer, 1963) [3]. The findings reveal significant differences in cultural motivation among language learners, with students of Korean scoring significantly higher in both RQ1 and RQ2 compared to English students. These results show that culture is not only a tool for language learning, but it is also an essential component of language learning motivation. Therefore, culture is not in the learning process, but before it even begins.