This study aims at identifying how the Korean scholarly group's internet language features changed during the last 10 years. For this study, 2,450 written texts on the same web-site in which a previous study collected data were analyzed. This comparison study showed the following results: 1)First of all, the scholarly group's internet texts still involved standard language, high-quality vocabulary and long sentences; 2)However, it was very difficult to find Chinese characters and the percentage of the usage of English increased significantly; 3)Presenting objective data and numbering were still frequently seen; 4)Furthermore, typical internet languages such as slang, argot and abbreviations began to appear; 5)Texts showing self-reflection and teaching tone have been decreased. Instead, texts implying psychological pressure and worries about their jobs have increased; 6)The biggest change was that most of communicator's names were written in English (or unidentified words) or commonly used internet names. This study concludes that comparing to the previous study, the scholarly group's internet language features have changed (although some based on occupational variables remained the same), and that these changes might be affected by social changes taking place in the scholarly group.
Choi, Jin-sook. 2014. Communicative-Symbolic Language shift Link. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 22(2), 135-156. This study sets out to investigate whether communicative language shift to English is associated with symbolic language shift from Korean mother tongue. In order to investigate the issue, the length of stay and English proficiency level were used as variables of communicative language shift to English, and the symbolic language shift from Korean was measured by attitudes towards Korean and English in this study. Eighty two Korean-Australian secondary school students whose mother tongue was Korean participated in the questionnaire survey. As a result, the length of stay in Australia turned out to be an important factor in explaining the symbolic language shift from Korean: the participants' attitudes towards Korean were more negative and their perception of Korean language was weaker, as the stay length was longer. English proficiency also seemed to work as a factor that affects symbolic language shift from Korean: the higher degree of English proficiency the participants had, the weaker the perception of their mother tongue was. Therefore, this study suggests that communicative language shift to English and symbolic language shift from mother tongue cannot be separated; the two language shifts are closely related each other. (189)
Choi, Jin-sook. 2006. Who Accentuates an Inter-group Dialect in an Inter-dialectal Place? The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 14(1). The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there is any relationship between dialect use and ethnolinguistic identity among Korean dialect speakers. It is hypothesized that those who have a strong perception of group identity and consider their dialect as more valuable than those of other groups are more likely to accentuate their language with cognitive efforts. This hypothesis was tested through questionnaires administered to 85 adults from five different provinces who were speaking their own dialect though they resided in Seoul. As a consequence of the analysis, it was found that dialect users in Seoul did not greatly require cognitive efforts when conversing with other dialect speakers. However, the results indicate that those who speak their dialect in a multi-dialectal situation can have a stronger perception of their local identity than those who do not. Thus, this study confirms that language is related to identity. Further, when various factors were examined, birthplace and residence period showed a weak relationship with strength of ethnolinguistic identity. However, results concerning age were meaningful in that the older participants were found to have a stronger identification with their dialect than the younger participants.
The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 14(1). The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there is any relationship between dialect use and ethnolinguistic identity among Korean dialect speakers. It is hypothesized that those who have a strong perception of group identity and consider their dialect as more valuable than those of other groups are more likely to accentuate their language with cognitive efforts. This hypothesis was tested through questionnaires administered to 85 adults from five different provinces who were speaking their own dialect though they resided in Seoul. As a consequence of the analysis, it was found that dialect users in Seoul did not greatly require cognitive efforts when conversing with other dialect speakers. However, the results indicate that those who speak their dialect in a multi-dialectal situation can have a stronger perception of their local identity than those who do not. Thus, this study confirms that language is related to identity. Further, when various factors were examined, birthplace and residence period showed a weak relationship with strength of ethnolinguistic identity. However, results concerning age were meaningful in that the older participants were found to have a stronger identification with their dialect than the younger participants.