Individual and Social-Contextual Factors Affecting the Learning and Use of ESL: A Case Study of a Visiting Korean Physician

Abstract

This case study examined factors that affected a Korean physician's learning and use of ESL in an English-speaking country, using data from interviews, observations, notebook memos and e-mails. The findings indicated that individual factors- personality (perfectionism and extroversion), occupation, beliefs, and motivation-and social-contextual factors-lack of contact with native speakers and insecurity about speaking English in the presence of other Koreans-influenced the participant's learning and use of ESL. The findings also revealed that the participant's motivation and extroversion played a role in overcoming the social-contextual obstacles limiting learning opportunities, which illustrates interactions between individual and social-contextual factors.