THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TYPES OF PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIP AND MOTIVATION TO LEARN KOREAN LANGUAGE

Abstract

The number of enrollment in Korean classes has recently been reported to increase. It seems to have a relationship with the parasocial relationship among the media viewers. Parasocial relationship is known as an unmutual, one-sided relationship with the public figures among the media viewers. The society seems to have a negative stigma towards the community with parasocial relationship with Korean media figures. Hence, this research attempts to study on the relationship between the types of parasocial relationship and motivation to learn Korean language in order to overcome the stigma. This is to prove that parasocial relationship could be beneficial for the society. Therefore, this paper investigated the types of parasocial relationship as the intrinsic factor, which has more influence on the students’ motivation to learn Korean language. This research studies on the level and the relationship between parasocial relation and motivation to learn Korean language among the undergraduates in Malaysia. A set of questionnaire was distributed to the respondents. Hundred and fourteen undergraduate students from three local universities, which are IIUM, UTM and UKM had responded to the survey. The students had taken or currently enrolled in Korean class at their respective universities before participating in the survey. Findings show that there is a significant relationship between both types of parasocial relationship and motivation to learn Korean language. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed further to provide insights for future studies in this area.