L2 Writing Socialization of South Korean Graduate Students in a North American Academic Context
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to help understand South Korean graduate students’ L2 writing difficulty and thus facilitate their socialization into their target discourse communities. Given that South Korean graduates’ linguistic, cultural, and educational differences affect their academic writing practices in a North American academic setting, these factors must be explained to examine their influence on students’ writing. This paper will briefly describe the linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds of South Korean L2 graduate students in terms of both their L1 and L2 writing. Second, it will scrutinize the previous research that focuses on how L2 students in general become socialized in North American university settings. Last, based on the discussion, suggestions will be made for deeper investigation of how L2 students in general and Korean students in particular become better socialized, focusing on their access to resources.