Korean Educational Development Institute(KEDI)

This study investigated the roles of schooling types in first language (L1) development of Korean overseas children. 93 missionary children were recruited and measured for L1 competence and individual variables. Of these, 62 attended an immersive bilingual school with Koreans, and 31 attended an international school with a Korean language program. L1 competence positively correlated with individual variables, as in previous studies, but in different ways, by school. No correlation existed between L1 competence and daily hours of L1 contact for the immersive bilingual group, or with identity or age of leaving Korea for the international school group. These findings show that the correlation between L1 competence and individual variables was limited, compared to schooling types.