The purpose of this study is to explore the acculturative factors of international students studying in Korea from the perspective of Korean language education as a second language, to develop an acculturative scale of international students in Korea(... The purpose of this study is to explore the acculturative factors of international students studying in Korea from the perspective of Korean language education as a second language, to develop an acculturative scale of international students in Korea(ASISK), and to investigate the variables that influence their acculturation using the newly developed acculturative scale. The first research problem is to figure out what acculturative factors cause the acculturation of international students in Korea, that the content validity, construct validity, reliability of the newly developed ASISK are appropriate. Findings show that (1) the acculturative factors of international students in Korea were categorized into personal factor, Korean living culture, social factor, contentment to the collegiate life, language use competence. The subcategories of personal factor were divided into the motives of studying abroad in Korea, physical psychological state, stress. Korean living culture factor didn’t have any subcategories. The subcategories of social factor consisted of friendship, social activities, relationship with professors, social discrimination. The subcategories of contentment to the collegiate life were classified as academic contentment, administrative services and student support. The subcategories of language use competence were classes in Korean, the degree of Korean use, the deterrent factors of Korean use. (2) The content validity of the scale was confirmed by 12 experts including Koreans, foreigners from East and West. As a result of the first content validity, 114 items were decreased into 110 items not to meet the standards. As a consequence of the second content validity, 89 items remained to satisfy the standards. 3) Data were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis. 6 factors composed of 23 items were drawn from; contentment to the collegiate life, Korean living culture, classes in Korean of language use competence, personal factor, social factor, the degree of Korean use in language use competence. 4) Data from 249 international students in Korea were analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis, correlation matrix analysis to find out that construct validity is appropriate. As results, convergent validity, discriminant validity were confirmed. 5) The reliability was also verified. The calculated total reliability of the scale was .703(contentment to the collegiate life .784, Korean living culture .604, classes in Korean .730, personal factor .716, social factor .703, the degree of Korean use .657) on Cronbach’s α. The second research problem was to investigate the variables that affect the acculturation of foreign students in Korea using the ASISK. To sum up the research results, firstly, male students tended to use Korean fewer than female students. Secondly, undergraduate students had more difficulties than graduate students in the social factor and classes in Korean of language use competence. Thirdly, students with religion showed better sociality than the opposite. Fourthly, students with less than one year of Korean learning period had better sociality than more than those with one year ~ less than two years. Fifthly, students with TOPIK level 3 adapted to Korean culture personally more than those with TOPIK level 4. Sixthly, in the correlation between demographic variables and acculturation 1) older students were more in the graduate course than in the undergraduate course. Older students stayed in Korea longer. 2) The older students were, the longer Korean learning period was and the better GPA was. 3) Graduate students had better TOPIK scores, GPA and stayed longer in Korea than undergraduate students. 4) The longer length of residence of Korea was, the higher students’ TOPIK scores were. 5) Students with high TOPIK scores had better GPA. 6) Students with high GPA adapted to Korean culture and college culture well. Seventhly, in the correlation between acculturative factors and acculturation 1) as students got used to Korean culture personally well, they adapted to Korean living culture and classes in Korean better. 2) Students who adjusted to Korean living culture well had better sociality and adapted to classes in Korean easily. 3) Students with good sociality showed higher adaptation to classes in Korean. 4) Students who were more satisfied with college life used Korean very often. Eightly, religion of demographic variables had a positive influence on personal factor. Religion and GPA of demographic variables affected Korean living culture factor. GPA of demographic variables had a positive impact on social factor. Ninthly, major of demographic variables had a negative influence on Korean living culture factor and social factor. Finally, personal factor, Korean living culture, social factor, contentment to the collegiate life, language use competence(classes in Korean), language use competence(the degree of Korean use) of acculturative factors had significant influences on acculturation. This study has significances in exploring various experiences of international students studying in Korean undergraduate and graduate course and developing a scale to measure how much they adjust to Korean culture. It is to be hoped that this will yield the following studies and effective supports for foreign students in Korea.
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