Psychological profiles in Korean language learning among Chinese learners
Abstract
This study investigates the self-directed learning (SDL) capacity and academic self-efficacy (SE) of Chinese learners of the Korean language, with the aim of identifying distinct psychological learner profiles and examining their relationship with formal language proficiency as measured by the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK). Drawing on survey data collected from 178 participants between March and May 2026, the study employed a five-stage quantitative analytical framework encompassing descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, K-means cluster analysis, chi-square tests, and a generalised linear model with interaction terms. The study was further complemented by qualitative interviews with three TOPIK experts who each had at least six years of Korean language teaching experience. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed a three-factor SDL structure — Planning and Organization, Learning Motivation, and Self-regulation and Reflection — with acceptable reliability (α = .725). K-means cluster analysis identified four psychologically distinct learner profiles: Strategic Learners (34.8%), characterised by high self-regulation but low motivation; Reflective Learners (8.4%), marked by high motivation yet severely deficient planning; Passive Learners (21.3%), uniformly low across all dimensions; and Motivated Learners (35.4%), defined by high motivation and self-efficacy. Proficiency analyses revealed that both study duration and examination experience were significant positive predictors of TOPIK scores, and that the benefit of repeated test-taking varied substantially across profiles, with Reflective Learners benefiting most (β = .813) and Strategic Learners least (β = .221). These findings demonstrate that psychological heterogeneity among Chinese Korean language learners is consequential for proficiency outcomes and cannot be inferred from demographic or institutional characteristics alone, underscoring the need for profile-sensitive instructional design in Korean language education.