Abstract:
Korean popular culture has spread throughout the world in the last decade. The rapid prominence of the Korean wave “hallyu” and its global influence are unavoidable. The recent impact of the Korean wave can also be seen in Algeria, where it begun to spread its influence. The study argues that the prevalence of the Korean culture has created sociolinguistic outcomes when in contact with Algerian society which is already featured by the use of a wide range of languages. By the emergence of hallyu, a new foreign language became part of the Algerian fan’s daily discourse. The study aims at scrutinizing the sociolinguistic influence of the Korean Wave in the emergence of Korean as a foreign language in the Algerian society. The study follows a procedure of exploratory design which is based on a quantitative and qualitative method. The data was collected through questionnaire and interview that provided to 70 purposively chosen participants. The study investigates with hallyu fans, Korean Dream School learners and teacher in Bejaia province. The study found that Hallyu emergence in Algeria started when Algerian and Saudi TV channels diffused K-drama. Through these dramas they discovered the Korean language and culture. Later on they started to be influenced by the Korean lifestyle shown in the K-dramas and K-pop songs, they reproduced the meals seen in the dramas, adopted the Korean fashion and makeup style, and take classes to learn the Korean language. During their KFL learning process the learners faced several difficulties because of the differences between the Korean language and the languages they know such as at the level of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, along with external factors seen as learning obstacles like the insufficient time invested in the Korean classes, their surrounding’s critics, and the absence of native Koreans in Algeria to practice with and learn from. To overcome these difficulties, learners make mainly use of authentic materials. They remain motivated thanks to their hobbies related to Korean; they take these classes with the objective of reaching a certain level that will allow them to fully practice their hobbies. Finally, the future of the Korean wave in Algeria depends on the Algerian fan community and the success that Hallyu could achieve.
