Abstract:

Technological developments and the constantly shifting new media landscape have led to a consistent evolution of learning approaches in second language (L2) acquisition. Within this digital ecosystem, online fandom practices emerge as a vibrant and nuanced domain where fan-driven content forge spaces for learning language, acquiring cultural competencies necessary for navigating online spaces and embracing fan identity (Sauro, 2017). With the convergence of online fandom and language learning, the transformative potential of affinity spaces in facilitating meaningful language acquisition and identity formation in a L2 context is observed (Isbell, 2018; Sauro, 2017). Employing a case study methodology, this presentation examines how K-pop fans informally acquire Korean language proficiency through song lyrics, investigating fans' interpretive strategies, self-directed learning techniques, and the personalized experiences documented when fans create instructional videos to share knowledge within the expansive YouTube fan community. Within its dedicated fan communities, the K-pop craze has led to a new educational paradigm in which enthusiasts are turning to the lyrics of K-pop songs as medium for learning the Korean language, often embracing the ability to speak Korean as part of their fan identity (Jung, 2021). Such participatory and decentralized forms of education represent an emerging trend of informal, yet impactful, L2 learning, which underscores a broader social engagement with language acquisition that extends beyond the traditional classroom setting, interweaving cultural consumption with educational pursuits.

For this study, three YouTubers were carefully selected due to their dedicated fan bases cultivated by creating diverse content around Korean music and culture, as well as their unique backgrounds as foreigners with varying cultural identities and experiences with learning the Korean language. Interestingly, they each offer different perspectives shaped by their distinct cultural backgrounds, language proficiencies, learning journeys, and varying depths of immersion in Korea itself, showcasing the multifaceted ways global fans engage with this phenomenon. Centering on informal L2 acquisition within online fan communities, this multi-case study comparatively examines how the YouTubers leverage their distinct backgrounds and K-pop fan identities to facilitate informal learning of the Korean language via K-pop lyrics. Particular attention is paid to their personalized strategies for interpreting, learning, and deriving meaning from Korean song lyrics, a medium characterized by ephemerality, lack of visuals, and performance-based delivery. By positioning these fan content creators as informal language instructors and resource designers, the study adds to our understanding of informal language learning through fandoms by identifying effective strategies for acquiring meaning and linguistic knowledge from multimodal, performance-based texts, and providing empirical evidence for the importance of contextualized input and immersive participation in informal L2 acquisition.

Keywords:

Second language (L2) acquisition, fandom, language education.