Beyond study abroad: Korean English as a foreign language learners who choose to stay

Abstract Research on study abroad (SA) has focused on students who leave their home institutions, often treating at home (AH) learners as a reference group. This study reverses that perspective by centering AH learners and using SA learners for comparison. Focusing on Korean college students, it asks who chooses to remain at home, what motivates that decision, and which factors support language development. Using a mixed‐methods, longitudinal design, the study follows 113 participants over 4 months, drawing on questionnaire data ( n = 113), elicited imitation tasks, and semi‐structured interviews ( n = 54), with SA learners ( n = 109) as a comparison group. Results show that AH learners made significant language gains comparable to those of SA learners. International posture (Yashima, 2002, The Modern Language Journal , 86[1], 54–66) and initial proficiency emerged as significant predictors, with qualitative findings offering a nuanced understanding of how “spec” (Korean slang for professional qualifications relevant to employment) motivates students to remain in Korea while sustaining engagement in an English as a foreign language context.