Your browser does not support the PubReader view.
Go to this page to see a list of supporting browsers.
The Korean Association for the Study of English Language and Linguistics
[ Article ]
Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics - Vol. 26, No. 0, pp.671-687
ISSN: 1598-1398 (Print) 2586-7474 (Online)
Print publication date 31 May 2026
Received 05 May 2026 Revised 08 May 2026 Accepted 11 May 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.26..202605.671

Scenario Meets Survey: Integrating Measures of Empathy in Adolescent L2 Communication

Kyoung Rang Lee ; Eungi Hong ; Eunsaem Lee
(First/Corresponding author) Professor, Department of English Data Convergence / Institute of Humanities, Intelligence, and Technology Sejong University 209, Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 05006, Republic of Korea, Tel: +82-2-3408-3118 kranglee@sejong.ac.kr
English teacher Cheorwon Middle School 12, Geumhak-ro 251beonan-gil, Cheorwon-eup, Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do, 24050 Korea
English teacher Yulgok High School 10, Saimdang-ro 905 beon-gil, Beobwon-eup, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, 10826 Korea


© 2026 KASELL All rights reserved
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between empathy and English communicative performance among Korean adolescents by integrating survey-based and scenario-based measures. While previous research has relied primarily on self-report instruments, this study adopts a mixed approach to capture both perceived empathy and its expression in actual language use. Participants completed a modified Interpersonal Reactivity Index and responded to scenario-based tasks. Their responses were evaluated in terms of English proficiency, empathic quality, and communicative tone. Correlation analyses, t-tests, and ANOVAs were conducted to examine relationships among variables and group differences by gender and age. The results showed that empathy was positively associated with English performance, empathic expression, and tone. Significant relationships were also found between survey-based and scenario-based empathy measures, indicating that survey-based empathy is reflected in communicative performance. Gender differences showed that female students scored higher across empathy-related measures, while age patterns indicated that empathy-related measures appeared relatively stable from mid- to late adolescence in the present cross-sectional sample, whereas language proficiency increases at later stages. This study demonstrates the complementary value of combining survey-based and scenario-based approaches, offering a more comprehensive understanding of empathy in L2 communication and suggesting implications for future research and instruction.

Keywords:

empathy, scenario-based assessment, second language learning, adolescent learners, socio-emotional factors

References

  • Bardovi-Harlig, K. 2013. Developing L2 pragmatics. Language Learning 63(Suppl. 1), 68-86. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00738.x]
  • Chen, L. 2008. The effect of empathy on college English speaking. Asian Social Science 4(8), 142-146. [https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v4n8p142]
  • Ciarrochi, J., P. Parker, T. B. Kashdan, P. C. L. Heaven and E. Barkus. 2015. Hope and emotional well-being: A six-year study to distinguish antecedents, correlates, and consequences. Journal of Positive Psychology 10(6), 1-13. [https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1015154]
  • Clore, G. L. and J. R. Huntsinger. 2009. How the object of affect guides its impact. Emotion Review 1(1), 39-54. [https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073908097185]
  • Cooper, B. 2004. Empathy, interaction and caring: Teachers’ roles in a constrained environment. Pastoral Care in Education 22(3), 12-21. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0264-3944.2004.00299.x]
  • Cooper, B. 2011. Empathy in Education: Engagement, Values and Achievement. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Coplan, A. and P. Goldie. 2011. Empathy: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press. [https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199539956.001.0001]
  • Davis, M. H. 1983. Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 44(1), 113-126. [https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113]
  • De Brasi, V. and A. Mongibello. 2025. Empathy and politeness in AI chatbot-mediated language learning: Insights from EFL learners’ interactions with LLM-based chatbots. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies, 5423-5430. [https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2025.1348]
  • Dewaele, J. M. and P. D. MacIntyre. 2016. Foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety: The right and left feet of FL learning? In P.D. MacIntyre, T. Gregersen and S. Mercer, eds., Positive Psychology in SLA, 215-236. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. [https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.30945667.12]
  • Dörnyei, Z. 2005. The Psychology of the Language Learner: Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Feshbach, N. D. and S. Feshbach. 2009. Empathy and education. In J. Decety and W. Ickes, eds., The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, 85-97. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262012973.003.0008]
  • Fredrickson, B. L. 2001. The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist 56(3), 218-226. [https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.56.3.218]
  • Guthrie, J. T., L. W. Hoa, A. Wigfield, S. M. Tonks, N. M. Humenick and E. Littles. 2007. Reading motivation and reading comprehension growth in the later elementary years. Contemporary Educational Psychology 32(4), 282-313. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2006.05.004]
  • Huntsinger, J. R., G. L. Clore and Y. Bar-Anan. 2010. Mood and global–local focus: Priming a local focus reverses the link between mood and global–local processing. Emotion 10(5), 722-726. [https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019356]
  • Karimian, M. 2022. The effect of empathy-enhancing techniques on EFL learners’ empathy, language proficiency, and perception of classroom activities. Journal of Contemporary Language Research 1(1), 29-41. [https://doi.org/10.58803/jclr.v1i1.66]
  • Lee, H. 2022. The effects of empathy on English reading comprehension through the mediated effects of achievement emotions and English reading motivation. Journal of Language Science 29(2), 73-92. [https://doi.org/10.14384/kals.2022.29.2.073]
  • Lucas-Molina, B., A. Pérez-Albéniz, J. Ortuño-Sierra and E. Fonseca-Pedrero. 2017. Dimensional structure and measurement invariance of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) across gender. Psicothema 29(4), 590-595. [https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2017.19]
  • Meyer, D. K. and J. C. Turner. 2002. Discovering emotion in classroom motivation research. Educational Psychologist 37(2), 107-114. [https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326985EP3702_5]
  • Park, J.-Y. and H.-W. Lim. 2021. Effects of English classroom enjoyment and empathy on English learning motivation. Studies in Foreign Languages Education 35(2), 205-224.
  • Roever, C. 2011. Testing of second language pragmatics: Past and future. Language Testing 28(4), 463-481. [https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532210394633]
  • Taguchi, N. 2015. Instructed pragmatics at a glance: Where instructional studies were, are, and should be going. Language Teaching 48(1), 1-50. [https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444814000263]
  • Wentzel, K. R. 2009. Students’ relationships with teachers as motivational contexts. In Wentzel, K. R. and D. B. Miele, eds., Handbook of Motivation at School, 301-322. New York: Routledge. [https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203879498]
  • Wigfield, A. and J. T. Guthrie. 1997. Relations of children’s motivation for reading to the amount and breadth of their reading. Journal of Educational Psychology 89(3), 420-432. [https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.89.3.420]