AssessingKorean

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the assessment tools and the systems, which evaluate a test taker's Korean language ability, and to diagnose the present state of assessments. The chapter introduces Korean assessment for both native speakers and non‐native speaker,s focusing on evaluation methods, assessment tools, and evaluation categories.As the Republic of Korea's official language, the number of Korean speakers has steadily increased and currently 770 million people around the world use it. By population, Korean is in the top 13 languages in the world. With such an increase in the number of Korean speakers and international status, the importance of Korean proficiency assessments is increasing and demand for assessment is also increasing internally and externally. In addition, the results of the Korean proficiency test are being used as a major qualification for admission or employment of Korean native speakers as well as non‐native speakers, so the social impact of the assessment of Korean proficiency is growing. In this chapter, current Korean language proficiency assessment is studied analytically to describe a more positive development direction. In particular, the Korean section of the College Scholastic Aptitude Test, the major academic skills assessment tool for native speakers, and the Test of Proficiency in Korean, for non‐native speakers, are intensively analyzed.