LEARNING KOREAN

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to find out foreign students’ Korean learning patterns, motivations, and learning contents through social media hashtag network analysis. With the development of various media platforms, the paradigm of foreign language learning is changing. Previously, most learners stayed in countries where the target language was used, but now learning foreign languages through online media in their own countries has become one of the main ways of learning. In this situation, it is necessary to examine what aspects of Korean language learning are usually shown by foreign learners, and to further examine the content, and the motivation for Korean learning. We used the Instagram hashtag as an analysis target, and searched the English hashtag ‘learning Korean’ created by foreign learners and included all the hashtags that appeared with the original hashtag. This data was collected by crawling and then the network of the data was analyzed. As a result, we found that overseas Korean learners are mainly beginners who are learning Hangeul and vocabulary. In addition, Hangeul functions as a cultural symbol or design element for Korea. In the case of Korean teachers working on social media, there are many non-professional teachers. Also, Korean popular culture has a great influence on the motivation for learning Korean. Through this study, it was possible to grasp the major aspects of Korean language learning in the KFL environment, especially Korean language through online media. (Yonsei University)