Korean Language Learners Research Articles

Determinants of international Korean language promotion: A cross-country analysis

This study investigates the determinants of the international promotion of the Korean language at the cross-country level. The analysis is based on candidate data drawn from the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) and uses a cross-country panel data model to measure how several factors affect Korea's international promotion. To mitigate sample selection bias, we estimated the model using the Heckman two-step method. The findings show that factors such as the Hallyu (or “Korean Wave”), international business, motivation to migrate to South Korea, motivation to study in South Korea, and Korean language learning resources play essential roles in the international promotion of Korean. The development level of the sample countries influenced the importance of each factor. For example, Hallyu, often regarded as important for the international promotion of Korean, was shown to be statistically significant only in the sample of developed countries. In addition, a shortage of Korean language learning resources has been identified as a major impediment to the promotion of Koreans in developing countries. These results provide new insights that can assist in formulating policies to promote the Korean language worldwide.

말뭉치 분석을 활용한 ‘붓다’, ‘쏟다’의 유의어 연구

Objectives This study aims to provide foundational insights for effective instruction and learning by examining the synonymous verbs ‘붓다 (to pour)’ and ‘쏟다 (to spill)’. The research focuses on analyzing the co-occurring words and semantic relationships within a corpus and visualizing the results through language networks.
 Methods Based on the examination of vocabulary usage in everyday conversation and spoken corpora of native Korean speakers, as well as the investigation of co-occuring words found in Korean language learner corpora, the semantic relationship and specific patterns of usage for ‘붓다’ (to pour) and ‘쏟다’ (to spill) were explored and visualized through language network analysis.
 Results The results of this study are as follows: while native Korean speakers use various extended meanings of ‘붓다’ (to pour) and ‘쏟다’ (to spill), Korean language learners tend to rely on a limited set of co-occuring words provided in Korean textbooks. It indicates an insufficient understanding of the expanded meanings of these synonyms among learners. Additionally, even intermediate and advanced Korean learners have been found to lack a comprehensive understanding of the co-occuring words of ‘붓다 (to pour)’ and ‘쏟다 (to spill)’, leading them to mistakenly interchange the two terms.
 Conclusions This study employs componential analysis to examine the distinctive characteristics of semantic relationships through the co-occurring words of ‘붓다 (to pour)’ and ‘쏟다 (to spill)’. Furthermore, we propose a suggested order of presenting meanings and representative co-occurring words for Korean language learners at different proficiency levels.

영어권 한국어 학습자를 위한 한(恨) 감성 교육 방법 연구

영어권 한국어 학습자를 위한 한(恨) 감성 교육 방법 연구

Commenting on learning Korean on TikTok and YouTube

ABSTRACT Online informal language learning has surged due to the growing interaction on social networking sites, such as TikTok and YouTube. One vital interaction method is through comments, revealing insights into learner behaviors and thoughts. Concurrently, the Korean Wave has made Korean a sought-after language. This study examined comments under Korean language learning hashtags on TikTok and YouTube in English and Spanish. From 570 comments, three themes were discerned: (1) those oriented towards the video creator, (2) those focused on the community, and (3) those highlighting Korean language understanding. Findings indicate that these comments foster a supportive environment for sharing experiences and resources while addressing content inaccuracies or linguistic uncertainties. However, there was no interaction in Korean within these comments. Hence, while videos provide linguistic input, comments mainly facilitate metalinguistic reflection, but not a space for interactive Korean language use.

Korean Cultural Contents and Factors Influencing French People’s Intention to Visit Korea and Intention to Purchase Korean Products

Purpose - The purpose of this research was to assess how French people’s Korean cultural content, Korean new media consumption, distance proximity, cultural familiarity, and the country’s image affect the intention to visit Korea and the intention to purchase products from Korea.
 Design/Methodology/Approach - Ten hypotheses were developed. To verify the study hypothesis, a questionnaire surveyed French people with some interest and affection to the Korean culture through social media which are Facebook, Kakaotalk, and Hellotalk from August to September 2022. The statistical analysis of the data collected with the questionnaire was done by the SPSS 24.0 software. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Regression Analysis were performed to verify the questionnaire’s reliability and to confirm the hypotheses.
 Findings - Korean cultural content, cultural familiarity, and the country’s image have a positive influence on the intention to visit Korea. Whereas the result for the variables, K-new media, and the distance show no significant influence on the intention to visit Korea. Korean cultural content, cultural familiarity, the country’s image, and distance have a positive influence on the intention to purchase a product. Whereas the result for the variable K-new media shows no significant influence on the intention to buy a product from Korea.
 Research Implications - As cultural familiarity seems to be variable with the most influence on intention to visit and purchase intention, cultural familiarity should be the main focus for the tourism industry and any international trade institutions. Korean language learning is also a factor boosting cultural familiarity by creating more language institutions overseas, especially in France where Korean language presence is growing every year.

협력학습에 기반한 한국어 교수·학습 연구

The purpose of this study is to present a basic framework for Korean class design based on collaborative learning. Through the analysis of previous studies, a basic framework was presented. And based on the basic framework, a Korean reading class were designed and conducted for learners. After the class, a perception of the participating learners were investigated. As a result, in order to facilitate collaborative learning, procedures and strategies that increase learners' understanding and participation in collaborative learning must be considered from the design stage. In addition, a device for the instructor to properly intervene is needed. As a result, in this study, a basic framework for Korean class design based on collaborative learning was revised to reflect these findings. And the further studies on verify the effectiveness of the basic framework need to be conducted.

고려인 이주 1.5세대 학령기 아동의 한국어 학습 동기에 관한 현상학적 연구

This phenomenological study analyzed the learning motivation to learn Korean among school-aged Koryeoin children, who are 1.5-generation immigrants, and it aimed to explore the meanings and attitudes found among those children while learning Korean. Eight children participated in this study, and data were collected through interviews with them. Data were analyzed based on Giorgi's phenomenological analysis procedure. As a result, 44 meaning units, 16 subthemes, and 5 essential themes were derived. Those 5 essential themes encompassed 'ambivalent attitudes towards interactions with Koreans', 'positive experiences while learning a new language and experiencing new culture environments', 'the meaning of learning Korean subordinated to an uncertain future', 'perception of Korean as a 'necessary' language', and 'language environment conflicting with learning Korean'. This study indicated the necessity to develop a model motivating Korean language learning in consideration of the unique language environment, and familial/social contexts of the school-aged Koryeoin children.

중도입국 및 외국인가정 한국어 학습자의 학습 한국어 교육 방안 제언

In this thesis, we look at the current status of 'learning Korean language education' for students entering midway and from foreign families, and suggest ways to develop their skills of learning Korean language. Since Midway Immigrant students and students from foreign families have to study, not only communication-oriented Korean language education but also learning Korean language education for academic performance is needed. Therefore, the current status of Korean language education support conducted online and offline is examined. Compared to the total number of immigrants and foreign students, fewer students were receiving Korean language education support. In addition, there is a large imbalance in areas in the Korean language curriculum. Focus is placed on communication and Korean language education support for immigrants and students from foreign families, but learning Korean language education is neglected. Communication between students from multicultural families Compared to Korean language education, it is difficult to carry out Korean language education as a school class. In this paper, a “web-based learning Korean language education platform” is proposed as a way to teach Korean language to students entering Korea midway and from foreign families. The ‘web-based learning Korean language education platform’ can eliminate problems such as class composition and educational accessibility. In addition, by applying the customized coaching service to the web-based learning Korean language learning platform, learners can acquire systematic and active self-directed learning ability.

Agency and Investment in L2 Learning: The Case of a Migrant Worker and a Mother of Two Children in South Korea

Given the call for more research on migrant workers’ L2 investment and agency, this five‐year longitudinal case study followed the Korean language learning experiences of Iroda, a migrant worker who moved from Uzbekistan to South Korea, focusing on how and why she exercises her agency and invests in her L2 learning. Drawing upon the conceptual frameworks of agency, “the socioculturally mediated capacity to act” (Ahearn, 2010, p. 28), and investment, which leads to an increase in an individual’s social power and cultural capital (Darvin & Norton, 2015), data was collected from various sources and inductively analysed over five years by using the constant comparative method and the individual‐level logic model. The findings show that Iroda agentively and voluntarily seeks out resources to expand her linguistic repertoire, devoting entire weekends to learning the Korean language while balancing her efforts with her weekday job. As her Korean proficiency grows, she endeavours to apply for a graduate programme at a Korean university to enhance her social status, career prospects, and earning potential for herself and her children. Notably, the findings suggest that her purposeful and agentic investment in L2 learning is driven by the growing acceptance and recognition of her potential within the target society.

한국어 교원의 디지털 역량 구성요소 설정에 관한 기초 연구

Objectives The purpose of this study is to establish the digital competence components of Korean language teachers as a basic study to improve the digital competence of Korean language teachers in response to changes in the digital based educational environment.
 Methods To achieve this research purpose, a draft of the digital competence components of Korean language teachers was established by analyzing domestic and foreign literature related to digital competence, and a second Delphi Method was conducted on 15 experts in the field of Korean language education. In the first Delphi Method, the average, standard deviation, content validity, opinion collection, consensus, and stability of each item were evaluated on a Likert 5-point scale, and the upper and detailed competence elements were rearranged and modified based on the subjective opinions of experts. In the second Delphi Method, a structured survey using the Likert 5-point scale was constructed in the same way as in the first Delphi Method, and the final digital competence components were derived after verifying the systematic, relevance, and appropriateness of digital competence elements based on expert opinions.
 Results The digital competence components of Korean language teachers were finally derived, consisting of 7 upper competencies and 25 detailed competencies under 2 categories. The upper competencies in the category of basic competencies of Korean language teachers are digital device utilization, digital communication, digital citizenship, and digital safety and security. The upper competencies corresponding to the teaching and learning competencies of Korean language teachers consisted of using digital Korean language education contents, digital Korean language teaching and learning, and digital Korean language evaluation competencies.
 Conclusions This study's establishment of digital competence components of Korean language teachers has academic implications for developing programs, curricula, and evaluation tools to enhance their digital competence in the future. Moreover, it provides practical implications to bridge the gap in the use of digital competencies between Korean language teacher groups in the field of Korean language education.

Chinese undergraduate students' motivation to learn Korean as a LOTE.

As rates of multilingualism increase, interest in the field of Languages Other Than English (LOTEs) has been growing over the last few years. This study investigated the motivation held by Chinese undergraduate students for learning Korean as a LOTE using Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS). In total, 123 subjects responded to the 6-point Likert scale measuring their Korean learning motivation. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 22. Logistic regression was applied for identifying variables that distinguished the first-year from the second-year learners of Korean, while canonical correlation analysis was used to examine the correlation between two sets of variables, the first set of dependent variables of the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self, and the second set of independent variables of family influence, instrumentality promotion, instrumentality prevention, attitude to learning Korean, cultural interest, attitude toward community and integrativeness. Results showed that variables of family influence, cultural interest, and attitude to learning Korean were statistically significant in distinguishing the first-year from the second-year learners in terms of affective variables. In addition, canonical analysis showed that the dependent variable set of the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self together shared nearly 69% variance with the independent variable set, indicating that the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self together were highly related with these affective variables in the independent variable set. The findings of the current study suggest that more creative Korean language learning activities be adopted to help sustain the high levels of affect among Korean language learners.

A Study on The Undergraduate Beginner Korean Language Learners's Perception to Improve Efficiency of Real-Time Online Class -Focusing on Lecture class and Flip-learning classes-

A Study on The Undergraduate Beginner Korean Language Learners's Perception to Improve Efficiency of Real-Time Online Class -Focusing on Lecture class and Flip-learning classes-

한국어 학습자의 어휘 사용 양상 종단 연구

The purpose of this study is conducting longitudinal examination on lexical use development aspects of Korean learner. Written texts ranging from level 1 to level 4 were collected by targeting one learner of Korean regular course affiliated with university. In order to observe lexical use aspects, lexical diversity, lexical density, and lexical sophistication corresponding to components of lexical abundance were estimated. As a result, it has been found that lexical abundance of achievement assessment written text was lower than written texts from classes. Lexical diversity was estimated by using D value. D value increased as Korean learning period and Korean proficiency increased. Likewise with D value, lexical sophistication also increased as Korean language learning period and proficiency increased. This proves that proficiency influences lexical diversity and quality. Lexical density value did not differ greatly from lexical diversity and lexical sophistication. However, in the intermediate course, the amount of content words corresponding to lexical density estimating categories increased sharply. This result shows that texts created by learner have vast information according to proficiency. This study is meaningful as the basic material of lexical ability estimation even though it is a mere longitudinal study which targeted one person(Chung-Ang University).

여성결혼이민자의 한국어 학습 경험에 관한 내러티브 탐구

The purpose of this research is to conduct an in-depth analysis of the meaning of Korean language learning experiences of female marriage immigrants who participated in the KIIP(Korean Immigration and Intergration Program). For this purpose, in-depth interviews with married immigrant women in four or more levels were conducted using the narrative inquiry in qualitative research. As a result, the female marriage immigrants had the following common experiences: Korean as the first step toward the unknown world, Korean as the essential elements of a comfortable life, and Korean as the foundation of a future life. This research is meaningful and helpful for future Korean marriage immigrants by researching the Korean language learning experiences of female marriage immigrants in detail and looking in-depth at their past and present thoughts, and checking the parts that are not revealed in statistical results or quantitative studies.

Rethinking linguistic capitals and asset-based language learning: an examination of bilingual Korean-Chinese instruction for international students in South Korea

This exploratory study attempts to understand how bilingual instruction can be incorporated effectively in a non-English speaking higher education context by examining the effectiveness of bilingual Korean instruction for Chinese international students at a South Korean university. Using quantitative and qualitative data sources consisting of an end-of-semester survey (n = 42) and individual in-depth interviews (n = 6), descriptive statistical analysis of the survey, and thematic analysis of qualitative data presents three major findings. First, bilingual instruction for Korean language learners facilitated dynamic social interactions. Second, Korean-Chinese bilingual instruction facilitated learners’ emotional engagement in language learning. Third, Korean instructors’ use of bilingual approaches for grammar instruction, sentence semantic descriptions, and error corrections benefited learners’ language acquisition and overall academic skills development. Fourth, while Korean language learners were generally satisfied with bilingual instruction, some evaluative feedback challenges the deeply rooted monolingual norms and principles. Finally, recommendations and implications are provided for effective bilingual and translanguaging pedagogic approaches in Korean higher education contexts.

Ценностные доминанты южнокорейской лингвокультуры и их языковая репрезентация

The paper addresses the problem of considering values as an integral condition for the existence of language, the cultural context in which language operates and manifests itself. Language, which is inextricably linked with culture and, accordingly, with the values shared by its speakers, is the most important culture-forming element recording the significance of spiritual and material objects of the world for an individual native speaker and for society as a whole. The research aims to identify the linguistic means of verbalisation of the values of South Korean linguoculture in the Korean language system (at the lexico-grammatical level). The paper is novel in that it is the first to carry out a linguistic study that addresses the lexical and grammatical means of activating the values of linguoculture in line with the axiological approach; moreover, it is the first time that such a study has been carried out using the material of the Korean language. There are still a number of unresolved issues in linguistics related to the nature and essence of values, which indicates the lack of a unified methodological basis for the study of the phenomenon of values. The paper is important in terms of trying to fill in this gap and identify markers that allow Korean language learners to “see” the language through the lens of the values underlying communication in Korean. As a result, the main value dominants of South Korean culture, which are reflected in the language system at the lexical and grammatical levels (realia, specific personal addresses and pronouns; softened expression of an actor, passive constructions, unique specificity of the stylistic execution of an utterance depending on communication conditions), have been identified.

한국어 학습자의 속담 사용에 나타난 형태적 양상 분석

This study examines morphological aspects of the use of proverbs by Korean language learners through a corpus analysis of language learners’ sentences containing proverbs. The sentences showed a high proportion of basic forms and inflectional forms, indicating that Korean language learners use proverbs without variation. Moreover, it was found that grammatical errors made up an overwhelming proportion of all errors, showing that learners often make mistakes in the appropriate grammatical forms when using proverbs, such as the quotative verb suffixes or metaphorical signs, rather than having difficulty understanding the meaning or vocabulary of the proverb. While previous proverb education has focused on meaning, this study highlights the need for education based on the usage patterns of learners regarding the expression of quotations, grammatical forms, and variability when using proverbs.

한국어교육능력검정시험 ‘외국어로서의 한국어교육론’ 영역 문항 개선 방안 연구

The study aims to seek ways to improve the quality of items in the ‘Studies in Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language(STKFL)’ section of the Test of Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language by exploring both item characteristics and the item development process. For this purpose, a mixed research method was used. Specifically, item difficulty and discrimination were calculated based on item response theory. In-depth interview was conducted with a panel of experts in the field of Korean Language Teaching and Learning. Outcomes from the study are as follows. First, a high proportion of items with extremely easy or difficult levels of difficulty were confirmed. A high distribution of items with low discrimination was also ascertained. Second, the major problems identified in the item development process were hasty item writing practices, lack of expertise of item writers, lack of details on item writing and selection guidelines, poor treatment for item writers, and non-standardized management during the writers’ retreat. This study proposes strategies to improve item quality in the STKFL section.

상호문화교육에 기반한 한국어 문화 교수·학습 설계

In order to design Korean language culture teaching and learning based on intercultural education, this study selected “The Fairy and the Woodcutter” corresponding to the world-class folktale transmission type swan maiden, and surveyed and reflected the perceptions of Chinese and Vietnamese learners twice. The real culture of foreign learners was reflected in teaching and learning by investigating the commonalities and differences between “The Fairy and the Woodcutter-牛郎 織女-Ngưu lang Chức nữ” that the people of “Korea-China-Vietnam” commonly know. In addition, it was intended to promote learners intercultural capabilities by considering Byram and the Korean Language Education Standard Model Development Process, which emphasized the improvement of intercultural cultural communication capabilities of both learners and instructors in foreign language education. These efforts are meaningful in that they have been actively carried out using folk tales in Korean language education, expanding the interpretive horizon of Korean language culture education.

이공계 외국인 유학생 대상 한국어 교육 연구 동향 및 교재 분석

This study aims to analyze trends over the past 14 years, in Korean language education research and Korean language textbooks for international students in science and engineering. This study aims to provide direction for future research and textbook development in Korean language education for science and engineering students by examining research trends and analyzing Korean language textbooks developed for the target group. Although the number of international students studying science and engineering in Korean universities has steadily increased, the number of research studies and textbooks tailored to their needs has been insufficient. Thus, Chapter 2 highlights the need to enhance research and diversify textbooks for this specific learner group by examining the current status of international students in science and engineering. Studies specifically investigating the Korean language learning by international students studying science and engineering began in 2008. Therefore, Chapter 3 analyzes 42 research papers published since 2008 related to international students in science and engineering undertaking Korean language education. These papers were analyzed in terms of year, type, method, target, and topic to identify trends. Chapter 4 analyzes six Korean language textbooks published since 2008, for international students in science and engineering with respect to teaching and learning situations, curriculum, and teaching methods. Based on the results of trend and textbook analysis, this study suggests directions for future research and textbook development in Korean language education for international students in science and engineering.