The purpose of this study is to examine the current status and limitations of
the integrated Korean language education which are being used in the field for
the purpose of meeting the goal of ‘enhancing the abilities to use Korean
language,’ which...
The purpose of this study is to examine the current status and limitations of
the integrated Korean language education which are being used in the field for
the purpose of meeting the goal of ‘enhancing the abilities to use Korean
language,’ which is also the ultimate goal of Korean language education, while
focusing on the exploration of the possibilities for the integration between
the expression of honorifics in the domain of grammar and the domains of
listening and speaking.
To meet the goals of Korean language education, it is necessary to design
classes while taking the applications in real life scenarios into account,
rather than the previous learning/teaching methods focused on the transfer of
knowledge. Especially, grammar education in Korean language education is found
to be limited to mere test of knowledge and memory for the sake of evaluation.
It would be more desirable to help the student realize that the knowledge in
Korean language that they learn at school is not only for the sake of tests but
to help them in real life.
The integrated education which has been introduced under this context is to
focus on ‘the transfer and application of knowledge’ by learners, who are
assisted to obtain the abilities to solve real-life problems utilizing the
knowledge that they learned from their schools. In this study, the researcher
focused on the strategies that could be applied to the grammar education for
Korean language. First, the researcher examined the theoretical background of
- 85 -
Korean grammar education and set the honorifics as one of the examples.
Honorific expressions are a grammatical element that can be used in
conversational situations. Therefore, in this study, the researcher examined
the possibility of integrating it with the domains of listening and speaking.
By analyzing the revised 2015 curriculum and text books, the researcher learned
that, while honorifics are frequently used by Korean speakers, they were not
established as a separated content element. Instead, it was classified as one
of grammatical elements, which limited the opportunities for learners to
utilize their knowledge. For this, the researcher concluded that it could be
integrated along with language manners among the content elements for listening
and speaking to form class sessions. Further, the researcher also examined the
possibility of realizing integrated Korean language classes utilizing honorific
expressions in listening and speaking situations.
With this, the researcher examined the reality and limitations in classrooms
to provide recommendations for the successful integrated Korean language
education strategies for the honorifics in Korean language through surveys and
in-depth interviews and made suggestions on the strategies for integrated
grammar educations for honorifics in two different perspectives.
Therefore, the implications of this study is that it highlighted the fact that
honorifics, which reflected the nature of Korean language, have been neglected
and, instead of blindly criticizing that they were not successfully implemented
in Korean language education, the researcher conducted an in-depth
investigation of the awareness and experience of teachers about integrated
education and honorifics, providing realistic directions for integrated Korean
language education for honorifics.