The modern and systematic Korean as a Foreign Language (KFL) education began at the Korean Language Institute at Yonsei University in 1959. The first academic study on KFL education was published in 1969 by De-Kyu Noh. As the demands for KFL education...
The modern and systematic Korean as a Foreign Language (KFL) education began at the Korean Language Institute at Yonsei University in 1959. The first academic study on KFL education was published in 1969 by De-Kyu Noh. As the demands for KFL education skyrocketed from the mid-1980s and throughout the 1990s, scholars vigorously delved into research in this disciplinary field as well. Moreover, kindled by Eun-ju Kim’s discussion in 2001, heated discussions of Korean Language pedagogy as a discipline and its academic identity have never subsided.
Despite the facts that Korean Language education research began nearly a half century ago and discussions of the disciplinary identity of Korean Language pedagogy has been ongoing for more than ten years, there are hardly any studies that examine the formation of the academic identity of Korean Language pedagogy from multilateral and historical perspectives.
Most studies surveyed the discipline with focuses on the accumulation of research contents, research methodology or the general categorization of the discipline. Researchers have not attempted to discuss the identity of the discipline from a more comprehensive and multilateral view with reference to the discipline’s external foundations, such as related policies, laws, course curriculum and academic societies. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, hardly any studies approached the formative process of the disciplinary identity of Korean Language pedagogy from a historical perspective.
Hence, in an effort to hurdle the limitations of existing literature, the present study performs a multilateral analysis of various factors that have contributed to the development of “Korean Language Education” as an independent academic discipline. Moreover, this study reviews its study results to identify ― from a historical view ― the process through which the disciplinary identity of Korean Language education has been constructed. In order for a discipline to develop its identity, an internal growth, referring to the accumulation of research data and the application of valid research methods, and an external foundation must be well established. Therefore, the present study examines the formative process of the unique disciplinary identity of Korean Language education as an independent discipline (distinguished from Korean as a Native Language Education), with reference to not only the discipline’s internal growth, but also its external development.
The internal disciplinary factors that have contributed to the formation of Korean Language pedagogy’s identity include the accumulation of research data and development of research methodology. Research related to Korean Language education began in 1969 with the publication of Dae-Kyu Noh’s master’s thesis. Owing to the diversification of research topics in the 1980s and a tremendous quantitative increase of studies, we now have a sufficient amount of accumulated research contents. Moreover, heightened interests in cultural education from the 2000s have also prompted research related to Korean culture education. However, many point out that researchers have yet to develop and apply a valid research methodology appropriate for the research topics pertaining to Korean Language education.
Korean Language education-related policies and laws are one of the external factors that lay a foundation for the development of Korean Language education as a discipline. The first step the Korean government undertook regarding Korean Language education was to implement a policy for Korean residents abroad. The Korean Language Globalization Project launched by the government in the late 1990s, which marked the pinnacle of Korean Language education-related policies, facilitated and supported systematic research on each field of Korean Language education. With constructive supports and effort, the Korean Language Education was officially recognized as an independent field of social sciences in the Categorization of Academic Research Fields in 2002. Korean Language education-related laws also began with those for Korean residents abroad in the 1970s, after which the Culture and Arts Promotion Act was enacted in the 1990s. With the enforcement of “The Fundamental Law of Korean Language” in 2005, a sturdy legal foundation was established for Korean Language education.
This study next examined the development of course curricula and academic societies. These are also some of the external factors that contribute to the growth of Korean Language education as a discipline because students are taught based on the course curriculum, which in turn lead to degree theses; research data are accumulated and appropriate research methodology are developed via publications of studies in academic conferences or journals. Since the establishment of the “Korean as a Foreign Language Education” major at the Graduate School of Education at Yonsei University in 1982, there was an upsurge of Korean Language education degree programs in the late 1990s. Korean Language education majors were established also in undergraduate schools from the late 1990s, and is being launched in general graduate schools annually since the mid-2000s. Academic societies for Korean Language education also began to form in the 1980s. The Korean Society of Bilingualism was established in 1981, and The International Association for Korean Language Education was established in 1985, producing a considerable amount of Korean Language education-related research. Moreover, The International work for Korean Language and Culture established in 2001 and The Korean Language and Culture Education Society launched in 2003 contributed to the diversification of research topics related to Korean language education. These societies, as their names suggest, emphasized the significance of culture education in language education and have remarkably advanced Korean language and culture research. Boosted by the multiplication of degree programs and establishment of significant academic societies, the discipline of Korean Language have come a long way since its inception.
After examining the internal and external factors that have contributed to the formation of Korean Language Education’s disciplinary identity, this study discovered three significant periods in the development of Korean Language Education: infant stage (1959 ∼ early-1980s), adolescent stage (mid-1980s ∼ 1990s), and development stage (2000s ∼ present). The infant stage was a period in which Korean Language education was first begun and a foundation was laid for future developments. However, a disciplinary identity had not been formed during this period. During the adolescent period, Korean Language education had seen significant growth with professional academic societies and college degree programs established and government support provided for Korean Language education research. The discipline was inundated with research data, which led to the formation of an identity. Finally, during the development stage, Korean Language education was legally (The Fundamental Law for Korean Language) and academically (Categorization of Academic Research Fields) recognized as an independent disciplinary field. Degree programs escalated and new academic societies were established, leading to more in-depth research and growth of the discipline.
As shown here, this study traced the process through which Korean Language education formed its disciplinary identity by reviewing existing literature on the subject and examining the internal and external factors that have contributed to the identify formation. Through this examination, we have seen how “Korean Language Education” have constructed and secured its unique field, distinguished from “Korean as a Native Language” and “Korean as a Native Language Education.” However, Korean Language education still faces several challenges because the term “Korean language” prevalent today holds an exclusive meaning, only referring to Korean as a Native Language while excluding the concept of Korean as a Second or Foreign Language, and the course curricula of Korean Language education are not structured under an organized and standardized system.
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