김강희 Kim Kanghee

DOI:10.21716/TKFL.81.1 Vol.81(No.0) 1-22, 2026

This study aims to explore the identities and perceptions of non-native scholars engaged in Korean language education at overseas universities and to derive pedagogical and academic implications for Korean language education. To this end, in-depth interviews and autobiographical writing were conducted with four non-native Korean language scholars currently teaching and researching at foreign universities. The collected narrative data were analyzed using a narrative inquiry framework in combination with discourse tagging analysis. The findings reveal that the participants constructed multilayered identities shaped by the interaction of personal experiences, institutional contexts, and academic communities as they developed from Korean language learners into teachers and researchers. Furthermore, the participants were found to continuously negotiate their professional identities and expertise within native-speakercentered discourses and institutional constraints. By foregrounding the voices of non-native Korean language scholars, this study expands the scope of Korean language education research and provides foundational insights for the development of teacher education programs and support policies for non-native Korean language professionals.

비원어민 한국어 연구자, Non-native Korean Language Researchers, 교사정체성, Teacher Identity, 내러티브 탐구, Narrative Inquiry, 해외 한국어교육, Overseas Korean Language Education, 한국어 교육 정책, Korean Language Education Policy

김지예 Kim Ji-ye , 김민선 Kim Minsun

DOI:10.21716/TKFL.81.2 Vol.81(No.0) 23-54, 2026

This study aims to systematically analyze the research trends of Korean intonation studies in the field of Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language (TKFL) and to suggest directions for future research. To this end, journal articles and theses published between 1994 and 2025 were collected using the Korean academic database RISS (Research Information Sharing Service). A total of 172 studies were selected for analysis, including 95 journal articles and 77 theses (18 doctoral dissertations and 59 master’s theses). The analysis was conducted based on the following criteria: research period, publication type, research participants, research methods, and research topics, in order to examine the overall trends in Korean intonation research. The results can be summarized as follows. First, studies on Korean intonation have gradually increased since the 2000s, with a noticeable rise after 2010. Second, in terms of research participants, studies focusing on Chinesespeaking learners accounted for the largest proportion, while more recent studies have increasingly included learners from diverse linguistic backgrounds. Third, regarding research methods, acoustic and phonetic analysis was the most widely used method and played a central role in both single-method and mixed-method studies. Fourth, in terms of research topics, studies in the interlanguage domain accounted for the largest proportion, particularly those comparing the intonation of native Korean speakers and Korean language learners, as well as studies examining learners’ acquisition patterns of Korean intonation. This study is meaningful in that it comprehensively identifies the trends and characteristics of intonation research in the field of Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language and suggests directions for future research. The findings may serve as a foundational reference for future studies on Korean intonation education by highlighting the concentration of research participants and methodological tendencies in existing studies.

억양, Intonation, 억양 교육, Intonation Education, 발음, Pronunciation, 연구 동향, Research Trend Analysis, 한국어교육학, Korean Language Education Studies

서유리 Seo Yoori , 문수빈 Moon Soobin

DOI:10.21716/TKFL.81.3 Vol.81(No.0) 55-82, 2026

This study explores instructional approaches that utilize hero novels to foster cultural literacy in Korean language education. In this study, cultural literacy is defined as learners’ ability to identify and critically interpret the socio-cultural contexts embedded in a text, reconstruct meaning through comparison with their own cultural perspectives, and interact in Korean based on that understanding. The universal narrative structure of hero novels serves as an entry point for learners’ textual comprehension. The culturally specific variations embedded within the narrative provide a space where cultural literacy can actively function as a site of inquiry. From this perspective, this study adopts Sodaesung-jeon, whose process of crisis and crisis resolution is structured across the levels of the individual, the family, and society, as the primary analytical text. Based on this analysis, cultural elements are identified, and step-by-step instructional strategies are proposed, centering on the personal growth model of literary education.

한국어교육, Korean Language Education, 문화적 문식성, Cultural Literacy, 고전문학, Korean Classical Literature, 영웅소설, Heroic Narrative, 소대성전, 蘇大成傳, Sodaesung-jeon

윤정화 Yun Junghwa

DOI:10.21716/TKFL.81.4 Vol.81(No.0) 83-106, 2026

This study aims to analyze the error patterns found in discipline-related writing by Chinese international students from both a genre-based and syntactic perspective. For this purpose, approximately thirty exhibition review texts written by Chinese international students in the Department of Design at Hongik University were selected for qualitative analysis. The analysis focused on genre purpose awareness, discourse organization, and patterns of syntactic meaning construction. The findings reveal that the students tended to perceive exhibition reviews primarily as texts for expressing personal impressions, and experienced difficulty extending their writing toward academic interpretation and discipline-related meaning construction. In addition, they often failed to organize exhibition introduction, artwork description, interpretation, and evaluation in a coherent and staged manner, instead presenting information and impressions in a fragmented way. At the syntactic level, recurring errors included subject-predicate mismatches, omission and misuse of particles, tense inconsistency, confusion in connective structures, and mixed use of spoken and written styles. These findings suggest that such errors should not be understood merely as grammatical deficiencies, but rather as results of structural differences between Chinese and Korean as well as limited awareness of genre purpose. Based on these findings, this study argues that writing instruction for international students should move beyond correction-oriented approaches and provide explicit guidance on genre purpose, discourse structure, and meaningcentered feedback. In particular, the study emphasizes the importance of staged writing instruction based on the sequence of “impression- interpretation-meaning construction” and sentence-level syntactic scaffolding in discipline-related writing education.

중국인 유학생, Chinese International Students, 전공 연계 글쓰기, Writing Across the Curriculum, 전시 감상문, Exhibition Review Writing, 장르 기반 접근, Genre-based Approach, 학문 목적 글쓰기변인, Academic Writing

이아미 Li Yawei

DOI:10.21716/TKFL.81.5 Vol.81(No.0) 107-129, 2026

This study investigates the perception and production of Korean word-initial velar stops /k, k*, kʰ/ by advanced Chinese learners of Korean (TOPIK levels 6) and examines the relationship between the two processes. To explore learners’ phonetic performance and their interpretation of pronunciation outcomes, perception tasks, production tasks, native listener evaluations, and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results show that learners experienced persistent difficulty distinguishing the tense stop /k*/ from the other stops, which resulted in both perceptual confusion and production errors. Although some learners demonstrated relatively accurate perceptual discrimination, their production did not always reflect this perceptual knowledge, revealing a perception-production mismatch. Interview data further indicated that learners interpreted these discrepancies through partial phonetic awareness and strategic articulatory adjustments, suggesting that learners’ pronunciation outcomes are shaped not only by phonetic perception but also by metalinguistic interpretation and articulatory control. These patterns can be understood in relation to cross-linguistic differences between the Korean three-way laryngeal contrast and the Mandarin aspiration-based contrast system. The findings highlight that pronunciation difficulties cannot be explained solely by phonetic accuracy but should be viewed as a multidimensional phenomenon involving perceptual categorization, articulatory realization, and learner awareness. Accordingly, Korean pronunciation instruction for Chinese learners should integrate perceptual training with articulatory awareness and learner-centered feedback.

한국어 파열음, Korean Stops, 지각-산출 관계, Perception-Production Relationship, 모국어 전이, L1 Transfer, 중국어권 한국어 학습자, Chinese Learners of Korean, 한국어 발음 교육, Korean Pronunciation Education

이영붕 Li Yongpeng

DOI:10.21716/TKFL.81.6 Vol.81(No.0) 131-167, 2026

This study examines the culture represented in K-dramas from a socio-historical and cultural perspective and explores the educational potential of drama-based cultural instruction. Previous studies on Korean cultural education have tended to focus on presenting specific categories of cultural knowledge, while relatively little attention has been paid to the socio-historical contexts in which culture is formed and transformed. To address this limitation, this study analyzes the drama When Life Gives You Tangerines and examines the cultural elements depicted in the drama within their socio-historical and cultural contexts. First, the concept of socio-historical and cultural context is reviewed, and the characteristics of drama texts and the necessity of a contextual approach in cultural education are discussed. The study then analyzes cultural elements portrayed in the drama, including changes in community structures, transformations in family forms, and shifts in women’s lives. Based on these findings, a four-stage model for drama-based cultural instruction is proposed: self-cultural reflection based on contextual awareness, exploration of cultural formation and transformation through drama, comparison based on socio-historical and cultural contexts, and intercultural acceptance through cultural reconstruction. In addition, a sample lesson plan focusing on changes in family forms is designed. The findings suggest that drama-based cultural education enables learners to understand that cultural phenomena are formed and transformed within socio-historical and cultural contexts and to develop context-based intercultural competence.

K-드라마, K-drama, 사회역사ㆍ문화적 맥락, Socio-historical and Cultural Context, 드라마 활용 문화교육, Drama-based Cultural Education, 상호 문화능력, Intercultural Competence, 한국어교육, Korean Education

이윤덕 Lee Yundeok

DOI:10.21716/TKFL.81.7 Vol.81(No.0) 169-192, 2026

This study investigates the Korean language learning motivation and classroom engagement of English-track (full English program) international students at Korean universities, focusing on the unique context where English serves as the academic language. A questionnaire (N=80) measured Korean use (A), perceived necessity (B), motivation (C), engagement (D), subscales showed adequate internal consistency. Descriptive results indicated a clear context gap : students perceived English as sufficient on campus (A5, M=4.20) but reported high Korean need off campus (A2, M=4.00) and rated Korean as important for daily life and careers (B1, B2, M=4.30). Motivation was primarily instrumental and self-development oriented (e.g., C4, C6), suggesting strong links to career value and perceived usefulness of Korean learning. However, classroom participation was moderate, with speaking avoidance tied to fear of mistakes (D3). Although Spearman correlation analysis did not yield statistically significant results for relationships between key variables, brief interviews corroborated these patterns, emphasizing that a lack of staged scaffolding and meaningful interaction is associated with difficulties in translating high necessity and motivation into active classroom engagement. Based on these findings, Based on these findings, the study suggests the need for differentiated instructional approaches together with staged speaking scaffolding. Limitations include a single-site, self-report, cross-sectional design; future studies should pursue further investigation through mediational models and classroom interventions. Findings inform realistic, engagement-oriented Korean education for English-track international students.

한국어 교육, Teaching Korean as a Second, Foreign Language, 영어 트랙유학생, English-track International Students, 학습 동기, Learning Motivation, 수업 몰입, Classroom Engagement, 요구 분석, Needs Analysis