A Study on the Signification of the Culture in Korean Education as a Foreign language

In view of native language education, it is often perceived that there are two major realm; to the linguistic activity of a native language, which are usage and cultural aspects, These two aspects of a language can roughly be categorized in such a way that the usage aspect is usually the focus in the beginning stage of learning the language, while the cultural aspect is emphasized at later stages of learning. Particularly when one's native language is concerned, a much greater emphasis is given to the culture affiliated with the language than the actual usage of the language elements. In contrast, in foreign language education, priority is placed on the actual use of the language, where a particular effort is often made on the part of the learner or the educator to keep within the normal usage boundaries of the foreign language concerned as is spoken by the natives of the language. Therefore, in Korean education as a foreign language, a basic focus should be placed on attaining effective expressions and accurate understanding. This is not to say, however, that the cultural aspect should be neglected all together, but rather that the usage aspect deserves a priority attention In recent days, nevertheless, the attention on the cultural aspect of foreign language acquisition has also been gaining popularity, For instance, in the education of Korean as a foreign tongue, many may try to familiarize the learners with the Korean culture as a preparatory step to learning the language itself. Sometimes unique gestures or elements of the popular mass culture or literary works may be utilized as effective mediums of teaching. Such methods have long been actively pursued in the education of English as a foreign language and also adopted in the education of Korean as a foreign language. In this regards, this text aims to review the problems in the various forms of Korean education conducted so far, based on the above-mentioned aspects. Particularly concentrating on the search of ways to utilize the cultural principle in Korean education to foreigners, this text will touch upon the theoretical background and ways of implementation thereof. In addition, this paper will attempt to look where we are in terms of Korean education and the research thereof. In other words, problems in Korean language education will be analysed in two levels, which are, through the review of methods used 1) on the practical level in language education centers or research centers in Korean universities and the 2) the theoretical research foundations established by researchers of Korean education researchers. There is in fact a large gap between native language education and Korean education to foreigners. In this respect, the research method and teaching method of native language education and Korean education should be based on the awareness of this difference. In this thesis, the two realms will not be categorized into two different categories but rather, place the education of native language and Korean as a foreign language as subcategories of the broader picture of the study of native language education