영어교육 분야 연구문헌의 분류법 및 주제어 사용에 관한 연구

A study of using classifications and keywords in academic ELT publication in Korea

  English language teaching (ELT) is recognized as one of a number of interdisciplinary academic fields: with linguistics, education, and literature considered as some of its sources. Thus it is natural that the question of how academic ELT books are classified be raised, but an answer has not yet been firmly established in the ELT field. This study tried to answer the question, and proved that the classification of ELT books published in Korea is not implemented. The study notes that Korean ELT books do not provide any classification information, such as Korea Decimal Classification (KDC) or Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). This study also examines the use of keywords in ELT academic books and journal articles. As human knowledge becomes digitalized, electronic searching of information has become more common, particularly through the Internet. A crucial aspect of the search process is the use of keywords, and their role between searchers and electronically stored material. Thus, keywords will also become an important index of journal articles as government-sponsored institutions start to archive academic journals in databases. However, the result of this study shows that keywords of ELT journal articles are not applied systematically; rather individual researchers decide which keywords to use. The result is ad hoc use of keywords. Based on the results and related discussion, a conclusion and suggestions in using classification and keywords are provided.