한국 사회의 소수자에 대한 사회언어학적 접근

Sociolinguistic Approach to Minorities in Korea

  The purpose of this article is to examine the necessity and the possibility of sociolinguistic approach to minority in Korea. Firstly, this article defines the concept of ‘minority’ and looks around its socio-historical background and implication. And then, several types of minority can be divided on the basis of its formative period and birthplace. As the next step, two forms of sociolinguistic approach to minority, that is, ‘linguistic human right approach’ and ‘linguistic citizenship approach’ are presented. This article cannot provide a detailed analysis and an alternative, but affords an opportunity to point out the significance and the limit of these two approaches. Finally, this article is concluded by proposing the cultural restructurization of the diversity and the uniformity in Korean society which includes its minority, and by presenting some sociolinguistic tasks related to the abolition of discrimination against minority and guarantee of its linguistic right.