기능 심화형 한국어 교재 개발의 실제

A Study on the Development of an Intensive Skills - based Korean Language Textbook: Based on the Kyung Hee Korean Reading Textbook

The purpose of this study is to introduce the approaches and contents of a reading skills-based textbook developed by the Institute of International Education at Kyung Hee University. Moreover, the aim of the study is to compare the differences in language achievement between using an integrated reading textbook and an intensive skills-based textbook, and to further discuss the effects of developing an intensive skills-based textbook. In the context of Korean language education, reading and writing skills have not been sufficiently dealt with in classes and rather recognized as a secondary feature due to the emphasis of the communicative approach stressing speaking and listening skills. However, the advantages of an intensive skills-based reading textbook is that it focuses solely on reading skills, and therefore, aims to immerse the learners in real-world language contexts to acquire the specific language feature. Another advantage of the intensive skills-based textbook is that since it solely focuses on one function of language skills, a variety of topics and reading text genres can be accessible. In addition, as in the case of integrated textbooks, it dispels the concern that the detailed steps for improvement in each skill may possibly be overlooked. Moreover, it dismisses the concern that reading may be used as a secondary feature to learn vocabulary and grammar rather than the function itself. This study examined the reading abilities of 61 learners who studied with integrated textbooks from Basic 1 level to Advanced 1 level for five semesters and compared it with 57 learners who studied with intensive skills-based textbooks. Eight questions regarding ‘understanding factual information” and six questions on “making inferences” from the Korean Proficiency test (TOPIK) were provided and the results were compared. As a result, there was a meaningful difference of the score between the two groups which demonstrates that learners who were exposed to intensive skills-based textbooks showed better performance.