Korean for Beginners를 통해 본 해방 전의 조선어교육

Education of the Korean Language before National Liberation as Seen through Korean for Beginners: with a Focus on the First Edition (1925)

This study aims to analyze Korean for Beginners published in 1925 and figure out its significance and implications for language education. The book was written by Charles A. Sauer, a missionary and English teacher, and was used at “The Language School “ that taught Korean for missionaries. Issued in 1925, the textbook was used for five years from 1926 up to the curricular revision in 1931.Through its content analysis, this study has found: first, the method of Korean education whose principle constituted the textbook; second, the fact that Korean education at the time was carried out with a focus on spoken Korean than grammar, contrary to general understanding; third, that drills were performed through diverse methodic techniques of substitution, complementation and combination for spoken language education. Fourth, the study has also found that the textbook emphasized the importance of grammars like Underwood’s An Introduction to the Korean Spoken Language for grammar instruction that had been ruled out by then and provided learners with reference information on related grammatical items, though in a passive manner, so that they could learn them. Fifth, the research has found that the makeup of the textbook was considerably different from other known textbooks on Korean in general and it was thought that the difference was due to the application of a specific method and its composition suitable for the curriculum of the institution. Sixth, the study has learned that Korean education in those days was done by missionaries who were non-native speakers, both as the subject and the object of the education. Korean native speakers were not leading as teachers but assisting the education, and Korean education provided learners with information on the language and learning methodologies and encouraged them to study so that they could learn Korean in a self-leading and active manner.Furthermore, the research has found that the textbook had significant implications for contemporary Korean education with a possibility that the method of the textbook or its content may have been transferred to contemporary Korean education because Sauer, the author, was headmaster of the Korean Language School from 1949 to 1958, the textbook was reissued in the 1950s, and more published textbooks other than this exist.