재외 동포에게 한국어가 갖는 의미

Meaning of Korean language for overseas Koreans: Prospects of Korean language education for overseas Koreans

The purpose of this article is to examine the meaning of Korean language for overseas Koreans, finally in order to decide the prospects of Korean language education for them. Firstly, this article reviews some existing studies on this subject. Secondly, the meaning of Korean language for overseas Koreans is investigated by virtue of comparison between the concepts of mother tongue, second language and heritage language. And then, this article tries to propose philosophy or objective as well as future direction of Korean language education for overseas Koreans. Finally, this article is concluded by laying stress not only on appropriateness of approach to Korean language as a heritage language but also on importance of Korean language education which pays due regard to concrete motivation or reason for learning Korean language of overseas Koreans.