재일코리안의 한국어에 대한 인식 연구

A Study on the Zainichi Koreans’ Recognition of Korean Language: Findings from Language Usage Circumstances and Language Identity Research

This study begins from the question of how Koreans who are born and raised in Japan recognize Korean language. Both the survey and following in-depth interviews were conducted on language usage circumstances and language identity of the second-, third-, and fourth- generations of Zainich Koreans. Most of the participants mainly use Japanese language in their family and did not use Korean language in everyday life despite their experience of Korean language education. The rate of using Japanese language in the home was higher even in families with a New Comer parent, but participants use Korean language more often when their mother was a New Comer. There are more of the second-, third-, and fourth-generations of Zainichi Koreans who recognize Japanese as their mother tongue than who recognize Korean as their first language, and even some participants recognize Korean as a foreign language. It was revealed that the Korean language was studied as a second foreign language among Zainich Koreans in this research on language identity. However, it was certain that Zainich Koreans give priority to the Korean language education and the communication with Korean people, and the high percentage of them hopes to become bilinguals who speak Korean and Japanese. The identity of Korean as a mother tongue of ‘Zainich Korean’ or ‘Korean-Japanese’ incorporated into Japanese society will become blurred over generations. It is required to implement the need for Korean language education in order for Korean language to serve as a connecting vehicle for Korean people. This paper suggests that now it is an important moment to consider the active role of Korean language education based on the understanding of Zainich Koreans.