Trends and patterns in self-assessment research in the Korean EFL context: A bibliometric study

This study investigates research trends in self-assessment within the Korean EFL contextthrough a bibliometric analysis of 117 journal articles indexed in the Korean Citation Index(KCI) from 1998 to 2024. Using VOSviewer 1.6.19, performance analysis was conductedto identify publication trends, prolific authors, institutions, and influential journals, whilescience mapping techniques, including co-authorship, co-occurrence, citation, and co-citationanalyses, were employed to reveal collaboration patterns, thematic structures, and foundationalworks. Results indicate steady growth in publications, with contributions distributed acrossmultiple journals rather than dominated by a few sources. Co-authorship analysis revealedlimited cross-institutional collaboration, while co-occurrence analysis of author keywordsidentified seven thematic cluster s, including writing assessment, formative assessment, learnerautonomy, and listening skills. Citation and co-citation analyses highlighted key publicationsand influential theoretical foundations, with both domestic and international studies shapingthe field. However, a notable proportion of highly co-cited works were published beforethe 2000s and originated outside Korea, reflecting the enduring influence of early internationalscholarship. The findings provide a comprehensive overview of the intellectual s tructure ofKorean EFL self-assessment research and suggest directions for future studies, includingexpanding collaboration networks, incorporating recent global perspectives, and addressingunderexplor ed s kill a r eas.