학술지 논문 키워드 분석을 통해 본 한국어교육의 연구 주제 변화

Thematic Changes in Korean Language Education Research: A Keyword Analysis of Journal Articles

This study investigates thematic shifts in Korean language education research by analyzing 3,411 articles published in five leading academic journals from 2001 to 2025. Using keyword frequency and co-occurrence network analyses, the study identifies core research themes and examines their evolution over time. Early studies primarily emphasized grammar, vocabulary, and textbook development, reflecting the formative stage of the field. Since 2011, learner-centered and purpose-specific topics—such as academic Korean, Chinese learners, and the Test of Proficiency in Korean—have gained prominence. Since 2021, digital transformation themes, including artificial intelligence, CEFR, and the metaverse, have emerged as new focal points. The network analysis reveals that “academic Korean,” “textbook,” “corpus,” “error analysis,” and “culture education” function as central hubs connecting clusters related to curriculum and policy, linguistic forms, learner variables, discourse analysis and assessment, and intercultural communication. Overall, the study shows that Korean language education research has evolved from a knowledge-centered orientation to a socially and technologically integrated discipline, offering meaningful implications for future research, policy development, and pedagogy.