한국어능력시험(Topik) 쓰기 텍스트의 난이도 분석 - 2006~2025년 개혁 전후 TOPIK II 출제된 문항 비교를 중심으로

Analysis of the Difficulty Level of TOPIK Writing Texts: Focusing on a Comparison of Questions from TOPIK II Before and After the 2006-2025 Reform

The purpose of this study is to compare the “Fill in the Blanks with Appropriate Words” items in the advanced TOPIK writing section, administered from 2006 to the present, before and after the test reform, in order to identify changes in their linguistic features and difficulty levels. For this purpose, analysis indicators were established focusing on four categories—surface structure, lexical features, syntactic structure, and discourse connection—and the DEUS (Data Evaluation Unified System) analysis tool was employed to conduct a quantitative comparison of the item texts. The analysis revealed that pre-reform items contained a larger vocabulary and exhibited greater syntactic complexity, whereas post-reform items featured a higher number of sentences and greater lexical diversity, thereby enhancing clarity in information delivery. In terms of discourse connection patterns, pre-reform items placed greater emphasis on causal and elaborative relations, while post-reform items favored temporal relations. These findings provide empirical evidence for the refinement of TOPIK writing item design and offer pedagogical implications for improving task-based Korean writing instruction.