This study explores new pedagogical possibilities for the appreciation of Korean classical poetry in the context of a digital media environment. For contemporary foreign learners, who belong to the generation of digital natives, media function as fami...
This study explores new pedagogical possibilities for the appreciation of Korean classical poetry in the context of a digital media environment. For contemporary foreign learners, who belong to the generation of digital natives, media function as familiar and everyday learning resources. When utilized pedagogically, media can reduce the linguistic difficulty and psychological distance inherent in classical poetry and promote meaningful engagement with literary works. Based on this premise, the study theoretically examines the concept and characteristics of media literacy and investigates its concrete manifestations through an analysis of learner responses.
Media literacy in this study is reconceptualized beyond the ability to understand a single medium, as the capacity for film-based media experience to transfer to and expand into the appreciation of classical poetry. Specifically, it is restructured into three abilities: the ability to discover meaning through cinematic elements, the ability to deepen meaning through intermedial comparison, and the ability to expand meaning through hypertextual connections. On the basis of this reconceptualization, the study organizes the principles of appreciating classical poetry through media literacy into the following: the linkage between film narratives and classical poetic narratives, intermedial correspondences between cinematic and poetic imagery, and the interpretation of mood-creating devices in both film and classical poetry.
Building on this theoretical framework, the study first examines the relationship between film and classical poetry and then identifies three aspects through which media literacy manifests in learners’ responses. First, in the stage of discovering textual meaning based on cinematic expression, learners identified interpretive clues by focusing on media narratives, images, and mood-setting devices. Second, in the stage of deepening textual meaning through the comparison of intermedial meaning elements, learners gradually deepened their understanding through the comparison and contrast of themes, emotions, and modes of expression shared or differentiated between film and poetry. Third, in the stage of expanding textual meaning through hypertextual connections with learners’ experiences, interpretations of film and poetry were combined with learners’ media experiences and autobiographical experiences, leading to creative reinterpretations and appropriation of textual meaning.
At the same time, several limitations in the manifestation of media literacy were identified: failure to explore textual meaning due to the over-acceptance of media meaning elements, the construction of meaning centered on film narratives due to insufficient intermedial understanding, and the restriction of textual meaning caused by hypertextual constructions overly focused on film media. These findings suggest that while media serve as effective mediators that expand learners’ interpretive abilities, they also require critical guidance and mediation by instructors.
Based on these implications, the study proposes specific directions for designing educational content for classical poetry using media literacy. These include meaning exploration through the discovery of narrative structures, understanding the mediality of Korean classical poetry through film media, and hypertext production activities based on nonlinear thinking, all of which are presented as instructional content that deepens learners’ thinking and strengthens their active engagement.
This study theoretically and empirically demonstrates that media literacy constitutes a capacity that transfers to and expands into the appreciation of Korean classical poetry. It analyzes how media literacy deepens foreign learners’ interpretive experiences through the processes of meaning discovery, meaning deepening, and meaning expansion, and on this basis presents practical educational strategies for classical poetry appreciation. Furthermore, by enabling learners familiar with media environments to engage with classical poetry critically and creatively, the study suggests educational possibilities that simultaneously expand approaches to Korean literary appreciation and Korean cultural education. Therefore, this study is significant in demonstrating that media literacy can function as a core principle for reconstructing Korean classical poetry education in alignment with contemporary learning environments, beyond a mere instructional technique, and in providing theoretical and practical foundations applicable in Korean language education and Korean literature education contexts.