This study aimed to empirically analyze the syntactic characteristics of reading and literature passages in 3rd- and 4th-grade Korean language textbooks under the 2022 Revised National Curriculum, and to provide foundational data for syntax-focused li...
This study aimed to empirically analyze the syntactic characteristics of reading and literature passages in 3rd- and 4th-grade Korean language textbooks under the 2022 Revised National Curriculum, and to provide foundational data for syntax-focused literacy instruction suited to learners at this developmental stage. A total of 2,389 sentences were extracted from units containing reading and literature achievement standards across eight textbook volumes, and four syntactic dimensions were examined: mean length of sentence in eojeols (MLS-c), where an eojeol refers to the orthographic word unit demarcated by spacing in Korean; sentence type based on sentence-final endings; sentence structure (simple vs. complex sentences); and the use of conjunctive adverbs. All analyses were further differentiated by text type (literary vs. non-literary).
The main findings are as follows. First, MLS-c increased with grade level, and the effect of text type was greater than that of grade level, with non-literary passages consistently producing longer sentences than literary ones across both grades. Second, the rank order of sentence types — declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, imperative, and propositive — was identical across both grades. Third, the proportion of complex sentences increased with grade level, and embedded sentences were more prevalent than conjoined sentences in both grades; the proportion of sentences combining both embedding and coordination was highest in 4th-grade non-literary passages. Fourth, the frequency of conjunctive adverbs increased with grade level, while the categorical distribution remained similar across grades. Literary passages showed a relatively higher proportion of adversative conjunctive adverbs, whereas non-literary passages were characterized by greater use of additive and causal-explanatory categories; this text-type difference reached statistical significance at the 4th-grade level, suggesting that the differentiation between text types becomes more pronounced as grade level increases.
These findings indicate that the syntactic complexity of Korean language textbook passages increases progressively with grade level, with the most pronounced intensification observed in non-literary texts. This study provides foundational data for evaluating the correspondence between the syntactic demands of textbook texts and learners' developmental capacities, and offers practical resources for the design of syntax-centered literacy instruction and reading support programs in both educational and clinical settings.