Korean language teaching is a subject which enables the students to use Hangul. It is no exaggeration to say that the ability to use a language depends on the exact understanding of its vocabulary and the amount of it.
The knowledge of vocabulary pla...
Korean language teaching is a subject which enables the students to use Hangul. It is no exaggeration to say that the ability to use a language depends on the exact understanding of its vocabulary and the amount of it.
The knowledge of vocabulary plays an important role in reading. Reading helps students to learn individual words and the relation between them and grasp the meaning of words in chunks.
Using research I developed a model of vocabulary teaching based on my documentary studies. I taught the vocabulary systematically and in stages to help students expand their vocabulary which, I believe, is the most important aspect of reading and speaking a language.
The teaching method of vocabulary in stages consists of four steps. They are puzzle solving, word association, understanding and generalizing. I explored the following methods to introduce vocabulary in class: To know the verbal meanings by puzzle solving; to write analogies, derivatives, and compounds with word association; to write antonyms, words containing diverse meanings and grasp the meaning from the context by understanding; to write short sentences and paragraphs using generalizations. I applied these methods to real life teaching-learning situations. Later I calculated questionnaires and the subject scores.
The results of the questionnaires concluded that ① Students' interest in the subject improved and their attitude in class became positive. ② Students depended on the reference books when they met with strange words in the process of reading words before but they tried to look up dictionaries later. ③ The number of students who tried to use the words that they were studying increased. ④ Almost all the students recognized the neccesity to study vocabulary.
And comparing the subject scores, the average of the research group was much higher than that of the comparative group. It indicates that a teaching method which introduces vocabulary in steps according to difficulty has a more favorable influence upon the students acquisition of Korean vocabulary than the traditional one.
Students showed great interest in the words study using puzzles. in conclusion I believe that teaching vocabulary by steps allow students to grasp the meaning of words. Overall interacting with the language could contribute to the improvement of Korean language learning.
The materials used in this study can be utilized in class for teaching words for they were made according to the units of the current textbook.