The purpose of this study is to identify the chronological characteristics of Korean Sign Language research by identifying the research trends in Korean Sign language based on dissertations related to Korean Sign Language, and to present future resear...
The purpose of this study is to identify the chronological characteristics of Korean Sign Language research by identifying the research trends in Korean Sign language based on dissertations related to Korean Sign Language, and to present future research prospects. In order to analyze research dissertations related to Korean Sign Language, 139 dissertations were unearthed using the Korean Research Information Sharing Service(RISS).
The results of this study were as follows :
First, the year 1983, when the dissertation on Korean Sign Language was first published, is Kim Seung Kook's doctoral dissertation. Since then, a total of 139 dissertations have been published, of which 122 (87.8%) have master's papers and 17 (12.2%) have doctoral dissertations.
Second, looking at the studies in detail by chronological trends, ① 1st Period (1983-2001): From 1983 to 2001, a total of 20 dissertations were published, including 17 master's thesis and 3 doctoral dissertations. ② 2nd Period (2002-2015): A total of 88 dissertations were published by 2015 with 77 master's and 11 doctoral dissertations since the establishment of the Sign Language Interpretation Department in the master's courses of universities and graduate schools in 2002. ③ 3rd Period (2016-2019): Since the implementation of the Korean Sign Language Act in 2016, 31 dissertations have been published, including 28 master's dissertations and 3 doctoral dissertations.
Third, based on the research topics, “Sign Language" dissertations accounted for the largest portion of 46 dissertations(36 master's and 10 Ph.D.'s), followed by “Sign Language Interpretion" (38 dissertations), “Engineering Research" (36 dissertations), “Others" (15 dissertations), and "Sign Language Education" (4 dissertations). In addition, by research method, 50 literature review (36.0%), 34 engineering research (24.7%), 31 survey research (22.3%), and 24 qualitative research (17.3%).
Fourthly, a total of 56 Graduate schools published their dissertations, and the one that published the most dissertations was the Korea Nazarene University, the first to set up graduate schools. A total of 28 dissertations (the Department of International sign language interpret 27 and the Department of rehabilitation 1 were published, focusing on the Department of International Sign Language Interpret, Graduate School of Rehabilitation Welfare at the Korea Nazarene University. Next, 15 dissertations were published at the Daegu University, which included 10 from the special education category (6 master's and 4 doctoral dissertations), and 5 from the social welfare category (4 master's and 1 doctoral dissertations). In addition, 9 dissertations (7 masters, 2 doctoral doctors) were published at Kangnam University, and 8 dissertations (7 masters, 1 doctoral dissertations) were published at Dankook University. 6 universities have published 3 or 4 dissertations, and a total of 46 universities have less than three dissertations.
Fifth, the results of the analysis of Korean Sign Language Researchs were as follows by dividing it into “Sign Language", “Sign Language Interpretation" and “Sign Language Education". A total of 46 dissertations (36 master's and 10 Ph.D.) were published in the dissertations concerning "Sign language" and 10 dissertations (7 master's and 3 Ph.D.) in the 1st Period and 28 dissertations (22 masters and 6 Ph.D.) in the 2nd Period, and 8 dissertations (7 Master's, 1 Ph.D.) in the 3rd Period. A total of 38 dissertations concerning “Sign Language Interpretation" were published (34 masters and 4 Ph.D.), the 1st Period, two Master's dissertations, the 2nd Period, 26 dissertations (23 masters and 3 Ph.D.) and in the 3rd Period, 10 dissertations (9 masters and 1 Ph.D.) were published. A total of 4 dissertations were published in the study on “Sign Language Education". Among these, 2 dissertations were related to the 'Textbook', 1 study on the survey and the other on the improvement plan, and 1 related to the curriculum. The most recent dissertation was published in 2017, which is the least developed among other Korean Sign Language research fields.
Based on the above trend analysis results, some implications were drawn as follows :
First is the diversity of Korean Sign Language research fields and themes. The diversification of research areas and themes and the increasing trend will lead to more active sign language research.
Second, research was conducted mainly in the research category as a sub-area of welfare for the disabled and special education. In the future, research area of Korean Sign Language will be more activated.
Third, the research methods of Sign Language research need to be extended to a more creative and linguistic approach.
This study is meaningful in that it has formed the basic data which is useful for understanding the research trend of Korean Sign Language and forecasting future research direction. However, there are limitations in not analyzing the research trends in detail based on a sophisticated research analysis framework. Finally, the following suggestions are made for future research.
First, a more in-depth analysis of Korean Sign Language research dissertations and data is needed.
Second, the results of the Korean Sign Language study produced by the dissertation should be systematically 'Database' to make it easier to utilize.
Third, we should actively train the Deaf researchers who use the Sign Language as their first language.