A Study on the Education Method of Korean Travel Essays for Korean Learners
This study is aimed at providing Korean learners of an education method of Korean travel essays. For this study, first, it has been selected that Korean travel essays writte...
A Study on the Education Method of Korean Travel Essays for Korean Learners
This study is aimed at providing Korean learners of an education method of Korean travel essays. For this study, first, it has been selected that Korean travel essays written by the writers whose travel essays have been included in textbooks which have been used in middle schools or high schools in Korea. Second, the essays has been categorized according to their topics and compositions, and I tried to analyze their characteristics by categories. Characteristic aspects of topics and compositions set a frame for students to understand the essays in Reception stage, and also suggest their directions to search materials and find a suitable composition for the selected topic in Expression stage.
In Chapter 2, I has studied the things which are related to the direction of analyzing and teaching the essays. First, the status and the educational value of literature education in Korean education fields has been dealt with. Due to the tendency of Korean education fields, focusing on communicative competence, the status of literature education has not been elevated highly in Korean classrooms, but I clearly enunciated the educational value that literature has exists. Essays, especially, and also travel essays, have potential applicability at the early stage of literature education and the education of creative writing. Next, the concept of travel essays and characteristics of them have been dealt with. The term ‘travel essay’ is defined as ‘the documentary literature which is written in prose about the things that a traveler has seen, heard and felt during his or her trip’, and the characteristics of travel essays have been discussed in terms of essay literature. Finally, theories for teaching travel essays have been dealt with. The integrated reading and writing teaching approach, and the process-based writing approach were the topics for discussion, and it has been made clear that creative writing education should be conducted based on the two approaches.
In Chapter 3, the travel essays were chosen and they were analyzed according to topics and compositions. Topics are categorized in three, the first type whose topic is a journey itself, the second type whose topic is a character, and the third type whose topic is a place. Compositions are categorized in four, the first type whose composition is according to an order of time, the second type whose composition is according to an order of space, the third type whose composition is according to an order of logic, and the fourth type whose composition is according to an order of thought.
In terms of the analysis result of topic types, the essays whose topics are characters or places tend to have more attention and knowledge about topics from the writers rather than the essays whose topics are journeys, but, all of the essays need understanding of topics somewhat. Meanwhile, the essays whose topics are journeys are suitable for teaching Korean learners for general purposes, the essays whose topics are characters are suitable for teaching Korean learners for academic purposes, and the essays whose topics are places are suitable for teaching Korean learners who are youth with migrant backgrounds.
In terms of the analysis result of composition types, the composition according to an order of time is the most typical type for travel essays, but there is only one essay belonging to this type among the essays which have been analyzed. The essays whose compositions are according to an order of time or space tend to focus on the meanings of places generally known, or objective meaning, contrastively, the essays whose compositions are according to an order of logic or thought tend to focus on the special meaning of places, or subjective meaning. Hence, the essays whose compositions are according to an order of time or space are suitable for teaching Korean learners for general purposes in high-level courses, and the essays whose compositions are according to an order of logic or thought are suitable for teaching Korean learners who are used to literature or literary thinking.
In Chapter 4, in terms of teaching travel essays, educational objectives, educational contents, an educational model and a lesson plan have been proposed. The educational objectives are as in the following. First, a student can understand characteristics of travel essays and minimize the psychological distance between him or her and literature. Second, a student can understand the contents of essays, on the basis of their topics and compositions, and can receive it critically, on the basis of comparing writers’ experiences with his or hers. Third, a student can search and receive the meaning of traveling, and can keep considerations in mind when traveling for creative writing. Fourth, a student can reminisce experience of a travel and select a suitable topic, and a suitable composition for it, and for creative writing he or she can express experiences and views of his or her own.
In terms of the educational model of teaching travel essays, contrary to other models based on either reception or expression, the view that reception, experience and expression should be treated with equal importance has been applied to the model which is proposed in the paper. Therefore, the model consists of three stages, which are Reception stage, Experience stage, and Expression stage, and they are divided into three, which are before, during, and after the activities. What feedback from a teacher or classmates matters and each stage can be cyclic are considered.
In terms of the lesson plan of teaching travel essays, it consists of six days, or twelve periods. The lesson plan targets high-level Korean learners for general purposes, and it indicates the educational objectives of each day. After the plan, an activity sheet that can be used during Experience stage has been presented.