Errors in Korean Descriptive Compositions Written by Learners from a Different Language Family and the Directions of Teaching Improvement

Abstract

Abstract

 This research aimed to study errors in Korean descriptive compositions written by Thai learners whose language belongs to a different family from that of Korean, causes of such errors and ways to improve the teaching of Korean. The instruments used to collect the data were a test, an open-ended questionnaire, and an in-depth interview form.

                The results showed that Thai learners of Korean made errors in grammar the most (42.73%), followed by errors in vocabulary (36.75%), with errors in orthography as the least frequent (20.52%). The four main causes of errors were the learners’ problem (88.9%), difficulty and complexity  of the Korean language (44.4%), mother tongue interference (22.2%) and time limitation (11.1%). The teaching methods that should be employed to solve the learners’ problem in Korean writing include the employment of eclectic methods suitable for the teaching of different content and students’ individuality and avoiding the comparison between Korean and Thai or other languages.

Keywords :error, Korean education, Korean as a foreign language, Korean descriptive writing