유튜브의 한국어 교육 인기 채널 및 최우수 교육 콘텐츠 분석

Abstract

In recent years, YouTube has become one of the most popular platforms for Korean language learners around the world. This study thus examines the contents of some Korean language learning YouTube channels selected from the most popularized among the learners. The data were collected from the YouTube site using some keywords pertaining to the Korean language learning. Then, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on the data to determine the emerging themes and/or concepts, which revealed the following four significant findings. First, the most accessed by learners turned out to be created and provided by major maketing agencies, which aim to promote accessibility and publicity of their contents to their clients. Second, Korean language learners tended to prefer native Korean-speaking teachers, which was figured out by the number of subscribers and the views count on the popular channels and highly rated videos. Third, the analysis of comments and the ‘Like’ count on the channels revealed that video clips edited by various techniques were more attractive to learners than those relying on traditional lecture methods. Finally, the video contents were more eliciting from viewers interactive responses, such as comment or the Like count, when incorporating linguistic components into a range of cultural ones rather than when presenting merely linguistic components per se. The implications drawn out from the findings of the present study are: (1) a professional platform equipped with basic teaching tools should be developed and provided for individual creators and/or instructors; (2) further studies on the ways in which learners search for contents and access to the channels should be done and (3) the contents of the Korean language learning should be customized for learners’ needs and interest, as well as be culturally contextualized.