독일의 언어교육을 통해 본 한자, 한문 교육의 필요성

Abstract

This study aims to explore implications for the current education of Chinese characters in South Korea through examining the trends in Latin education and Chinese character learning in Korean Language Education as a Foreign Language in Germany. Latin has been used as a Lingua franca in Western society for a long time and has directly and indirectly influenced European languages to this day. Similarly, the Chinese characters in East Asia are also part of the Eastern universal culture. They have a great influence on the appearance of Korean and require knowledge of Chinese characters in order to use the Language correctly. However, since the 1990s, the education of Chinese characters in public education has been reduced. As a result, there has been a decline in students’ literacy, especially in reading comprehension. This decline is attributed to the neglect of Chinese Characters, which is fundamental to understanding most Korean languages. In Germany, Latin education and Korean Language education as a Foreign Language are aimed at improving humanities knowledge by understanding the language of origin and the language culture through language learning. Learning classical languages such as Latin and modern foreign languages like Korean is not only for practical purposes, but also aims to understand languages and cultures, people living there, and society. Consequently, Chinese Character education should also be considered integral to enriching Korean language and culture. Efforts should focus on enhancing teaching methods to ensure meaningful learning experiences for students, rather than debating the necessity of Chinese character education. Furthermore, Chinese characters must be recognized as a part of our cultural heritage and as a product of East Asian history and culture. To this end, engagement with the past and the study of East Asian culture through Chinese characters must be actively carried out in the Department related to the Chinese culture area.