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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

Workshop for Korean Language Educators in Europe

The Workshop for Korean Language Educators in Europe, organized by the Korea Foundation and the International Association for Korean Language Education (IAKLE), and sponsored by the University of Warsaw Institute of Oriental Studies and the Korean Embassy in Poland, was held at the University of Warsaw in Poland (September 7-9). The gathering included the participation of 37 educators, involved in Korean language education, from 25 institutions of 12 European countries. The workshop featured a special lecture on the latest developments in Korean language instruction, a colloquium for discussion of the current status of Korean language education in Europe, and discussion of the major issues and problem areas of Korean language education, by individual country.
The lecture presentation covered matters of common interest to Korean language educators, such as the education of Korean language and culture, recent developments and practices in the methods for teaching Korean as a foreign language, and research findings related to Korean grammar. In the country discussions, the participants expressed their opinions on the issues and challenges experienced by individual educators and institutions, such as the common elements and differences of the Korean curriculum (by country), strengths and weaknesses of textbooks, differences between degree and non-degree programs, and efforts to increase the number of students majoring in Korean.
The most noteworthy outcome of the workshop, above all, was the agreement to establish the “European Association for Korean Language Education” (tentative name). Moreover, the workshop provided the instructors of Korean language in Europe, with the first-ever opportunity to gather together, since the launch of Korean language education in Europe on a regular basis. In particular, the participants agreed on the urgent need to promote information-sharing and to develop standardized textbooks and curriculum, by language sphere. In this regard, they called for the establishment of an association that would be responsible for facilitating the exchange of information among educators and effectively addressing problem areas by devising remedial measures, in a systematic manner.
The workshop participants designated Prof. Romuald Huszcza, of the University of Warsaw, as the first president of the European Association for Korean Language Education, along with naming Prof. Martine Prost, of the University of Paris VII, as vice president, and Prof. Yeon Jae-hoon, of the University of London, as association manager.


In his inaugural remarks, President Huszcza stated that this association would cooperate closely with the Association for Korean Studies in Europe (AKSE) to strengthen and promote Korean language education in Europe, and specifically focus on textbook development and information-sharing. The European Association for Korean Language Education decided to hold a regular workshop session every other year, when the biennial AKSE meeting is not held, and tentatively planned to conduct its first meeting in 2008, ahead of the AKSE conference in 2009.
Currently, there are some 100 educators of the Korean language or Korea Studies in Europe, of which about 80 are primarily involved with Korean language education. With the establishment of the EAKLE, through which these scholars can now more easily share their experiences and information, a steady ascent of Korean language education in Europe is foreseen in the near future.
The European Association for Korean Language Education, which represents the fourth regional organization of its kind, is the latest to join the ranks of existing groups: the American Association of Teachers of Korean, Society for Korean Linguistics in Japan and Society for Korean Language Education in Japan, Vietnamese Association for Korean Language Education and Research, and Chinese Association for Korean Language Education and Research (in order of establishment).

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