earticle

영어

It is a tacit acceptance in Korea that only Korean as the target language should be used in the classrooms of teaching the Korean language as a second language. This paper, however, attempts to grasp the actual situation of using the learner’s native language in the classroom and the perceptions on its usage which Korean language teachers and learners have. To accomplish the aims of this research, the paper reviews the assertions for and against the usage of the learner’s native language in second language teaching and then conducts a questionnaire survey of the native language use on Korean language teachers and learners. The survey clearly shows that the learner's native language as a medium language is widely present in the classroom. A vast majority of the learners surveyed answer that using the native language is of help in learning Korean. On the basis of the survey analysis, the paper concludes that the presence of learner's native language in the Korean language classroom should be recognized, rather being disregarded or avoided.