Analysis of Grammatical Representation in Fundamental Textbooks of Korean; A Case Study of the Textbook Used for Thai Undergraduate Students

Abstract

This study attempts to analyze the grammatical representation in Korean fundamental textbooks of Thai undergraduate students in terms of curriculum, content, composition of the content, description, and representation of Korean grammar, examples, and exercises. For this purpose, the data were collected from 16 Korean fundamental textbooks which were used for teaching Korean grammar at the colleges and the document analysis was employed to explore the grammar occurring in the textbooks, from which the following conclusion can be drawn. First, the study reveals that the curriculum and contents are consistent with the textbooks, while the duration of teaching does not match what is identified in the curriculum. Second, in terms of the textbooks’ composition, grammar contents are served the purposes of courses and suitable for learners. Two patterns of grammar representation are found. (1) The textbook directly represents the meanings, grammar rules, and grammar specifications. (2) Only sentence examples are provided to guide instructors and learners to explore the meaning, grammar rules, and specifications by themselves. Third, there are two patterns of explanation and representation of grammar. (1) The selected data are English – Korean bilingual textbooks. (2) The description and the meanings are represented through sentence examples. Fourth, two strategies representing sentence examples are found (i.e. single sentence example and sentence example as a part of the conversation). Fifth, practice exercises are not various. The textbooks require learners to construct their conversations based on the grammar they have learned. Besides, the grammatical structure is mostly focused rather on the integration of grammar.