Message
Society for Field Studies in Korean Language Education (우리말교육현장학회) is a community that places classroom-based Korean language education at its heart, gathering and sharing the voices and experiences of educators through research. At a time when schools and society are changing rapidly, our foremost purpose is to help Korean language education take deeper root in both classrooms and everyday life.
To clarify this purpose, we would like to begin with two questions.
Why “Korean language education” (“Uri-mal” education)?
Within schools in Korea, the field has long been called guk-eo gyoyuk (Korean language education in the national curriculum), while outside schools and around the world it has often been treated separately as hanguk-eo gyoyuk (Korean language education as a foreign or second language).
We aim to bring these strands together and adopt a broad view that spans from kindergarten to university, from adult learners to those learning Korean as a foreign language. Learning to speak and write should not be separated; it needs to remain connected wherever it takes place.
Why “Field”?
Although academic societies generally focus on theory, those that address education must let theory arise from practice and return to it. Education is a living field that nurtures people; an academic society devoted to it must illuminate and revitalize that field through its research. The true members of our society are educators who dedicate themselves to teaching Korean with care and perseverance. We created this society to be a place where their efforts, reflections, and experiences are brought together to find new directions. That is why “Field” is part of the society’s name.
What has changed today?
Today’s learning environment stands on a foundation of digital media and a new linguistic landscape. Words, texts, screens, and sounds mix and move quickly, while many languages intersect and interact. In this flow, the ability to understand clearly, express precisely, and communicate respectfully through Korean has become ever more important. We seek to explore and share ways to guide learning in this changing world.
We welcome everyone who loves teaching and learning Korean—teachers working in classrooms, pre-service educators preparing to enter the field, Korean language instructors and learners, researchers, and educational activists. Every example and each brief record shared becomes part of the force that transforms our field. Please visit us, share your thoughts, and join us in this collective work.
Finally, we hope this website will be both a place to seek direction and a space to work together. We look forward to your frequent visits, warm advice, and sincere critique. Through listening and speaking together, building sound reasons, expressing ourselves responsibly, and rejecting discrimination and hate, we will cultivate a language culture that upholds democracy. This is the path of Korean language education that sustains democratic society.