• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.77-100
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• 2012

This study investigates issues in relation to text segmenting, in particular, line breaks in Korean language textbooks. Research on L1 and L2 reading has shown that readers process texts by chunking (grouping words into phrases or meaningful syntactic units) and, therefore, phrase-cued texts are helpful for readers whose syntactic knowledge has not yet been fully developed. In other words, it would be important for language textbooks to avoid awkward syntactic divisions at the end of a line, in particular, those textbooks for beginners and intermediate level learners. According to our analysis of a number of major Korean language textbooks for beginner-level learners, however, many textbooks were found to display line-breaks of awkward syntactic division. Moreover, some textbooks displayed frequent instances where a single word (or eojeol in the case of Korean) is split between different lines. This can hamper not only learners' learning of the rules of spaces between eojeols in Korean, but also learners' development in automatic word recognition, which is an essential part of reading processes. Based on the findings of our textbook analysis and of existing research on reading, this study suggests ways to overcome awkward line-breaks in Korean language textbooks.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.71
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• pp.205-229
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• 2018

This article proceeds to scrutinizing a oral tradition called the story of ruining one's family by daughter-in-law's cutting-condemnation conducive to any estimation of Koreans' religious mentality. This oral tradition begins with mischievous behaviors of daughter-in-law. She cut away any materials, which a vagabond monk of Buddhism identified as a source of solacing numberless visitors to her house. Tired of serving all the visitors, she cut away the material. It caused her parents-in-law's house to be collapsed. At a first glance, the daughter-in-law appears to be blamed for the collapse. Interestingly, no one cannot be blamed for the misfortune. A face value of the text does not show that the fate of misfortune comes from any ethical misconduct and its posterior mishandling. Behind this oral tradition, by the way, lies the consciousness that relates misfortune with a ceremony of cutting away any unique material; cutting away any material, cutting away the trend of coming visitors, and cutting away the mood of prosperity becomes identical. The thematic mentality of the text reveals a religious consciousness of seeing human beings' life to be identical with nature. This oral tradition must have focused on the importance of a harmonious relationship between human beings and nature.

• Iberoamérica
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.25-57
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• 2020

Eduardo Galeano is a left-wing intellectual who led the criticism and accusations of dictatorship and social absurdity in Latin America. It digs into the truth of hidden history that has not been revealed in official history. He values the memory of history to stop repetition of the unfortunate history of the past. The main research topic of this study, 『The Book of Embraces』, is also an extension of such work. Most of the stories in this work depend on the writer's memory. There is no coherence or integration in the content of the story, and the length of the text is not constant, so it is extremely informal and fragmented. This is a strategy to formally reveal the illogical and irrational reality of Latin America. He analyzes the problems of the separation system prevalent in Latin American society from various perspectives. It separates me and the others as well as the past and the present. It makes the memory of history void and paralyzes the consciousness of history. These systems are fixed for convenient governance. In this situation, the pattern of violence becomes more explicit and broad. The anxiety and fear of the Latin American public become commonplace. It is a reality of enduring daily life without hope. Galeano finds this enduring force in historical memory. He believes that when the past and the present meet and embrace, a new history of the future can be encountered. Galeano does not just criticize reality or cynical attitude but also suggests hope for the future.