아시아권 한국어 학습자의 문말 연결어미 인식 양상 연구A Study on the Perception of Sentence-Final Connective Endings by Asian KFL Learners

ABSTRACT

While the connective endings are frequently used in the sentence-final position, especially in spoken discourse, Korean textbooks predominantly present connective endings as occurring only in the sentence-medial position. To examine the impact of this discrepancy, the study analyzed four types of Korean textbooks (SNU Korean+, New Ewha Korean, Sejong Korean, and New Yonsei Korean) and conducted a Grammatical Judgment Task (GJT) with both native Korean speakers and Korean learners about the 13 connective endings at the medial position and the final position, which are “-ketun,” “-ese,” “-lyeko,” “-nikka,” “-tunci,” “-tolok,” “-taka,” “-umyen,” “-key,” “-ciman,” “-le,” “-killay,” “-nulako.” The results indicate that native Korean speakers achieved nearly 100% accuracy, whereas Korean learners more frequently selected incorrect responses. As proficiency increased, judgment of grammaticality regarding sentence-final connective endings improved. However, even advanced learners had difficulties with connective endings that require discourse interpretation or those that function differently in the sentence-final position. Additionally, a strong preference for final endings at the sentence-final position was observed regardless of proficiency level, and confusion was evident between connective endings with similar semantic functions. These findings suggest the need for more explicit instruction and contextualized examples of sentence-final connective endings in Korean language education to reduce errors.