Joe Jungno Ree

Scholars have argued that there exists a difference between acquiring a language as a second language and learning a language as a foreign one (Krashen 1982). That is, the term second language acquisition was developed to refer to the acquirement of a language within a region where the language is commonly spoken; whereas the term foreign language learning refers to the formal classroom instruction of a language in an environment outside of one where the language is customarily used (Shrum and Glisan 1994, 7). In this article, however, the term second language acquisition will be used in a more general sense referring to “the subconscious or consc10us processes by which a language other than the mother tongue is learnt in a natural or a tutored setting" (Ellis 1985, 6). The purpose of this article is to offer suggestions for teachers of Korean as a second language how to achieve the most efficient and helpful language instruction possible. In the study of learning Korean, there are two sets of learners: heritage learners and non-heritage learners whose backgrounds and prior experiences with the language are markedly different. Broadly speaking, heritage learners include persons born in the United States of Korean descent (second generation Koreans) as well as students born in Korea who have emigrated to the United States, usually at a very early age. It will be illustrated that the two groups of learners, who are inherently different in their educational needs, present nagging instructional problems. The following article is divided into five sections. The first section consists of brief comments on the current trend in second language acquisition. The second section discusses the difference in the needs between heritage and non-heritage learners and offers several teaching strategies that address these needs. The third division presents an outline of some of the essential material that need be included in the overall structure of teaching the Korean language. In the fourth section, several problems related to the SAT II Korean exam will be discussed. And finally, the last section will address the question of language maintenance: how to preserve Korean as our heritage language in an English-dominated society.