A collaborative action research on teaching academic Korean for immigrant students in grades 5~6

This collaborative action research aimed to develop and evaluate an academic Korean curriculum for immigrant students in grades 5~6, analyzing its effects on students’ academic Korean achievement and examining teachers’ perceptions of teaching academic Korean during the process. For this purpose, the collaboratively developed academic Korean curriculum was reviewed, and the academic Korean achievement of immigrant students was quantitatively analyzed through three assessments. Additionally, qualitative analysis was conducted on student interviews and teacher discussions regarding their experiences with the curriculum. The results indicated that the developed curriculum had a positive impact on the students’ academic Korean proficiency and their learning in other subjects. However, learning difficulties and elevated levels of anxiety during the course were common among students, regardless of their achievement levels. The teachers involved in the collaborative process proposed several strategies for more effective academic Korean teaching, such as expanding individualized support and strengthening connections with students’ families and homeroom classes. The significance of this collaborative action research lies in its empirical demonstration of the characteristics of academic Korean teaching, an area that has not been extensively covered in existing research on Korean language education.