Chinese Characters, Self-Directed Learning, Perception of Chinese Characters, Chinese Character Recognition, Classical Chinese Texts

This study explores the significance of understanding Hanja vocabulary in the Korean language, which constitutes approximately 70% of its vocabulary, for enhancing university students’ proficiency and comprehension. It aims to raise awareness of the importance of Hanja vocabulary and encourage active participation in learning Hanja vocabulary through self-directed, topic-based vocabulary activities, allowing students to explore meanings of Hanja vocabulary in texts that are personally relevant to them throughout the semester. The findings indicate a significant positive change in students’ perceptions of Chinese characters and a reduction in anxiety, alongside a meaningful increase in their Korean language abilities related to Chinese characters. Correlation analysis reveals a weak positive correlation between Korean vocabulary proficiency, academic achievement, and perceptions of Hanja vocabulary, while a clear connection exists between the perceptions of Hanja vocabulary and academic achievement. Through qualitative data, it was confirmed that a series of activities involving understanding Hanja vocabulary and inferring meanings by substituting known characters not only affects their level of knowledge but also aids in enhancing their learning abilities. This suggests that improving perceptions of Hanja and Hanja vocabulary may have had some influence on academic achievement. Overall, the study suggests that fostering active engagement in Hanja vocabulary learning enhances learners’ perceptions and may positively influence long-term academic outcomes.