A Study on the Use of Writing Strategy by Intermediate and Advanced Learners of Korean in a Vietnamese University: Focusing on the Think-aloud

Objective The purpose of this study is to analyze how intermediate and advanced Vietnamese learners of Korean perceive and actually use Korean writing strategies, and to identify differences in the perception and actual use of these strategies between the two proficiency groups. Methods To closely examine the writing strategy usage patterns of 30 Korean major students at a local university in Vietnam, a survey was first conducted to investigate their awareness of writing strategies. Then, the think-aloud method was employed to explore which strategies they used while responding to a writing task from the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK). A preliminary experiment was conducted prior to the main study, and the data collected from the main experiment were subsequently analyzed and organized. Results According to the survey analysis, both intermediate and advanced learners most frequently recognized the “composing” strategy, while “evaluating the product” was the least recognized. In addition, advanced learners showed a higher level of awareness than intermediate learners in strategies such as “invoking prior knowledge” and “organizing information.” The think-aloud analysis revealed that intermediate learners used strategies in the order of organizing information, composing, and monitoring, whereas advanced learners used composing, clarifying, and invoking prior knowledge. A comparison of strategy use between the two groups showed statistically significant differences in the use of clarifying, invoking prior knowledge, and composing strategies. Conclusion The study found that there is a gap between the perception and actual use of writing strategies among intermediate and advanced Vietnamese learners of Korean, with the gap being more pronounced among intermediate learners. The findings also revealed that Vietnamese learners have primarily learned writing with a focus on outcomes, and that instruction in strategic writing has been insufficient. Therefore, it is necessary to explicitly incorporate writing strategy instruction into future Korean language classes for Vietnamese learners.