A Study on the Visual Recognition Patterns of Japanese Beginner Learners Regarding Hangul Characters: Focusing on Consonant Letters

要旨

<jats:p>Objectives The purpose of this study is to examine the visual recognition of Hangul consonants among Japanese beginner learners using data from a visual recognition survey. It aims to identify the consonants that learners find visually challenging to distinguish and to provide educational implications for the instruction of Hangul characters at the introductory level. Methods An online survey using Google Forms was conducted among 129 Japanese beginner learners studying Korean as an elective liberal arts course at universities in Japan. This survey involved two rounds of visual recog-nition tests on 19 consonant characters. The tests were employing a form constancy testing method where partic-ipants were required to identify Hangul characters that matched the form of the given examples. Results In comparison to the first survey, the average score of the second survey increased by 0.39 points, but the difference between the average scores of the first and second surveys was not statistically significant. It was also confirmed that the order of learning Hangul characters and their frequency of appearance did not have a sig-nificant effect on the visual recognition of character forms. In the error analysis of Japanese beginner learners, er-rors due to native language, target language, and curriculum were found, and some errors due to native language and target language were interpreted as errors due to the influence of font styles. Conclusions Japanese beginner learners encounter difficulties in the visual recognition of Hangul characters dur-ing the Korean language learning process. Exposure to these characters in textbooks is insufficient for accurate recognition of their forms, necessitating continuous character form education. It is particularly noted that the de-tailed features of Hangul characters and variations in font styles are significant factors for Japanese learners. This approach is anticipated to serve as foundational data for enhancing understanding of Hangul character learning and for developing effective teaching methods.</jats:p>