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Sat, May 21, 2022 | 23:58
Educators Plan Class on Chinese Characters
Posted : 2010-03-08 17:39
Updated : 2010-03-08 17:39
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By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

The government has decided to reintroduce Chinese characters as part of its primary school curriculum but hangeul advocates are challenging the plan.

The Ministry of Education said that by 2013, students will learn Chinese characters as an elective. This may leave the door open for it to become a compulsory subject later, opponents counter.

Those who support Chinese character learning at an early stage also says such an education is important to helping Koreans gain the upper hand in global competition at a time when China is already Korea's biggest trading partner and is emerging as a global superpower.

They said that learning the characters can help Koreans learn the Chinese language.

"Chinese language classes will be provided on an optional basis. Therefore, the resumption does not necessarily mean that Korean language education is at risk," said senior education official Kim Dong-won.

Kim stressed more than 1,260 hours of Korean language lessons are offered to students from first to sixth grade in primary schools, accounting for the largest part of the entire curriculum at 21.7 percent.

Kim and his supporters added that the absence of education on Chinese characters in public education for the past decades has created a variety of side effects and a generational gap in a society where writing the names of one's own family members and knowing basic terms in Chinese has been regarded as a sort of "common sense."

They also have support from Chinese language institutes.

"The more Chinese characters students know, the easier it is for them to learn the language," Chinese language instructor Kim Hea-jin at YBM language institute in Seoul told The Korea Times. "Ample knowledge of the Chinese alphabet is a key asset in writing a fine-tuned article and running a business associated with China."

However, a group of hangeul advocates recently visited the education ministry and the National Assembly to protest the proposed legislation on introducing the plan.

"The resumption will eventually undermine the creativity and uniqueness of the Korean language," said Lee Dae-ro, head of a pro-hangeul association.

"The nation's obsession with English study in public education has already dealt a blow to our mother tongue. The resumption of Chinese alphabet education will worsen the situation."

A study by the state-funded Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation shows nearly 70 percent of Korean words originated from Chinese characters. Adding to this is China's emergence as a global power.

The hangeul advocates say the reintroduction of Chinese characters learning is an act of betrayal of King Sejong the Great, who created the Korean alphabet in 1443, and cultural flunkeyism. Korea had been under the influence of China for much of its ancient history.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr



초등학교 한자교육 논란 재점화

초등학교 한자교육을 놓고 논란이 다시 불거지고 있다.

논란의 불씨를 지핀곳은 교과서 기준과 지침을 마련하는 한국교육과정평가원이다. 평가원은 최근 교육과학기술부에 제출한 보고서에서 "초등학교 교육과정에 한자교육을 넣어야 한다"고 밝혔다. 그 근거로 학부모와 교사를 대상으로 한 설문조사를 내세웠다. "학부모 89.1%, 교사 77.3%가 초등학교 한자교육을 찬성하고 있다"는 것이다.

우리나라가 동북아권의 한자문화권에 속해 있고 우리말의 70%가 한자어인 상황에서 한자는 우리와 밀접하다는 방증이다.

여기에 한글학회 등이 즉각 반박하고 나섰다.

한글학회·세종대왕기념사업회·외솔회 등은 한국교육과정평가원이 '초등학교 교육과정에 한자 교육을 넣어야 한다'는 연구보고서를 낸 것은 첨단과학 한글시대의 주역이 돼야 할 어린이들에게 한자의 멍에를 다시 씌우려고 책동하는 반민족·반역사적 행위라는 성명을 발표했다.

초등학교 한자교육은 1969년까지 국어 교과서에 한자를 괄호안에 넣는 병기를 시행했지만 1970년 한글전용화정책으로 초등학교 교과서에서 사라졌다. 그후 1972년 교육용 기초한자가 제정된 이후 중·고교에서만 정규교과로 실시돼 왔다.

2000년 한국한문교육학회가 초등학생에게도 600자 정도의 한자교육이 필요하다는 의견을 내놓은 후, 한자교육 찬성론자들과 반대론자들 간의 공방은 매년 연례행사 되다시피 치열해지고 있다.

이같은 공방 속에 초등학교 한자교육은 갈팡질팡하고 있다. 경제적 여유가 있는 학부모들은 한자가 자녀 학습에 도움이 된다며 사교육을 통해 한자급수 시험에 매달리고 있다. 한 해 급수 응시자 150만명 중 60%가 초등생이라고 한다. 여유가 없는 가정은 이 대열에 합류하지 못하고 있다. 학교 현장의 한자교육도 학교장 등의 관심도에 좌우되고 있다.
 
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