일본인 학습자의 한국어 독학 경험에 관한 자전적 내러티브 탐구

초록

This study explores the long-term learning experiences and underlying mechanisms of self-learning Korean language learners, a recently emerged yet under-researched learner type whose learning processes are largely private and individualized. Using an autobiographical narrative inquiry approach, the researcher’s own ten-year experience of learning Korean independently was analyzed. A dialogic interview with a co-researcher was conducted based on a learning history graph and authentic learning materials, and the interview transcripts were collaboratively analyzed as the primary data. The analysis yielded three main findings. First, the self-learning experience followed a diachronic trajectory aligned with the learner’s life cycle, developing from engagement with K-content to academic use of Korean. Second, encounters with the real world, such as travel to Korea and part-time work, prompted a qualitative shift from media-centered, one-way learning to interactive learning grounded in practical needs and feedback. Third, the key factor sustaining long-term learning was an intrinsic motivational mechanism based on a gamified cognitive frame, in which learning difficulties were perceived as new quests to be overcome. By examining the self-learning process from an insider perspective, this study illuminates learning experiences long treated as a black box and reconceptualizes self-learning as a dynamic process shaped by the interaction of time, space, and motivation. Furthermore, as learners with non-institutionalized learning experiences increasingly enter formal educational settings, this study provides interpretive insights for understanding such learners within classroom-centered Korean language education contexts.

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