The 9th Korean Studies Graduate Students Convention In Europe, Warszawa, Polonya, 17 Eylül 2012, ss.13-20
Until today the culture of the language which is learnt has always remained in the background. However language teaching cannot be thought independent of culture transfer. The importance of giving the cultural elements of the target language to the learners is a well known fact. Honorifics and speech levels are among the most important cultural elements in Korean language, as well. Honorifics hold a very important place at each level of communications in daily life in Korea. Thus, when teaching Korean as a foreign language the importance of this matter should be emphasized and the honorific expressions that the students will need in daily life must be taught from the beginning of the elementary level.
This paper explores the representation of honorifics in the teaching of Korean as a foreign language through the analysis of Korean speaking textbook3 used in the language course conducted together by Sejong Institute and TÖMER (The Center of Turkish Language Education) in Turkey.
When the definitions were made, answers were searched for these questions:
1. How are the honorifics in dialogues used according to the age?
2. How are the honorifics in dialogues used according to the gender?
3. How are the honorifics in dialogues used according to the social status?