Reflection Paper #2: Reflect on your language learning so far and the relationship between understanding the target culture and the target language. What do you need to improve your communicative competence?
So far, I have focused on establishing a firm understanding of the basics of Korean language. I began by learning how to read, write, say, and recognize the sounds of the Korean alphabet. This presented more of a challenge than I initially anticipated, so I ended up spending more time on the alphabet than I intended to. I still find some of the subtleties between some letters difficult to distinguish between, but I think that the context of a word and sentence will help me understand what sound is being used. I’ve also studied some simple grammar to communicate information such as ‘Hello. My name is Carson. I’m an American.” I’ve also learned some common phrases to like ‘goodbye’ and ‘thank you.’ Recently, I’ve begun to learn the native Korean and Sino-Korean number systems, so I can now tell my age and phone number. I have also been working on introducing myself to others and on asking for information on other people. Although I haven’t mastered as much vocabulary and grammar that I originally planned to by this point, I think that I have covered a considerable amount so far, especially since I know much more about Korean now than I did at the beginning of the semester.
For the Korean language, it seems that culture plays a heavy role. As in other Asian cultures, being polite is important in Korean culture. Because of this, respect and showing a proper degree of respect to the person you’re communicating with through the language you use is a critical expression of politeness. While studying Korean, I’ve learned how to communicate the same idea in several different ways to fit varying levels of formality. Levels of formality affect verbal conjugation, honorifics, and words choice. When speaking or writing, you must be conscious of the relationship between you and the receiver, a consciousness that I rarely think about as an English speaker. Thinking about language usage in this way makes you more aware of possible factors that would affect your relationship to another person. It’s important to consider age, experience, familiarity, and more. I have had some experience with honorific speech during my studies of French and Japanese, but for those languages, I usually only had to deal with two forms, formal or informal. With Korean, there are more than just those two options.
In order to improve my communicative competence, I need to keeping expanding my understanding about Korean Grammar and vocabulary, and the take my knowledge of Korean syntax, morphology, etc. and use it with native speakers in the real world. Understanding the appropriate times to use a particular word or phrase can be better understood and reinforced through practice. Other modes of communication, specifically silent ones such as gestures, are probably best explained by a native. I don’t know much about silent communication in Korean language and culture, but I would like to learn more as I continue my studies. I will also go to the Korean TA to help me improve my communicative competence in Korean.
Comments
GOOD JOB CARSON!
Keep up the good work.
(summarize it later to me in class. Too much this week to read)