ASSESSING LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE IN JEJU: VOCABULARY AND VERBAL PATTERNS IN JEJUEO AND ENGLISH

Abstract

Abstract This study examines knowledge of Jejueo and English across different age groups in Jeju Island. The data for this study were collected from two almost identical language test instruments — one for each language — and from a language survey. There was a total of 244 participants, ranging from 10 to 67 years old and divided into five groups (Elementary School, Middle School, High School, College, and Adult). The overall findings of the study for Jejueo revealed apparent language decline in progress in the case of Jejueo. Children in Elementary School, already 10 years old on average, had very poor proficiency in the language, which I attribute to the vanishingly rare opportunities to hear and use Jejueo. Consistent with this idea, older groups did somewhat better, but only because they presumably had more exposure to the language. The principal finding for English was the presence of a strong age effect (number of years of instruction) between Elementary and Middle school. The second smaller increase was observed between Middle school and High school, but proficiency in older groups leveled off. I also made other striking observations including the following: i) Success on the English portion of the assessment is positively correlated with higher proficiency in Jejueo; ii) the amount of Jejueo input from family members were positively related to success on both the Jejueo test and the English test; iii) Middle School participants performed better on the English test than on the Jejueo test; iv) although the participants in the Adult group showed relatively high proficiency in Jejueo compared to non-adult groups, their Jejueo proficiency was far lower than the Korean proficiency of even the Elementary School group.; v) Success on verbal patterns in both Jejueo and English is positively correlated with performance on the vocabulary task in the respective language. I conclude this study by advocating several pedagogical implications for learners, teachers, parents, and educators that might contribute to more effective Jejueo and English education.