Breaking Down Beginner Korean

A grad school capstone project for GMU’s Learning Design & Technology program.

The goal of this project was to develop an e-learning module focused on the foundations of basic Korean.

It is intended for native English speakers with little to no experience with the Korean language.

The Analysis Phase

I selected this topic as I am on my own Korean language learning journey and know many people who are learning or interested in learning the language.

Within that context, I’ve noticed many of these learners, including myself, had difficulty figuring out where to start especially when compared to their experiences learning romance languages such as Spanish or French.

    • Americans who are native-English speakers;

    • Learners who are generally familiar with other Latin-based languages;

    • Geographically diverse; and

    • Ages 15-50 years old, with the largest group in the 20-30 year old range.

  • For many native English speakers, learning other romance languages is relatively easier as those alphabets use roughly the same letters. There’s a level of familiarity that helps serve as a foundation.

    However, when learning a language with a completely different alphabet such as Korean, native English speakers are essentially starting from a "clean slate".

  • My initial proposal was to use Canvas to develop the module and leverage existing multimedia from YouTube to help facilitate learning.

The Design Phase

Before diving into Canvas, I conducted a topic analysis to identify the learning objectives and created a storyboard to map out how I wanted to segment the e-learning module.

I broke down the course into 7 sections as follows:

  1. Overview & Brief History of Hangul

  2. Basic Vowels

  3. Compound Vowels

  4. Basic Consonants (pt. 1)

  5. Basic Consonants (pt. 2) + Compound Consonants

  6. Review & Creating Basic Words

  7. Final Assessment

Module Storyboard

The Development Phase

After receiving feedback on my storyboard, I began scaffolding within the Learning Management System (LMS). This included:

  • Drafting and refining content;

  • Creating learning activities and materials;

  • Vetting supplementary resources; and

  • Developing assessments.

Example worksheet to practice basic vowels
PowerPoint slide with listening exercise

The Implementation Phase

I made some changes to the module to better engage learners and minimize cognitive overload. These changes included:

  • Adding an overview of Canvas for first-time users;

  • Adding an initial welcome prompt to gauge learners’ incoming levels/experience;

  • Creating assignments (e.g., worksheets) to facilitate memorization and recall;

  • Splitting up basic and complex consonants into separate sections; and

  • Removing word creation as a learning goal to focus more on the alphabet itself.

“Exceptional work on all levels! I especially liked your instructions on how to use Canvas, the assessments, and your start-off prompt to engage the learners in the course with a brief post.

Your performance on this assignment is beyond what I typically see in a graduate course for student work. This deliverable is professional in all respects. Great job!”

— Professor & Course Instructor, George Mason University

The End Result

I created an online learning module for users to gain a solid foundation of Hangul (한글), the Korean alphabet, and set learners up for success before they progress to higher levels of Korean such as creating words and exploring complex grammar patterns.

Check out the project by clicking the button below and self-enrolling in the course on Canvas:

Project Retrospective

Future Improvements:

Due to the limitations of this grad school project, I couldn’t fully engage in the Evaluation phase of the ADDIE model.

While I received positive feedback from my peers and the course instructor, I wondered how the e-learning module would hold up in a beta test. It would’ve provided some valuable feedback on how to further improve the course in addition to some initial thoughts, including:

  • Adding more listening and speaking elements; and

  • Doing more to ensure the course is accessible.

Others Takeaways:

This was my first time using Canvas so if I had more time, I’d love to explore the LMS a bit more and even research some other platforms that might better fit the content.

I would particularly be interested in finding better ways to fold in the listening and speaking pieces of language learning.