“From Implicit Teaching Methods to Argumentation Training: When Classroom Innovation Becomes Academic Research” Transforming Korean Language Course Design for International Students into Scholarly Achievement
– Innovative Teaching Practices in the Korean Presentation and Discussion Course, Refined Through Participation in the Center for Teaching and Learning's Faculty Development Program, Culminate in a Publication in a KCI-Indexed Journal –
Associate Professor So Yeol-nyeong, Glocal Education Center
A research paper co-authored by Associate Professor So Yeol-nyeong of the Glocal Education Center and Visiting Professor Kang Su-min of the Center for Teaching and Learning, titled “A Case Study of Presentation-Based Argumentation Training in Korean for Academic Purposes for International Students: Focusing on the Implementation of the Korean Presentation and Discussion Course,” was published in Volume 32, Issue 4 (2026) of Journal of Education & Culture, an academic journal published by the Institute of Education Research at Inha University.
The significance of this research has attracted attention beyond South Korea. On January 13, Professor So Yeol-nyeong was invited by Professor Chen Ming-Jou (陳明柔), Director of the General Education Center at Providence University (靜宜大學) in Taiwan, to deliver a keynote lecture at an international academic conference hosted by the university.
The lecture, titled “From Skills-Based to Academic Purposes: Reexamining the Teaching and Learning of Critical Thinking in Korean for Academic Purposes as a General Education Course,” introduced the background of the research, its course design principles, and teaching methodologies in Chinese. The lecture received positive feedback from Taiwanese faculty members teaching first-year general education courses, demonstrating how innovative teaching practices developed in South Korea can be shared with and applied to general education settings abroad.
The published paper presents a case study of the Korean Presentation and Discussion course taught by Professor So, in which a teaching model was designed and implemented to progressively integrate argumentation training into presentation activities, with its educational effectiveness empirically evaluated. A total of 66 international students participated in the study over the first and second semesters of the 2025 academic year.
The core of the instructional design was a two-stage approach. During Weeks 1–9, students implicitly developed argumentative thinking skills through explanatory presentation activities. During Weeks 10–15, they received explicit instruction in argumentation techniques and applied these skills to persuasive presentations.
A comparison of pre- and post-course survey results revealed a statistically significant improvement in students' self-assessed argumentation and critical thinking abilities. Notably, significant improvements were also observed among intermediate-level TOPIK learners, who accounted for approximately 70% of the study participants. These findings suggest that argumentation training can be effective not only for advanced learners but also for students with intermediate Korean language proficiency.
What makes this achievement particularly meaningful is that it originated from Professor So's participation in faculty development programs offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning. Since 2023, Professor So has consistently participated in the center's online teaching development courses, exploring a wide range of instructional approaches, including problem-based learning (PBL), service-learning, interdisciplinary course design, and AI-assisted teaching strategies. In the same year, Professor So also participated in the Teaching Lab program, contributing to the development of practical teaching tips for AI-assisted instruction and sharing teaching strategies and experiences with fellow faculty members. Since 2024, Professor So has actively participated in the Teaching Clinic (Instructional Consulting) program, continuously reviewing and improving classroom teaching through two consulting sessions in 2024, six in 2025, and four in 2026.
Notably, in 2024, Professor So developed a teaching portfolio focusing on the Korean Presentation and Discussion course, which later became the foundation of the published research paper. The portfolio was recognized as an exemplary case of instructional innovation, leading to Professor So's selection for the Teaching Scholar Program under the theme “A Case Study of the Application of Innovative Learner-Centered Teaching Methods.” The Teaching Scholar Program supports the planning and development of e-learning content based on exemplary teaching practices and makes these resources available to other faculty members. Through this process, the course design and reflective teaching practices documented in the teaching portfolio were further refined into a model that could be shared with fellow educators. These efforts subsequently evolved into systematic academic research, ultimately resulting in publication in a journal indexed in the Korea Citation Index (KCI).
Hee-Sang Son, Director of the Institute for Educational Innovation, stated, "This achievement is a representative example of the virtuous cycle that the Center for Teaching and Learning seeks to promote: participation in faculty development programs, practical application, dissemination, and transformation into academic research." He added, "We will continue to enhance our step-by-step support system to ensure that the knowledge and experience faculty members gain through sustained participation in diverse teaching development programs can lead to meaningful innovation in the classroom and ultimately develop into academically validated research outcomes."
