ABSTRACT

This article was a fundamental study to grasp the current status of studies related to the Korean older adults who learn Chinese language. The target of analysis in this study was the research results related to Chinese education for the older adults, which was part of the lifelong education announced in Korea as of January 2023. The research results selected for the analysis were 2 papers published in the academic journal and 9 master’s theses. The analysis of the selected research results was based on four criteria: publication time, publication type, research methodology, and research topic. As a result of analyzing the research results, the types of publication were all primary results directly written by the researcher. As for the research methodology, there were 5 cases in which quantitative and qualitative approaches were mixed, and the research topics were limited to 4 subjects: teaching-learning methods, educational materials research, current situation analysis, and learner research. Based on the analysis of these research results, it was discussed the direction and tasks of future research on Chinese language education for the older adults. The main topics of discussion were the quantitative and qualitative expansion of research on Chinese language education for the older adults, diversification of research topics, group segmentation according to the age of the learners, and digital transformation of educational contents. Although this study belongs to the initial stage of research related to Chinese language education for older adults, it is hoped that research in this field as part of continuing education will be conducted more actively and professionally in line with the super-aged society.