A study of Korean Kule-based reactive expressions: A corpus analysis and a survey on perceptions in KFL teaching and learning contexts

This study examines Kule-based reactive expressions, which remain relatively underdescribed in Korean as a Foreign Language (KFL) education. It adopts a mixed methodology combining spoken corpus analysis, a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) administered to KFL learners, and a survey of native-speaking KFL teachers. The corpus analysis reveals that some frequent expressions are absent from or only marginally addressed in existing works, raising questions about current lexicographic practices. The DCT results show inconsistent learner responses, indicating limited awareness of distinctions among these expressions and a strong reliance on implicit auditory input. Teacher survey data further point to the absence of a shared pedagogical framework regarding instructional timing and methods. Overall, the findings suggest that despite their key role in managing reactions in spoken Korean interaction, Kule-based formulas remain peripheral in KFL classrooms. This research therefore highlights the need for context-sensitive descriptions, multimodal teaching and learning materials, and empirically grounded pedagogical resources.