1. Language Comparison
Presentation
Korean Language compared to English
Tom Mazzolla
ESL 502

2. Language Comparison Presentation
Similarities
Korean and English both use phonetic
alphabets (although different)
There are some cognates as English words
have been introduced into Korean (computer,
radio, etc.), usually technology related words
Bottom line: Not many similarities

3. Language Comparison Presentation
Differences
• Korean uses Subject-Object-Verb order
• English uses Subject-Verb-Object
• Korean verb information such as tense,
mood, social relationship is added to the
tense of the verb at the end of the sentence
• English uses auxiliary verbs extensively to
convey this verb information

4. Language Comparison Presentation
Differences
• Korean does not have definite word order,
instead uses post-positions to indicate
parts of speech
• Korean plural indicators are optional
• Korean does not use definite articles such
as “a” and “an” verses “the”

5. Language Comparison Presentation
Differences
• Korean usage of the English prepositions
showing physical location “at, to, of, in,
on,” is different.
• Frequently in Korean the same
postposition is used to indicate one of
these English words.

6. Language Comparison Presentation
Case Study: Mrs. Chong
Writing sample:
“They lost son two war make.”
Meaning in English:
“They lost two sons in the war.”
Here Mrs. Chong used the word “make” to
mean it was caused by the war.

7. Language Comparison Presentation
Case Study: Mrs. Chong
Writing sample:
“They lost son two war make.”
Due to the differences in Korean and
English, the plural marker ‘-s’ is frequently
dropped when Koreans speak English.
Since word order is not important in Korean
(except verb must come last) the modifier
‘two’ is written after the noun ‘son’

8. Language Comparison Presentation
Case Study: Mrs. Chong
Writing sample:
“They went at movie theater.”
Due to the differences in Korean and
English, the specific article ‘the’ is omitted.
Also, Korean usage of the English
prepositions is difficult since they do not
match up with the Korean postpositions
indicating the same information

9. Language Comparison Presentation
Instructional Implications
•Being aware of the key differences between
Korean (L1) and English (L2), the TESL
professional can be aware of common errors
that will occur
•Lesson plans individually tailored for your
Korean ESL student
•Errors can be addressed with the knowledge
that it is L1 negative interference, only a matter
of insufficient knowledge, misunderstanding, or
a simple mistake

10. Language Comparison Presentation
Resources:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/05/1
8/the-beauty-of-typography-writing-systems-
and-calligraphy-of-the-world/