Abstract

his study aims to investigate the acquisition patterns of the Korean articles 'i/ga' and 'eun/neun' in relation to their semantic functions among Deaf students, Hearing middle and high school students, and Chinese Korean learners. Additionally, based on the results, suggestions are provided regarding effective pedagogical strategies for instructing the articles 'i/ga' and 'eun/neun' to Deaf students. The results indicate that the overall acquisition patterns of the examined groups vary according to the specific semantic functions. Notably, the Deaf group and the Hearing group exhibited significant differences across all semantic functions, except for the subject function and the specifying function of the article 'i/ga.' Conversely, the Deaf group and the Chinese learners demonstrated no significant differences in any semantic functions, except for the old information function of the article 'eun/neun.' These results suggest that the language acquisition profile of Deaf students is more akin to that of Chinese Korean learners than to native Korean speakers. Consequently, Korean language education for Deaf students should be designed and implemented from the perspective of Korean language education.