Abstract
The aim of this paper is twofold: (1) to analyze the past trends of sociolinguistic studies in Korea, especially its research areas and methodologies, and (2) to examine the future directions Korean sociolinguistic research should take. First, I give a general overview of the history and research areas of sociolinguistic studies in Korea, particularly in comparison with that of Japanese sociolinguistics. Then, I analyze the number of books and papers that appeared in the bibliographies of the papers published in The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea (the journal published by The Sociolinguistic Society of Korea). Through this analysis, I outline the current trends of sociolinguistic studies in Korea, comparing that with the research trends in Japan, Europe and America. I believe that the result of this research will serve as a guideline to the future development of sociolinguistics in Korea.
