이 연구는 경북대학교 한국어문화원이 2021년과 2022년에 수행한 학술용어 정비 사업의 수행 과정과 결과를 통해 교육 사회 분야학술용어의 실태와 정비 방안에 대해 논의한 연구이다. 정비 결과, 2021년 교육 일반 분야의 경우, 정비 대상 용어 중 전체의 약 49%가 한자어이고, 31%가 외래어, 14%가 혼종어임을 확인하였다. 고유어는 정비 대상 학술용어의 2%였다. 2022년의 사회 일반분야의 경우, 정비 대상 학술용어 전체의 약 67.8%가 한자어이고, 혼종어가 22.4%, 외국어·외래어는 약 5.8%, 고유어는 약 3.8%인 것을 확인하였다. 특히 2022년에는 대체어 대신 ‘다듬은 말’을 제시하는 것으로 좀 더 적극적인 학술용어 정비 사업을 수행하였다. 다듬은 말의 대상으로, 한자어보다는 외국어·외래어가 다수를 차지했다는 점이 주목할 만하다. 정비 대상 어휘로서 수가 아주 적은 고유어도 높은 정비율을 나타냈는데, 이는 어려운 고유어 어휘를 사용한 경우라기보다 해당 학술 분야의 맥락을 드러내지 않은 경우에 해당하였다 볼 수 있다.
This academic study examines the current state of academic terminology in the domains of education and society and proposes methods for their improvement based on the outcomes of the academic terminology maintenance project carried out by the Korean Language Institute of Kyungpook National University in 2021 and 2022. The research revealed that, in the field of education in 2021, approximately 49% of the terms requiring maintenance consisted of Chinese characters, 31% were foreign words, 14% were hybrid words, and only 2% were indigenous words. In contrast, the general social field in 2022 showed that about 67.8% of the terms requiring maintenance were kanji, 22.4% were hybrids, 5.8% were foreign words and loanwords, and 3.8% were unique. Notably, the study proposed the use of "refined words" as alternatives for maintaining academic terms more proactively in 2022. The research indicated that a significant proportion of the terms targeted for correction were foreign and loanwords rather than kanji, and the number of unique words requiring modification was relatively low. However, this was attributed to the lack of contextual relevance to the academic field rather than the use of complex or obscure vocabulary. To bridge the gap between existing academic terminology and the continuously evolving academic jargon, and to harness the benefits of accuracy, precision, communication, and user-friendliness of academic terms for both professionals and the general public, it is recommended that the academic terminology maintenance project be consistently promoted and developed, with the establishment of more precise standards.