Register and Relationship in a Short Dialogue
A listening item presents a 30-second exchange between a student and a teacher. You transcribe fragments: the student says "선생님, 혹시 시간 괜찮으세요?" and later "그럼 내일까지 해 오면 될까요?". The teacher replies with "그렇게 하도록 해요" and "무리하지는 말고요". The question asks about the relationship between the speakers and the student's attitude. A classmate insists the answer must be 'close friends' because the tone sounded casual and the student used 괜찮으세요 rather than a formal honorific phrase. You are unsure.
1. Evaluate the classmate's reasoning about the relationship, using the linguistic evidence in the fragments.
Read the worked answer
The classmate's reasoning conflates tone with register, and that is the error.
Evidence against 'close friends':
- 선생님 is a title of address reserved for teachers. Friends do not use it.
- 괜찮으세요 contains the honorific infix -시-. This is directed upward; a student does not honorify a peer this way in this context.
- -까요? is a polite interrogative ending, consistent with a subordinate addressing a superior.
- The teacher's 하도록 해요 is an instruction framed as a directive - the kind of utterance a person in authority uses to a junior. 무리하지는 말고요 adds a caretaking hedge, typical of teacher-to-student concern.
Why the classmate was misled: Casual prosody (a warm, unhurried voice) is not the same as casual grammar. Korean encodes relationship primarily through honorifics, address terms, and sentence endings, not through vocal warmth. A teacher can speak kindly while remaining grammatically superior in the exchange.
Conclusion: The relationship is teacher–student. The student's attitude is polite and considerate - checking availability before making a request (혹시 시간 괜찮으세요) and seeking confirmation of expectations (해 오면 될까요) - not the easy familiarity of friendship.
2. The question also asks about the student's attitude. A classmate proposes 'anxious and uncertain'. Using the fragments, argue for or against this reading.
Read the worked answer
Against 'anxious and uncertain' - but with a caveat.
The fragments show deference, not anxiety. The distinction matters because exam attitude questions often offer both as options and expect you to discriminate.
Evidence for deference rather than anxiety:
- 혹시 softens a request; it signals awareness of imposing on the teacher's time, which is politeness, not distress.
- 괜찮으세요? is a standard availability check. An anxious student might over-explain or apologise repeatedly (죄송한데요, 정말 죄송합니다); we see none of that.
- 해 오면 될까요? seeks confirmation of a task. This is proactive clarification - the behaviour of a conscientious student, not a panicking one.
The caveat: Seeking confirmation can indicate uncertainty about the task itself. So 'uncertain about expectations' is defensible; 'anxious' as an emotional state is not supported by the text.
Exam judgement: When two attitude options are close, choose the one anchored in observable linguistic behaviour. Deference is directly evidenced by honorifics and hedges. Anxiety would require evidence such as hesitation markers, self-correction, or apologetic repetition - none of which appear in the transcript.
Answer: The student is polite, considerate, and conscientious - seeking clarification responsibly rather than showing anxiety.