This study investigated what summarization activities are addressed in Korean elementary
textbooks, how the activities are arranged, and whether the activities reflect the components of
summarization instruction that were implemented in prior studies. Selecting important
information, collapsing lists and actions, collapsing paragraphs, and identifying topic sentences
are the primary summarization rules in the current Korean elementary textbooks. Selection of
important information is the most significant rule across grade levels. Recognition of text
structures is introduced in the sixth grade reading textbook, but opportunities to practice
identifying text structures and to use the knowledge of text structures for summarization were
not given. Summarization activities are mostly implemented in reading, while just a few
activities are included in for speaking, listening, and writing in the textbooks. The summarization
activities in Korean elementary textbooks reflect what have been demonstrated in prior studies
about the effect of summarization on reading comprehension and summarization, but
summarization lessons seem to focus primarily on identifying important information. Overall,
students do not have sufficient opportunities to write a summary using more comprehensive
summarization rules and their knowledge of text structures.