LPGA Tour will suspend memberships if players don't learn English

[Dennis Baron]

Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Report: LPGA Tour will suspend memberships if players don't learn  
English
ESPN.com news services

The LPGA will require its member golfers to learn and speak English  
and will suspend their membership if they don't comply, Golfweek  
reported on its Web site.


According to the report, the new requirement was communicated to the  
tour's growing South Korean membership in a mandatory meeting at the  
Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 20.


Se Ri Pak, one of the most prominent South Korean golfers on the LPGA  
Tour, says players should be fined, rather than suspended, for not  
meeting the tour's new English proficiency requirement.

Players were told by LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens that by the end  
of 2009, all players who have been on the tour for two years must pass  
an oral evaluation of their English skills or face a membership  
suspension. A written explanation of the policy was not given to  
players, according to the report.


"Hopefully what we're talking about is something that will not  
happen," Libba Galloway, the tour's deputy commissioner, said of the  
potential for suspensions, according to Golfweek. "If it does, we  
wouldn't just say, 'Come back next year.' What we would do is work  
with them on where they fell short, provide them the resources they  
need, the tutoring … and when we feel like they need to be evaluated  
again, we would evaluate."


Every Korean player who spoke with Golfweek about the meeting came  
away with the understanding she would lose her tour card if she failed  
the test rather than face suspension, according to the report. But  
Korean players who spoke about the policy supported the tour's  
position, though some, including Se Ri Pak, felt fines would be better  
than suspensions.


"We agree we should speak some English," Pak said, according to the  
report. "We play so good overall. When you win, you should give your  
speech in English."


Betsy Clark, the LPGA's vice president of professional development,  
said a team of evaluators will assess players on communication skills  
including conversation, everyday survival phrases and "golfspeak."  
Players must be able to conduct interviews and give acceptance  
speeches without the help of a translator, she said, according to the  
report.


Galloway said the policy takes effect immediately, but that players'  
English proficiency would not be measured until the end of 2009,  
according to the report. The LPGA's membership includes 121  
international players from 26 countries; 45 are South Koreans.


"This should be a priority in their professional development just the  
way working on their short game is a priority," Galloway said,  
according to Golfweek. "We just wanted to be clear about our  
expectations."


Angela Park, a Korean-American who was born in Brazil and speaks three  
languages, said it's difficult to "come to a foreign country and be  
yourself." She also supports the rule and says it's fair, according to  
the report.


"The LPGA could come out and say they only want 10 Koreans, but  
they're not," Park said, according to Golfweek. "A lot of Korean  
players think they are being targeted, but it's just because there are  
so many of them."


And Seon-Hwa Lee, who said she is working with an English tutor during  
the offseason and plans to brush up for the evaluation, thinks  
everyone "can do a simple interview," according to the report. Her  
ability to answer questions without a translator has improved during  
her time on the tour.


"The economy is bad, and we are losing sponsors," she said, according  
to the report. "Everybody understands."
____________________
Dennis Baron
Professor of English and Linguistics
Department of English
University of Illinois
608 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801

office: 217-244-0568
fax: 217-333-4321

http://illinois.edu/goto/debaron

read the Web of Language:
http://illinois.edu/goto/weboflanguage







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