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Published : 2016-09-13 14:19<br>
Updated : 2016-09-13 14:37 </p>
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<img style="margin-bottom: 10px; height: 111px; width: 219px; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 10px;" alt="" src="http://res.heraldm.com/content/image/2016/09/13/20160913001103_0.jpg" align="right" border="0" height="92" width="182">Last
July, the South Korean government announced that it would promote
Korean as a second language under the King Sejong Institute brand. <br><br>Currently
three branches of the Korean government -- the Ministry of Education,
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports,
and Tourism -- operate different Korean language programs, each with a
different name and curriculum. <br><br>The policy aims to combine the
Ministry of Education’s programs for overseas Koreans with those of the
King Sejong Institute. It also includes an effort to encourage “Hangeul
Schools” in Korean communities overseas to apply for affiliate status
with the King Sejong Institute.<br><br>The policy also includes support
for developing online materials to augment classroom teaching and
encourage independent learning. Language learning materials developed
at the National Institute of the Korean Language will be used in all
King Sejong Institute programs. A committee of experts on Korean being
taught as a second language will meet regularly to give direction and
assess progress.<br><br>The idea behind the policy is that unifying the
programs under the King Sejong Institute brand will help strengthen the
brand, raising the profile of Korean as a second language overseas.
Since the late 2000s, the South Korean government has focused on nation
branding through a variety of slogans, campaigns, and programs. Banding,
it is argued, will help improve the image of South Korea overseas,
which will help sell tourism and the consumption of Korean cultural
content. <br><br>What is a brand? The American Marketing Association
defines a brand as “A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature
that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of
other sellers.” The important point here is distinction from other
sellers. It follows that creating a Korean brand distinct from, say,
China or Japan, makes Korea stand out, thus increasing its competitive
advantage in the marketplace.<br><br>A brand, then is really about
selling, but to sell you need buyers, or consumers, as they are usually
called. In the case of promoting Korean language and culture overseas,
the sellers are the creators and developers in Korea, and the buyers are
foreigners and ethnic Koreans who mostly live overseas. <br><br>In a
normal market, the sellers would think about the consumers’ wants and
needs and develop a product or service to meet the needs of enough
consumers to turn a profit from selling. Sellers who ignore consumer
needs eventually go out of business.<br><br>As for Korean as a second
language, the key question is who are the consumers and what are their
wants and needs. The answer to the question will offer insights into the
direction of government policy. <br><br>Unlike English and French,
Korean is not usually required as part of formal education, which means
learners of Korean as a second language have some sort of personal
motivation to do so. They may have Korean friends, they may be in love
with a Korean, they may like Korean cultural products, they may be
living in Korea, or they may like learning an “exotic language.” The
reasons are as varied as the learners. <br><br>The diversity of learners
makes it difficult to develop standardized approaches to teaching.
Learners also come from a wide range of linguistic and cultural
backgrounds that create different expectations about learning a second
language. Some learners find grammar explanations boring, while others
cannot live without them. All of this suggests that standardization,
particularly of teaching materials, may not work well, which is at odds
with the current policy of producing textbooks in Korea.<br><br>The
focus on standardization controlled by experts in South Korea raises
questions about whether policy makers understand those who learn Korean
as a second language overseas. These individuals are usually referred to
as “foreigners” and “ethnic Koreans,” but descriptions rarely go into
much detail. This suggests that policy makers do not know much about the
consumers, which further suggests that they are basing the policy on
assumptions instead of a deep understanding of the market.<br><br>South
Korean government policies designed to support Korean as a second
language will continue to disappoint unless policy makers and the
experts they rely on develop a better understanding of what learners
want.<br><br>Policy makers can draw inspiration from China, which
requires Chinese native speaking teachers to be proficient in the native
language of the learners they plan to teach. This shows that policy
makers in China know that teachers have to understand their learners to
be effective. This, more than branding, is what the policy makers should
be thinking about. <br><br>By Robert J. Fouser<br><br>Robert J. Fouser
is a former associate professor of Korean language education at Seoul
National University. He writes on Korea from Ann Arbor, Michigan. -- Ed.
<br><br><a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160913000716">http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160913000716</a><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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