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<section class="gmail-twelvecol"><header class="entry-header"><h2 class="entry-title">South Korea bans English up to third grade</h2>
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<small><span class="gmail-sep">Posted on </span><a href="https://thepienews.com/news/south-korea-bans-english-third-grade/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2018-03-06T14:11:51+00:00">Mar 6, 2018</time></a> <span class="gmail-sep"> by </span> <span class="gmail-author gmail-vcard"><a class="gmail-url gmail-fn gmail-n" href="https://thepienews.com/author/claudia/" title="View all posts by Claudia Civinini">Claudia Civinini</a></span></small> </aside>
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<small>Posted in <a href="https://thepienews.com/section/news/elt/" rel="category tag">ELT</a>, <a href="https://thepienews.com/section/news/government/" rel="category tag">Government</a>, <a href="https://thepienews.com/section/news/" rel="category tag">News</a>, under <a href="https://thepienews.com/region/asia/" rel="tag">Asia</a>.<br>Tagged with <a href="https://thepienews.com/tags/south-korea/" rel="tag">South Korea</a>.<br>Bookmark the <a href="https://thepienews.com/news/south-korea-bans-english-third-grade/" title="Permalink to South Korea bans English up to third grade" rel="bookmark">permalink</a>.</small> </aside>
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<p>South Korea has banned the teaching of English to first and second
graders in a move that was contested by parents and teachers, Al Jazeera
<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/south-korea-bans-english-education-graders-180302100352881.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a>.</p>
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<img src="https://d1pe6f90ru47yo.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/06140709/Screen-Shot-2018-03-06-at-14.06.18-860x375.png" class="gmail-attachment-single-main gmail-size-single-main gmail-wp-post-image" alt="English won’t be part of the curriculum until grade three to allow children to develop their Korean language skills. Photo: Pexels" width="860" height="375">English
won’t be part of the curriculum until grade three to allow children to
develop their Korean language skills. Photo: Pexels </figure>
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<small><strong>About Claudia Civinini</strong><br></small>
<small>Born and bred in Genoa, Italy, Claudia moved to Australia
during her masters degree to teach Italian. She studied and worked in
Melbourne for five years before moving to London, where she finally
managed to combine her love for writing and her passion for education.
She worked for three years as a reporter for the EL Gazette before
joining The PIE News.</small>
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<p>Some parents are worried this will increase demand for expensive private institutions teaching English to young children </p>
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<p>The South Korean government cited concerns around the pedagogical
validity of early foreign language learning and its effect on the
child’s first language ability.</p>
<p>English won’t be part of the curriculum for primary schools until
grade three to allow children to develop their Korean language skills
first, government officials said.</p>
<blockquote><p>“The issue of best starting age in language learning is
complex and has been the subject of numerous articles and research
papers”</p></blockquote>
<p>“According to many English education experts and neuroscientists, the
right age for learning English as a second language is the third
grade,” <a href="https://thepienews.com/data/south-korea-record-high-growth-in-intl-student-numbers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">South Korea</a> MoE official Kwon Ji-young said<em>.</em></p>
<p>However, language policy expert Andy Kirkpatrick of Griffith University told <em>The PIE</em> <em>News</em> that the government may have a point in delaying foreign language learning.</p>
<p>“I believe it is probably best left until children are about 11 and
have fluency and literacy in their first language before they embark on
English,” explained.</p>
<p>“Schools are not natural language learning environments.”</p>
<p>Some parents are worried that this will increase demand for expensive
private institutions teaching English to young children and will mean
that students from poorer families will miss out on educational
opportunities.</p>
<p>An estimated 7,000 English language teachers are also at risk of
losing their jobs. Many more will follow suit with the implementation of
a ban on English education for pre-schoolers, which was temporarily
delayed after widespread <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/02/181_242568.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protests</a>, the Korea Times reported.</p>
<p>Commenting on the news, a British Council spokesperson told <em>The PIE </em>that
they will work to improve the teaching and learning of English within
the national policy framework that education authorities deem “the most
appropriate” for the context.</p>
<p>“The British Council does not believe in any one size fits all
solution, and does believe that people of all ages can learn English.</p>
<p>“The local context is paramount and the overall best interests of
children should be the primary driver in any educational decision,” they
said.</p>
<p>“The issue of best starting age in language learning is complex and
has been the subject of numerous articles and research papers.”</p></div></section>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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