Korea: BEginning of English Language Education

[Harold Schiffman]

     *Beginning of English Language Education*


One of the well-known graduates, Namgung Eok, later served as vice president
of the Independence Club and president of Hwangseong Sinmun, or Capital
Gazette.

*This is the third in a series of articles about the history of English
education in Korea ― ED.*

By Kim Eun-gyong
Contributing Writer

After a long period of indirect, peripheral contact with the English
language and Western culture, Koreans were finally directly introduced to
the language after the conclusion of the 1882 Korean-American Treaty and the
1883 Korean-Great Britain Treaty. The Korean government and American
missionaries served as the two initiators in the introduction of English
language education in Korea.

As King Gojong (1864-1907) was placed on the throne at the age of twelve in
1864, his intractable father, Daewongun (Yi Ha-eung, 1821-1898), took power
and kept the dynasty under tight control and a rigid policy of isolation. In
1873, he entered semi-retirement, and Gojong, a more adaptable and pragmatic
ruler, began to open the dynasty.

In 1883, following the conclusion of the first Korean-American treaty, also
Korea's first treaty with a Western nation, the United States established a
legation in Seoul. The Joseon government reorganized its administrative
structure.

It created departments specializing in international relations, foreign
trade, military modernization and foreign language training. To aid in its
modernization endeavors and to deal with increasingly troublesome foreign
policy matters, the government sought the assistance of foreign advisers,
especially Americans.

After the conclusion of the Korean-American treaty, Gojong made consistent
efforts to bring in American advisers and experts in various areas including
defense, diplomacy and education. As the advisors' roles and areas of
responsibility expanded in the Korean government, so did the need for Korean
interpreters. This, coupled with the diplomatic and trade relations with the
United States, necessitated a training school for interpreters of the
English language.

In December 1882, the royal court decided to open the Dongmunhak, or Common
Script Learning, Korea's first English language school, under the Office of
Foreign Affairs, following Paul Georg von M?llendorff's recommendation.
M?llendorff was a German diplomat and the first Western adviser hired by the
Korean government.

At this time China was exerting a strong influence on the Joseon court,
after having aided Joseon in suppressing the Imo Revolt, the old army's
rebellion against the government. Taking advantage of the opportunity,
Viceroy Li Hung-chang arranged for M?llendorff and a Chinese diplomat to be
the court's special advisers. M?llendorff had served in China for many years
and was presumably Viceroy Li's close confidant.

From his arrival in Korea in December 1882 to the time of his departure in
1885, M?llendorff was actively involved in the modernization of the Joseon
government and its politics. Under his direction, the Dongmunhak opened in
September 1883. It was located in today's Jaedong, Jongnogu in Seoul.

Traditionally, interpreters had been a patrimonial trade of the chungin
("middle people") class, but by stipulating that the school "shall admit
even the sons of farmers, industrialists, businessmen, and merchants, and
irrespective of class background, considerations shall be given to (the
applicants') academic aptitude only," the government showed a progressive
approach in English language education.

The Dongmunhak was set up as a one-year interpreter training school. With a
Korean principal, there were initially two Chinese instructors, Zhongxian Wu
and Shaoyi Tang. Shaoyi was a Chinese scholar educated in the United States.
Sent to the United States by the Chinese government at the early age of
fourteen, he studied at Columbia University and New York University.

He had come to Korea chosen by M?llendorff and worked in customs affairs
while teaching at the Dongmunhak. As M?llendorff became occupied with other
responsibilities, British citizen T. E. Halifax served as chief instructor.
Halifax was not considered a qualified instructor and received criticisms
from his students because of his background: he had been a sailor and
telegraphic technician, arriving in Korea with M?llendorff.

The school opened with approximately forty students. According to the
government gazette, Hanseong Sunbo (Seoul Ten-Day Report) of February 21,
1884, the government provided all the students with textbooks and
Western-style paper, and students with excellent records received lodging
and board.

The trainees were divided into morning and afternoon classes and were taught
English, Japanese, and arithmetic. In English classes, they studied
sentences, phrases, and words, and the understanding and the use of
paragraphs or stories one day and words and phrases only on the next.

In March 1884, within only a couple of months after its opening, the school
produced over twenty of its first graduates but was closed when the
government opened a formal school, the Yugyeong Gongwon (Public Institute of
Education) in 1886. The government's experience with the Dongmunhak helped
set up the new school, and Dongmunhak students initially served as
assistants to American instructors.

The Dongmunhak students and graduates took active parts in various areas of
Joseon society, especially in diplomatic and customs affairs. One of the
well-known graduates, Namgung Eok, later served as vice president of the
Independence Club and president of Hwangseong Sinmun, or Capital Gazette.

It should be noted that the first "modern" school the Korean government
established was an English language school. However, rather than being an
active measure taken by the Korean government, the Dongmunhak was
established and maintained under the heavy influence of China. The
appointment of the school's founder, M?llendorff, was arranged by China, and
its instructors were Chinese or a Westerner associated with him. Even the
name of the school was closely related to that of a diplomat-training school
the Chinese government established in China.

The Dongmunhak was a school of expedience: it was set up as a one-year
training school, producing graduates in an even shorter period. Namgung Eok,
for example, graduated in January 1884, within a couple of months after
having entered the school, and served as an interpreter under M?llendorff.
While the instructors were native or fluent English speakers, they had
little background in English language education.

*Kim Eun-gyong is an associate professor of applied linguistics and
Associate Dean of the Center for International Affairs, Information and
Communications University (ICU) in Daejeon She can be reached at
egkimrivera at icu.ac.kr*

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/04/181_22588.html



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