[lg policy] Korea: Policies, Problems and Pathways

[Harold Schiffman]

Policies, Problems and Pathways

By Jeffrey Gil

In today's world, English plays a central role as the language of
global communication and countries the world over are attempting to
implement educational programs that will enable them to participate in
global political, economic and cultural affairs. However, learning
English on a national scale also creates tensions and concerns.
Korea's experiences with English aptly demonstrate the desire to
acquire English for participation in a globalizing world on the one
hand and the concern over its potential impact on a country's native
language and culture on the other.

Formal English language education began in Korea in the 1880s and has
since expanded considerably. By the 1990s, English language education
was seen as an essential element of the government's ``segyehwa," or
globalization, policy. According to this view, Korea's prosperity and
ability to play an active role on the global stage depend upon having
a population proficient in English. To ensure this happens, the
government has instigated a number of reforms, chief among them the
1997 declaration that English language education would be compulsory
from Grade 3 of elementary school.

The National Education Curriculum (NEC) specifies that students in
elementary school should receive one hour of English instruction per
week in Grades 3 and 4 and two hours in Grades 5 and 6 while middle
school students should receive three hours in Grades 7 and 8 and four
hours in Grades 9 and 10. High school students can study up to five
English courses in Grades 11 and 12, each consisting of four hours of
instruction per week. Meanwhile, at the university level, all students
are expected to attain a set level of proficiency in English before
they can graduate.

Private enterprise has also become a major force in English language
education with exponential growth in English-medium kindergartens,
after school classes, early morning classes, night classes and online
courses.

Scholars Rosa Jinyoung Shim and Martin Jonghak Baik report that over
90 percent of students have had some exposure to English through such
means prior to starting elementary school and once at school, students
continue to receive three to ten hours of private instruction per week
in addition to school-based English classes. Many working adults also
attend private classes to meet their companies' English language
requirements for promotion.

Many millions of Koreans have therefore been exposed to English
through both education provided by the government and the private
sector. An English language learning campaign on this scale does,
however, have potentially far reaching consequences for a country's
own language and culture. For its part, the government has tried to
manage the cultural impact of English on Korea by molding English
language education to promote Korean national identity at the same
time as teaching the English language.

For example, in a survey of secondary school textbooks, New York
University's Yim Sung-won found that many contained extensive Korean
cultural content and expressed strong positive messages about Korean
language and culture.

Nevertheless, there have been tensions and concerns regarding the
place of English in Korea. Calls for English to become an official
language, for instance, generally receive stringent criticism from the
public, academics and the media, demonstrating deeply-held concerns
that such a move could lead to English overwhelming the Korean
language within Korea as its uses would expand and its prestige would
increase.

Similarly, there are concerns over the ever-growing number of English
words entering the Korean language, a trend that some fear poses a
significant threat to the vitality and character of Korean language
and culture. Samuel Collins, an academic at Towson University,
describes in a recent journal article how many Koreans believe that
English has penetrated Korean society too deeply and the nation's
attempts to learn English have gone too far.

Korea's efforts to equip its people with the language competency
needed for global interaction have been accompanied by a raft of
cultural and linguistic challenges. These challenges cannot be quickly
or easily overcome, and Korea will need to work conscientiously in
order to both successfully acquire English and maintain its own
language and culture.

One promising pathway has been outlined by Marilyn K. Plumlee of
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, who recommends that teachers,
scholars, policy-makers and journalists should closely observe
developments in English language teaching in other countries. By
evaluating and debating the successes and failures of language policy
and planning activities of other countries, she argues, Korea will be
better positioned to navigate its own path through the issues raised
by a global language.

The discussions now occurring in academic journals, newspapers and
internet sites show some encouraging signs and raise hopes that Korea
will indeed be successful in its endeavors.

The writer is a lecturer in ESOL/TESOL in the Department of Language
Studies, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. He can be reached
at jeffrey.gil at flinder.edu.au.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/10/137_53433.html

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