Unresolved issues and new challenges in teaching English to young learners: the case of South Korea (original) (raw)
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Secondary Teachers’ Perception on English Education Policies in Korea
The Journal of AsiaTEFL, 2017
Due to the expected value of English proficiency for living in a global society, acquiring English proficiency has become a major concern for many people in Korea. This attention is because people in Korea believe English is providing them with premium opportunities to better their lives such as being admitted to prestigious schools or getting high-paying jobs. The differential investment in learning English thus has yielded a new form of social inequality, dividing people between the English rich and the English poor. Perceiving the potential negative effects of the English divide and the importance of equipping Koreans' English proficiency, the Korean government has put effort and strategic investment into improving public English education in Korea. Studies on policies have often been presented in a multilingual context where the concept of language policies, language education policies, foreign language policies, and English language education policies are somewhat blurred. Looking at the English education policies in a monolingual society like Korea exclusively can present a focused view on the effectiveness of English education policies. This study presents the key policies put into practice to improve the quality of English education in Korea and highlights secondary teachers' responses to those policies in attaining the policy goals. A total of 1039 secondary teachers working in Daegu participated in the survey administered twice: 557 in 2010 and 482 in 2016. The perceptual changes are discussed with the participants' comments included in the results. The study will provoke discussion and intuition for managing English education policies in similar contexts.
English Education Policies in South Korea
Language Policy, 2016
In South Korea, the government has actively promoted English proficiency as an indispensable tool in ascertaining competitiveness of individuals and the country. This chapter examines English education in South Korea and its policies as contextualized in its socio-cultural backgrounds. The discussion draws on theoretical insights that view policies as an interactive process among policy documents, the context and the actors in it (Ball, Maguire & Braun, 2012; Menken & Garcia, 2010). First, the background is laid out by illustrating the symbolic and practical meaning of the English language in the Korean context. Following that, the chapter traces the changes in English language teaching (ELT) policies through a historical survey of curricular reforms and also presents the current agenda of ELT policies, within which the communicative approach is strongly recommended, as reflected in the 7 th National Educational Curriculum. In an attempt to investigate ELT practice in context, two case studies, one at the primary level and the other at the secondary level, are presented, particularly to determine the relationship between policy and practice. Both case studies demonstrate that while teachers make efforts to follow the policies, how they actually implement them depends on their unique contexts and individual beliefs. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research and policy making.
Elt in Korea: English as a Compulsory Subject in Elementary School and Its Challenges
2019
As the impact of colonization, the teaching of English in Korea experiences some ups and downs. During Japan colonization, the teaching of English was discouraged, even there was an effort to annihilate English from Korea. After the liberation, the teaching of English was started again for a purpose of maintaining international relationship. To foster people’s capability of English, the Korean government has placed English as a compulsory subject in elementary school starting at Grade 3 to Grade 6 under the Seventh Curriculum Reform in 1997. Such policy leads to some pros and contras among English practitioners. This paper discusses three different opinions from three different writers whose recommendations of such issues are related to each other. First, it presents briefly the writers’ opinions about the policy of implementing English education in elementary schools in Korea. Second, it discusses the writers’ recommendations related to the unsolved issue. Eventually, the conclusio...
Early English Education in Korea: An Early Appraisal
KATE Newsletter, 25(1)., 2001
English instruction was first instituted into the Korean elementary school curriculum in the spring of 1997. During the period of hearings before the elementary school English curriculum was put into effect, there was heated debate on whether studying English would be beneficial, or in fact, harmful to language learning and child development.
English language teaching research in South Korea: A review of recent studies (2009–2014)
Language Teaching, 2016
This article reviews recent studies on English language teaching (ELT) in South Korea, where a great deal of research has been produced in recent years in local journals. In this article we review 95 studies from a pool of some 1,200 published between 2009 and 2014 on English language teaching and learning, focusing on research within the public school context. Using themes from the national curriculum as an organizing principle, the review covers selected studies in the following areas: (1) second language teacher education, (2) communicative language teaching, (3) language use and interaction in classrooms, (4) co-teaching with native-speaking English teachers, (5) curriculum and materials analysis, (6) treatments of teaching methods, and (7) assessment, testing and washback. We include commentary on the research undertaken in each area and conclude by discussing the limitations of the review and summarizing ideas for future research directions, perhaps the most important of which is questioning whether or not there is enough research of reasonable quality being produced to sustain roughly 60 journals publishing articles on English education in South Korea.
English Language Teaching in South Korea: A Route to Success?
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2015
This paper is an attempt to investigate the status of English language teaching (ELT) in South Korea. To do so the historical background of ELT, and the reform movement, as a measure taken by the government to boost language education in this country, have been discussed. The outcome of this measure and the philosophical underpinning of education in this country along with different issues related to language teaching, such as: learning strategies, beliefs, language ideology, and the use of technology-assisted language teaching programs have been elaborated. Attempts have been made to demystify the ELT problems in this country with the aim of alleviating the shortcomings and improving the strengths of such an educational system. Putting different pieces of the ELT puzzle in South Korea together, some of the stunting factors were recognized to be: the ideological basis of the reform movement, lack of utilizing critical pedagogy, and insufficient attempts aimed at teaching language learning strategies and technology-assisted language learning normalization. Though this paper has focused on the status of ELT in Korea, many of the raised suggestions can be utilized in other countries, in particular Asian countries with Confucian background.
The importance of English language learning and teaching in South Korea
2013
This research investigates the impact of rote learning, national examinations and types of motivation to learn English language on the way English language is taught and learnt in Korea. The research is framed around two questions, using qualitative data in a discursive manner (Holstein & Gubrium, 2005). Qualitative and interpretive methods were applied in this research. The research examined the various influential actors involved with English language learning and teaching in Korea such as the methods of learning and teaching English language in Korea, and policy makers’ impact on the way English language is being taught and learnt in Korea. Professional diary entries written by the researcher during a one year English language teaching experience in Korea provided the core data for this research. Searching for support in the literature for the diary entries lead to three themes: the method of rote learning, the significance of exams, and the types of motivation to learn the Engli...
This theoretical essay has been written to critically explore the manner in which English is used as a globalizing medium in South Korea’s education sector. Attention is afforded to the (a) adoption of English as a medium instruction at the tertiary level, (b) practice of hiring native English speakers from non-education related degree fields to perform as teachers, and (c) use of English as a curricular device at the primary level to reinforce Korea’s cultural heritage. The knowledge generated from this report may be used to extend critical discourse concerning the rise of English in East Asia, call attention to recruitment practices that further the deprofessionalization of the second language teaching field, and challenge the inward emphasis placed on learning Korean cultural traditions in the English language classroom.