South Korea, where I have been living and working for the past 8 years as an English Language Educator, is currently in the throes of new changes regarding its approaches to learning English.
The picture to the left shows Koreans lining up to get a place for the iBT test provided by ETS. It's a pretty good example of both the fervor and the problems associated with "making it" in English in this country.
Amongst other things, the newly elected President has created a transition committee whose sole focus is addressing the issue of English education here. Some pretty huge proposals have been put forward, including the hiring of thousands more teachers, regulating classrooms and teachers so that lessons are conducted completely in English, and introducing new testing procedures that move the emphasis away from grammar and reading to more productive skills like speaking and writing.
The lengthy article here from JoongAng Daily, gives an excellent overview of all that is happening and how people from all over the spectrum are reacting to it. It paints a picture that is to some degree shocking, but at the same time hints strongly that the necessary wheels are starting to go into motion to potentially create a brighter future for better, more realistic, and more accessible English in Korea.
It also quotes some pretty daunting statistics - which I've attempted to summaize and list here:
- A survey in 2003 showed that 74% of respondents in Seoul could not comfortably communicate in English (this is meaningful in the context that the whole of Korea sees Seoul as the 'pinnacle' of English ability)
- There are more than 33,000 Korean English teachers in the wider public school system in Korea, including elementary, middle and high schools, and they will all be required to conduct their classes completely in English by the year 2012
- The new plan calls for the hiring of more than 23,000 new teachers (interesting considering the visa application requirements for expat teachers have just been tightened considerably, most probably resulting in less teachers being willing to come here)
- More than 4 trillion won is being set aside for special training programs for teachers
- A survey by one major national teacher association shows that more than 60% of Korean English teachers are opposed to the idea of teaching their classes in English (citing problems with large class sizes and pressure to focus on test preparation), but a member of the transition team suggests this could be more to do with Korean teachers fearing to show their lack of ability in English in front of students and possibly even being fearful of losing their jobs to native English speaking teachers
- A report from a Samsung research team claims that altogether individuals spend more than 14.3 billion won on English education per year
- The Political and Economic Risk Consultancy in Hong Kong published a report in 2005 in which business executives and expats in the region placed South Korea as the most difficult country to communicate in English among 12 countries in Asia
- South Korea’s average score for the Internet-based Toefl test from September 2005 to December 2006 was 72 points, ranking it 21st out of 28 countries in Asia (another article here claims South Korea ranked 93rd out of 147 countries on the TOEFL in 2004 and 2005; since the test went online and speaking and writing sections were added, the ranking has fallen to 111th; South Korea comes 134th in the speaking section)
- More Koreans take Toefl than in any other country, according to the Educational Testing Service (ETS) - a total of 162,000 South Koreans in 2005 and 2006 took either the online, paper or computerized Toefl (a figure I saw quoted elsewhere claims that Koreans make up almost 20% of Toefl test takers worldwide)
- Opposition parties are claiming the new changes will only benefit weathier families and result in even more people resorting to expensive private instruction
- Major private language institute chains are preparing to cash in on more demand for their services once the changes are implemented
Interesting stuff, and surely interesting times ahead for English language teaching in Korea. Personally, I salute most of the changes proposed, and hope they can change the dismal "return on investment" for English language learning here as it currently stands.
Now it is mostly a matter of whether the government will actually implement these changes and programs, and then how teachers, schools, students and parents will react...
