Korean Job Discussion Forums

[garykasparov]

[ENGLISH EDUCATION] English education: Boon or burden?


http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/

Following is the first in a series of articles on the government's plans to enhance English education. - Ed.


Despite their years of frantic cramming, Korean students still cannot speak English adequately, says the Lee Myung-bak government. The new administration is therefore pushing to overhaul English education as part of its efforts to bolster the country's global competitiveness.

Lee's government transition team unveiled in January plans to revamp how English is taught at public schools, aiming to bridge what it terms the "English divide" between rich and poor students, and those in rural and urban areas.

Critics, however, are concerned that the plans were hastily thrown together without properly assessing their feasibility and possible ramifications on the English education sector. Neither were the parties concerned - education experts, parents and students - consulted.

Education, Science and Technology Minister Kim Doh-yeon said the government would fine-tune the controversial plans before making them final.

"(The government) recognizes the necessity of (improving) English education. We will conduct a more thorough analysis and review of the public English education system and its basic direction so as to draw up alternatives," Kim told lawmakers at his parliamentary confirmation hearing last month.

Focusing largely on building communication skills, the government aims to have 70 percent of middle-school English classes conducted exclusively in English by 2012, extending it to 50 percent of high-school English classes by 2013.

Critics argue that there are significant problems that need to be fixed before the plan can be implemented, including classroom conditions and an educational system that forces students to focus on test scores rather than real development of their language skills.

The reaction from parents to the plans has been mixed.

"Ordinary parents, who can't afford to pay for expensive private language lessons, would welcome such plans. Whatever the outcome, what's certain is that my child can get more exposure to English at school," said Shin Eun-jae, the mother of a 6-year-old daughter.

"I am worried that my daughter won't do as well as children from rich families. Parents compete fiercely with each another to give their children a head-start by sending them to English-language kindergartens which cost over 1 to 2 million won per month," said Choi Eun-ee, the mother of a 5-year-old daughter.

One of the primary goals of the plans is to reduce the ever-increasing spending on private education, which eats up a good chunk of household costs every month and is said to exacerbate social polarization.

According to data from the National Statistical Office, spending on private education for primary and secondary school students amounted to some 20.04 trillion won ($20.9 billion) last year, about 2.3 percent of the gross national product. Eighty eight percent of elementary school students received private tutoring amounting to an average of 250,000 won per month, while 74 percent of middle school students received private lessons worth some 310,000 won per student per month.

The government is also planning a new English proficiency test for college entrance from 2013, which would replace the English section in the state-run College Scholastic Ability Test.

Students will be tested in only two categories - listening and reading - in 2013 and 2014. From 2015, the test will also include speaking and writing.

While experts welcome the development of the new exam, they argue that five years is not enough time to get it off the ground.

"When hundreds of thousands of students take the exam all at once, a great number of scorers will be required to objectively evaluate their writing and speaking. Practically speaking, administering such a large-scale exam is very onerous," said Lee Jong-bok, an English education professor at Mokwon University in Daejeon.

"It took more than a decade for major proficiency tests such as TOEFL to develop their own evaluation systems. Even if we get every expert in Korea on board to develop the test, the five-year period is too short."

To meet its targets, the government intends to recruit 23,000 teachers with TEE (Teaching English in English) certificates between 2009 and 2013.

TEE teachers will have completed English education programs at home or abroad, such as TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificates, or have master's degrees from English-speaking countries.

Potential candidates will be given in-depth interviews. Successful applicants will undertake six months of training in order to obtain a teaching certificate.

Critics have slammed the process as inadequate and flawed.

"Even English education majors who have completed four years of university education with teaching experience in middle or high schools can't pass the annual state-run exam to become English teachers. Only less than 10 percent of the graduates each year are successful," said Heyoung Kim, an English education professor at Chung-Ang University.

"With so many qualified teacher aspirants left out in the cold, recruiting new ones who have received less training with no education credentials sounds very problematic."

Others assert that just because someone can speak fluent English, that doesn't make them a good teacher.

"Speaking good English doesn't guarantee intelligence or teaching skills. With a simple oral test, we can't judge whether they are qualified enough to lead our next generation," said Park Seon-ho, an English education professor at Gyeongin National University of Education

The government is also planning a major overhaul of the English-language curriculum. From 2010, the time allotted for English classes conducted solely in English will increase to three hours per week for elementary-school students in the third to sixth grades.

Currently, third- and fourth-graders take English-speaking classes for one hour per week, while fifth- and sixth-graders receive two hours a week. With its new plans, the government aims to see all English classes for third- to sixth-grade students conducted in English from 2011. In order to focus on speaking and writing, the size of middle- and high-school classes will also be significantly scaled back, from the current 35 students per class to 23.

These changes are likely to be welcomed by teachers, who have claimed that with classes averaging more than 40 students, conducting English conversation lessons is almost impossible.

But naysayers argue that the emphasis on English could hamstring the development of other critical areas.

"Spending a staggering amount of state funds solely on English education at the expense of other crucial subjects such as natural science is absurd. Moreover, what truly boosts the global standing of our nation is not simple everyday English, but highly advanced language skills which can help you decipher and collect high-quality information," said Youngjun Jang, an English literature professor at Chung-Ang University.


By Song Sang-ho


([email protected])




2008.03.14

[marlow]

Funny that those who disagree are all entrenched in the current English system:

Lee Jong-bok, an English education professor at Mokwon University in Daejeon

Heyoung Kim, an English education professor at Chung-Ang University

Park Seon-ho, an English education professor at Gyeongin National University of Education

Youngjun Jang, an English literature professor at Chung-Ang University

[Otherside]