Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

English Immersion Villages Suffering Growing Deficits

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/09/116_30611.html

09-05-2008 16:11

By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

A total of 19 English immersion villages run by provincial governments sustained financial losses of nearly 20 billion won (about $17.8 million) last year, according to the Prime Minister's Office Friday.

The office released a report on the performance of municipal government-funded English villages that have sprung up nationwide to help children gain confidence in English speaking and listening.

``It costs a lot to construct those villages and hire proper staff but the tuition is low compared to the initial costs,'' an official of the government office said. ``If more large-scale English villages are built under the current financial situation, the deficit would increase.''

Despite 38-percent financial independence of those institutions, provincial governments plan to construct an additional 23 English villages costing 208 billion won by 2011, the report said.

The office also found that the village construction had triggered overlapping, over-investment and regional imbalance.

``Some provincial governments set up the institutions after little systematic research on the demand for English education on a proper scale,'' he said. ``Besides, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and some education offices are reportedly seeking to foster a similar English-friendly environment within schools.''

He pointed out that the short-term English programs provided by the English villages showed limitations in improving students' language abilities.

The Prime Minister's Office is considering advising municipal governments to revise English village construction plans after analyzing supply and demand.

It would also proceed with building an English learning center in farming and fishing communities in which English villages have yet to be set up.

The office suggested that the central government and provincial governments have a joint study to reduce the deficit.

It said it would seek to integrate programs in public education and English villages and put stronger criteria when approving those institutions in a bid to enhance their efficiency.

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[pkang0202]

Totally makes sense.

This _______ has an English village and we don't. We don't want to look inferior to them so we need to build an English village too.

[wylies99]

Village lessons http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2894573

September 06, 2008
The English villages that regional governments in Korea have spent millions of dollars are not making ends meet.

Twenty-one English villages in the country are in the red, living off subsidies, the prime minister�s office has said.

There was criticism from the beginning. Some critics said the construction of the villages was nothing more than politically motivated moves to attract voters.

Regional governments invested heavily in the villages without much consideration for educational demand.

As a result, half of them are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area and some are only a two to three minutes� drive from each other.

Most of them offer short-term programs lasting only a few days, which means they cannot satisfy the original purpose of complementing English education at schools and substituting costly English learning programs abroad.

It is highly unlikely that a student�s English proficiency will improve by attending a one-off program at one of these villages. Instead, we would be in a much better position if the government improved public education to allow more students more exposure to English over a longer period of time.

As of April, there are 4,303 native English-speaking teachers in schools in the country, enough to cover only one-third of the schools here.

With the money to build large English villages, we can double the number of native English-speaking teachers. The areas that cannot be covered by public education can be dealt with by offering after-school programs at a low cost for ordinary people who cannot afford to provide their children with English education. In that sense, the government�s decision to send 400 ethnic Koreans living abroad and foreigners this year to rural areas to teach English after school was the right thing to do.

The government should find ways to incorporate English villages with school education to create synergy. The success of English education depends on high-quality teachers and programs rather than showy facilities. The villages should not most one-time events and the central, and regional governments should prioritize their spending.

[PRagic]

Any money made off of these travesties was made during the construction and planning processes. They are mismanaged, incorrectly budgeted, and have no sound educational base.

They are also going to have to fight their way back into the employment sphere if and when they get serious, because as it stands now, they are the biggest laughing-stock-of-a-job in all of Asia.

Hate to say I told you so, but I called this turkey before they even swung open the doors.

[jvalmer]

Exposure is the key. Only way I see english proficiency increasing to the likes of the Philippines or Singapor, is by teaching a few core subjects all in english. But then again, Korea doesn't have a reason to do that, unless Korea suddenly becomes a multi-lingual nation, with a couple of significant minority populations and major ethnic tensions.

[matthews_world]

[Summer Wine]

We all know what the problem is, English is a tool, not a fun thing to use. Ask your co-teachers, what english fiction/ non fiction books they read in the last week.

Almost sure that they said none. Until they realise that english is a language and fun, they will never use it. So why should they use a language school, its not worth it in thier minds. They learn english to pass exams not because they want to use it as a language.

I can't make myself any clearer, they don't care about english. They don't like it and are generally not interested in it.

[wylies99]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Isn't the real problem here that no one really knows what level of proficiency a high school senior is expected to have at graduation? If you haven't already, take a look at the example problem Yu Bum Suk posted the other day. That kind of question seems entirely inappropriate to me for high school kids. I'm teaching fairly advanced adults and they know the word 'quarter' (American money and their housing) and they know many nouns can also be used as verbs, but they have not come across it used as a verb.

Would it be impossible to establish a vocabulary list and specific grammar points to be mastered in each of the 12 years of school? With 200 words per school year, only about 5 words a week, kids would end up with an active vocabulary of 2,400 words when they graduate, more than enough to communicate at a basic level. Reading programs could be easily designed to incorporate the target vocabulary and grammar points. The various meanings, forms and usages of words could be learned in a more natural way, in context--not some teacher standing in front of a class mentioning those points. Writing assignments would require productive use of the language and allow some creative expression. Remedial programs (what a concept!) could be prepared for those falling behind.

[Cheonmunka]

The basic premise of a fun place where kids can go and do activities in English is great. But, it needn't cost as much as these people put into building the theme park. Just have an existing building with basic facilities. Charge kids (40 kids max) 10000 won for a morning or afternoon session and have a couple of teachers there arranging the activities so 20 max in each group. Do stuff like making things, puppet shows or what have you. 200 k goes to rent and facilities per day, 200 k to each teacher and 200 left over for a rainy day. Da-Da - problem solved. Kids learn, it doesn't cost millions and pays for itself, and teachers are happy having some autonomy.

[sojusucks]

How effective are these English villages? Do large quantities of students actually learn English?

Quote from [url]
http://sdkrashen.com/pipermail/krashen_sdkrashen.com/2006-April/000480.html[/url]:

[cruisemonkey]

I worked at one for two years.

In hindsight, I would describe it as being marginally (at best) successful in actually imparting any language learning. Human nature being what it is, the students saw their one week/year at English Camp/Village as a 'holiday', and most of the FTs 'took the easy road' and became glorified babysitters.

A colossal waste of K-taxpayer's money!

[ED209]

Cheaper to send every Korean kid to the Philippines for the winter break and give us a break. These villages can't even fill their teacher quota, so they must be saving some money

[cruisemonkey]

English villages, public schools and hogwans can't fill their "teacher quota". EVs are not unique in this respect.

[Len8]

I worked at one for a week in a programe organized by some shister and the facilities were quite oustanding. They copied the old Wonderland scheme of things with different rooms decorated as a living room, a police station, a hospital etc. Only thing that bothered me was how long it would look nice. Wont take long for the kids to wreck everything.