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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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 Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 7:59 pm Post subject: Come outside and Breathe the fresh air |
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I've been fascinated with the way Koreans don't view English as "alive" -- meaning, something outside the classroom and in the world. So many think of English as a mark, a book, a set time from 1-12.
Good article stating the obvious in the JoonAng Daily. I've copied the whole thing cause its short. I agree.
DD
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Why Koreans can't speak English
To be born destined to be a Korean student is to start a life of fearsome competition that never ends. Mothers and fathers wrap their children with the finest things and treat them as if they are the best. As their little ones grow, their parents won't let them lose in this competitive race. English is an example. To turn their children into English whizzes, parents send them to English kindergartens and English institutes. During school breaks, they send their children to English camps to make even playtime a chance to learn English. Moreover, if they can afford it, they send their youngsters abroad and make them live there for good.
As these children grow up and enter university, they still study English to get good grades on the Test of English for International Communication (Toeic) and get into better jobs. However, even when they get to college these children who have been studying English more than 10 years still think their English is very poor, which is the truth. To most Koreans, English is a lifelong problem awaiting a solution. How come, through 10 years of study, Koreans can't speak English well?
Even though Koreans are spending lots of time and energy learning English, we don't seem to gain much compared to the pain we go through. According to a Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) report in 2006, Koreans spend about 14.3 trillion won ($15.4 billion) annually on private English tutoring. Koreans also spend 700 billion won a year for tests evaluating their English. However, according to SERI, Korea is known as the most difficult country in which to communicate in English. Then what have we been learning through years of studying English?
In an article I read on the Internet, a story caught my attention entitled: "A man who got a perfect score on Toeic. Not only once but 16 times a row."
Jung Byung-mun, the guy with the perfect score, told the reporter English is not something you learn only from books. He added, "You have to enjoy English rather than fight against it."
I second that. English should be something you enjoy, not something to be defensive about. Language is a tool with which to communicate with people and the world. Through language, we can gain more information and opportunities; that is why we learn another language. However, it seems the real purpose of learning has disappeared as we focus only on English as a tool, in such situation as getting a job.
At this moment in libraries, students are flipping through the pages of review books to remember Toeic formulas, mumbling words to memorize from the 5,000-word vocabulary list of last month's Toeic. Instead of studying for their major courses, they are mostly preparing for the upcoming English skills test this month.
Please close the book, come outside and breathe the fresh air.
Before we Koreans can learn to speak English, we should learn who and what we are. Before we blame our tongues, we have to know ourselves. To successfully learn English, we should first have self-dignity and then approach the language as a communication tool, not as a burden.
*The writer is the editor of The Soongsil Times, the English-language news magazine of Soongsil University.
by Lee Sun-kyung |
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lover.asian
Joined: 30 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:05 pm Post subject: Re: Come outside and Breathe the fresh air |
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| ddeubel wrote: |
I've been fascinated with the way Koreans don't view English as "alive" -- meaning, something outside the classroom and in the world. So many think of English as a mark, a book, a set time from 1-12.
Good article stating the obvious in the JoonAng Daily. I've copied the whole thing cause its short. I agree.
DD
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I don't believe the Korean government really wants their citizens to be proficient in English. They want the masses to study "about" English. If you have a command of the English language, you have access to a great deal of information. If you don't, you have to rely on another Korean to translate (or filter) it for you.
I started teaching in Korea in the spring of 1997. I remember when the currency crisis started affecting Korea. The Korean newspapers were full of stories which could only be summarized as "don't worry, no problem", while foreign news sources, like the Wall Street Journal, proclaimed Korea as functionally bankrupt.
As the Korean Won lost value, I would take every last Won I owned and change it into US dollars at the local Korea Exchange Bank. The bank official would laugh at me and tell me I was foolish for doing so. Later, as the Won broke 1500W=$1.00 mark the same official would curse at me in Korean. He, along with most of his compatriots, had no idea as to the seriousness of the problem.
Where I teach (not Korea), a student who starts as a zero beginner can, in 5 years, progress to an IELTS Band 5 level (intermediate level, that's actual intermediate level, not "Korean Intermediate level"). Most Koreans study for more than 10 years in school and end up no higher than "beginners".
The solution to this problem is relatively straightforward. First, incompetent ESL teachers must be fired. Of course, that would mean more than 95% of the Korean English teachers would lose their jobs and probably about 2/3 of the "native" speakers as well. Next, international standards must be put in place for all ESL teachers (for example, a bachelors degree and at least a CELTA or equivalent as the bare minimum qualifications). Finally, the chaebels should be involved in setting learning outcomes as they understand the value of a set of skills as opposed to a grade.
None of these things will ever happen.
Last edited by lover.asian on Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:46 pm Post subject: |
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I don't know about "none of these things will ever happen."
Change does take time and I for one have learnt that all things are possible and like that trite phrase, "never say never", I wouldn't say will none will ever....
But your observation
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| The solution to this problem is relatively straightforward. First, incompetent ESL teachers must be fired. Of course, that would mean more than 95% of the Korean English teachers would lose their jobs and probably about 2/3 of the "native" speakers as well. Next, international standards must be put in place for all ESL teachers (for example, a bachelors degree and at least a CELTA or equivalent as the bare minimum qualifications). Finally, the chaebels should be involved in setting learning outcomes as they understand the value of a set of skills as opposed to a grade. |
is quite true but I wouldn't fire teachers. I would rather encourage or mandate teacher training. It isn't rocket science and if there was more basic , practical inhouse training of teachers, a lot could be accomplished.
Further, the govt can put its money where its heart is. Encourage the language and also travel and exchange. Still lacking, imo.
yes, you are right about standards. I just disagree with the approach. But yeah, students need more uniform standards to achieve and more valuable testing to encourage. As it is, all the tests now do, is emphasize rote learning, reward rote learning.....
DD |
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Hotpants
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 7:23 am Post subject: |
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| Teaching at some universities in particular, what the above writer says is very true. Having tried to introduce some 'fun' activities, which tried to get away from the bookwork and have students think creatively in English, I got a lot of negative response. My students tell me over and over that their priority is a good TOEIC score. At this stage, they're all on the verge of entering the job market, so they can't see anything beyond the TOEIC score as far as English is concerned. Even if they have plans to spend time abroad, all they see first are the English language test grades needed to 'get in' to another country. The TOEIC obsession kills off a lot of students. |
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