1. 1
Kee-Ho Kim (Korea University)
JALT 2010 (2010 Nov. 20)
keehokim@korea.ac.kr
English Education in Korea:
Early Exposure

2. 2
 Private English education in Korea
 Major changes in English education in Korea
 Arguments for/against earlier English education
 Major steps by Korean government
Contents

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Stress on English in Korea
Q. Why is English so important in Korea?
English is one of the critical factors for the college entrance
examination: CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test)
English is one of the key factors for a better job:
1st
document review: TOEIC score
Job interview
Hot social issues in Korea
the high cost of private education
the negative cycle of education:
The poorer, the worse education, the poorer English, the poorer.
The richer, the better education, the better English, the richer.

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A hot social issue: the cost of private education
(2009 Korean government statistics)
% of students
who are taking
private education
Yearly Monthly
Elementary school 87.4% 2,945,000 W
(218,000Y)
245,000 W
(18,150Y)
middle school 74.3% 3,122,000 W
(231,260Y)
262,600 W
(19,450Y)
high school 53.8% 2,609,000 W
(193,260Y)
217,000 W
(16,070Y)
 The cost of private education in Korea
 22,000.000.000.000 won (22 trillion W) (1.6 trillion Yen)
 8,000,000,000,000 won (30%): English education

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Similarities in private education between Korea & Japan

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Comparison between Korea & Japan
 Similar situation both in Korea & Japan
 Highly competitive college entrance
 The high cost of private education
 3 major changes in English education in Korea
The introduction of listening test to CSAT in 1994
The introduction of English to elementary schools
(from 3rd
grade) in 1997
The introduction of NEAT (IBT) (2009-2015)
 Reading, listening, speaking & writing

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Major changes in English education in Korea
Q. What happened in English education in Korea over the last 20 years?
1994: the introduction of English to CSAT (college scholastic ability test)
Introduction of listening: Reading & Listening
1994: 50 total questions. (8 listening questions)
Listening: Practical English: time, place, job, purpose, etc.
Listen to the following, choose the most appropriate one.
• Where does this conversation occur?
• What is the woman’s purpose in the talk? etc.
2012: 50 total questions (listening & speaking 17 Qs) / 70mins.
Result: improvement in listening skills

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[Phone rings.]
M: Hello?
W: John, why didn’t you pick up the phone? I kept calling you!
M: Sorry, I missed your calls. What’s up?
W: I wasn’t able to complete my part of our project.
M: What? It’s due at 5 p.m. There’s only half an hour left!
W: I know, but I couldn’t open the file you sent. The password didn’t work.
M: What’s the password you used?
W: It’s 013456, isn’t it? That’s what you wrote on the memo.
M: Oh, no! It’s not 01. It’s ol, ol3456.
W: What? I’ve been trying the wrong password until now! I totally lost my
patience.
M: I’m sorry. I should’ve told you it was a combination of letters and numbers.
W: It’s too late now. I won’t be able to finish by the deadline!
Q. Listen to the following conversation, and choose the most
appropriate description of the woman’s feeling. (2010CSAT: Q2)
( 대화를 듣고 , 여자의 심정으로 가장 적절한 것을 고르시오 .)
① frustrated jealous indifferent satisfied grateful② ③ ④ ⑤

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Major changes in English education in Korea
 Early English education in Korea
1982: Introduction of English as an extracurricular activity
(from 4th
grade, 1 hour/w)
1997: Introduction of English in elementary schools
as a compulsory course (from 3rd
grade).
 Goals:
to make students get interest & confidence in English &
to acquire basic communicative skills to understand &
to use English in daily life.
cf. Japan: 2011 from 5th grade (1 hour /w)
China: since 2004, from 3rd
grade (3 hours/w)

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Major changes in English education in Korea
1997: English in elementary schools from 3rd
grade.
(English class hours per week)
1997: 3rd
- 6th
graders: 2 hours/w
2001: 3rd
- 4th
graders: 1 hours/w,
5th
- 6th
graders: 2 hours/w
2010: 3rd
- 4th
graders: 2 hours/w (expanding 1 to 2 hours)
2011: 5th
- 6th
graders: 3 hours/w (expanding 2 to 3 hours/w)
cf. 2006: teaching English from 1st
grade
(50 experimental schools nation-wide)
(3-4 experimental schools for each province)
The on-going discussion for and against the introduction of early English
education to lower graders

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Demonstration against the early English education
2006.5.23

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Arguments for earlier (1st
& 2nd
) English education
 English as a lingua franca just like Latin of medieval times.
 Lenneberg (1967)’s the Critical Period Hypothesis
 Before age 2, the brain has not developed enough, and after puberty it has
developed too much, with the loss of “plasticity” and the completion of
“lateralization” of the language function.
 Thomas Scovel (1969) suggested that the plasticity of the brain prior to
puberty enables children to acquire not only their first language but also a
second language.
 Children never exposed to any language (spoken or signed) by about age 7
gradually lose their ability to master any language.
 the Wolf Boy, Djuma (found in the wastes of southern Russia in 1962)
 the Wild Boy of Aveyron, Victor (discovered in the French in 1800)
Phonological evidence:
Adults are capable of learning to communicate a foreign language.

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The Critical Period Hypothesis
100
90
80
70
60
50
Native 3-7 8-10 11-15 17-39
Percentage
correct on
grammar
test
Age at arrival, in years
Learning a new language gets harder with age.
The older
the age
at immigration,
the poorer
the mastery of
a second
language.

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Arguments against earlier English education
 Arguments against earlier (1st
& 2nd
) English education
 L2 reverse interference to L1 acquisition
 Loss of self & national identity
Psycholinguistic perspective: L1 acquisition vs. L2 learning
 The acquisition of the communicative and functional purposes of language is, in
most circumstances, far more important than a perfect native accent.
Obler (1981) noted that in second language learning, there is significant right
hemisphere participation and that "this participation is particularly active during
the early stages of learning the second language".
Genesee (1982) & Seliger (1982) found support for right hemisphere
involvement in the form of complex language processing as opposed to early
language acquisition.
• Second language learners, particularly adult learners, might benefit from more
encouragement of right-brain activity in the classroom context.

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Antipathy to earlier English education
Q. Is English education necessary for lower graders?
(Kim, J-R. 2008)
 Background of antipathy to earlier English education:
i) Issues of self & national identity,
ii) teachers’ English competence,
iii) teachers’ resistance

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Q. Is early English education effective?
 More than 10 years since 1997 (English from 3rd
grade).
 Elementary school teachers’ perceptions: (Kwon et al 2006)
 Improvement of 4 skills
(Listening, Speaking, Reading & Writing)
<6th
grade students>
 know 500 words.
 understand classroom English
 be able to speak in English (positive)
 Kwon (2006):
Test year of
1st
& 2nd
year
H-S students
Elementary
English
education
# of schools # of students G TEC
Average
score
Year of 2003 No
experience
5 (the same) 4,043 414.5
Year of 2006 Experience 5 (the same) 4,019 459.6 (+ 45.1)

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Issues with English education
 After 10 years of early English education:
 Merits: improvement of 4 skills of English
 Demerits:
 widening the gap between the top group & the bottom group
 widening the gap between urban students (who had been given
relatively better English education) & rural students.
 Some left-behind students lose interest in English much earlier.
 Social pressure:
 Negative cycle of English education & income:
 The poorer, the poorer education, the poorer English, the poorer.
 The richer, the better education, the better English, the richer.
 Succession of wealth and social class causes social frustration.

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Negative cycle of English education & income
The richer, the better education, the better English, the better job, the richer.
The poorer, the poorer education, the poorer English, the poorer incomer.
Q. How to break this negative cycle of English education?

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Major steps by Korean government
Three issues of English education in Korea
 How to reduce the cost of private education
 How to improve the quality of public schools’ English education
 How to reduce the gap between the poor & the rich, between rural
vs. urban areas in English education
Governmental projects for strengthening English education
1. Improve “public school English education”
1. Expand English class hours in elementary schools
2. Introduce “specialist instructors” for English conversation
3. Introduce the “NEAT” (national English ability test) (IBT type)
2. Ways to improve the quality of English education
1. Support the teachers’ teaching ability.
2. Provide special classrooms just for English
3. Provide fair opportunities for English education for everyone.

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Expanding English class hours
2010: 3rd
- 4th
graders: 2 hours/w (expanding 1 to 2 hours)
2011: 5th
- 6th
graders: 3 hours/w (expanding 2 to 3 hours/w)
(since 1997): goal: to arouse kids’ interest in English
Introduction of lots of games, song, chanting, etc
(from 2010): strengthening reading & writing
Earlier introduction of reading & writing
3rd
grader (from 9th
unit): alphabet, phonics (reading & writing of words)
4th
grader
(from 1st
unit – 13 units): teach to read English words and phrases
(from 14th
unit - ): teach to read English sentences
5th
– 6th
graders
unit 1: listening, unit 2: speaking, unit 3: reading, unit 4: writing,
unit 5: storytelling

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Building advanced curriculum & textbooks
Teachers’ CD Rom
(4th
grade)
(digital textbook)
Look & Listen:
(click)
Animation &
Native speaker’s voice
Listen & Repeat:
(click)
Video
Use of lots of animation,
songs, puzzles, games,
etc. (multimedia)

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Specialists for English conversation
 Introducing specialists for English conversation.
 Elementary School:
 Since 2009, specialists teach after-school English classes.
 From 2010, they teach regular school classes.
 Middle & High Schools:
 Students can choose to attend English classes fit for their levels.
(3 levels of English classes)

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National English Ability Test (IBT)
 IBT(Internet-based test)
 Test of 4 English skills: Reading, Listening, Speaking & Writing
 3 levels:
 Level I: for adults including college students
 Level II: for high school graduates or undergraduate students;
achievement standards similar to those of the CSAT
 Level III: focus on testing basic communication skills;
achievement standards similar to those of the 10th
grade
 When?
 2009: developing NEAT, preliminary test.
 2010 – 2011: several model tests
 2012: starting of the real tests
 (2016): replacing English of CSAT to Level II & III NEAT

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Intensifying support programs for teachers
 Making infrastructure that can improve teachers’ ability
For current teachers:
 Providing language programs enhancing teachers’ teaching ability:
 providing intensive English language programs (more than 600
hours/year) for English teachers since 2009.
 providing diverse custom-made language programs
 For future teachers:
 Intensifying English education programs in universities of education
 Evaluating elementary school teachers’ ability teaching in English
for their teacher certification examination.
 Elementary school teacher certification examination:
English interview & evaluation of teaching in English
 Middle school teacher certification examination:
English essay, English interview, & evaluation of teaching in English.

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Providing special classrooms just for English
 Provide special classrooms only for English to make English class
more fun.
 Every elementary school: at least one classroom by 2011.
 English experiential classroom for elementary schools:
 Situational English experience
 Reading English fairy tales, stories
 Situational role-playing
 In 2008: 1,387 schools.
 English classroom only for English for middle/high schools:
 Students can choose classes fit to their English level.
 On-line (video) English lectures/chatting
 In 2008: 2,539 schools.

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Expanding educational welfare
 Provide fair opportunities for English education for everyone.
 TaLK (Teach & Learn in Korea) program: (*****satisfaction)
 since September 2008.
 overseas Koreans, foreign university students
 2010 fall: 5th
English volunteer scholarship:
600 (240 USA, 59 Canada, 18 England, 15 New Zealand, …)
 Remote Video-Camera Lectures for isolated areas such as islands:
 lecture & chatting with native English teachers through video-cam.
 Free English camps during vacations:
 for rural, fishing & mountain village students
 for underprivileged urban students
 2 or 3-week intensive English programs during vacations
 In 2008, more than 60,000 students participated.

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Expanding educational welfare
 Provide fair opportunities for English education for
everyone.
 EBS English programs:
 diverse free English programs for teachers, students, & parents
http://www.ebse.co.kr/
 free English level test for students
 free teachers’ teaching materials
 Click parents’ corner
 EBSe Access Program with British Council
 British Council LearnEnglishKids program
 for elementary school teachers of (3rd
– 6th
graders)
 Flashcards, games, songs, stories for each unit
http://www.ebse.co.kr/ebs/britishcouncil.laf

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EBSEnglish http://www.ebse.co.kr/

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EBSe (Access Program) with British Council
•
• Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6
Unit 7 Unit 8
• Unit 9 Unit 10 Unit 11 Unit 12 Unit 13 Unit 14 Unit 15

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Free on-line English education materials
 British council on-line English materials:
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en
 BBC for children
(diverse English stories, songs, game, coloring activties with parents, etc.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/
 PBS kids
(games, stories, video clips, activities with parents & teachers, etc.)
http://pbskids.org/lions/
 Edunet (in Korean)
http://www.edunet4u.net/index.jsp
 Digital English teaching materials (in Korean)
http://de.edunet4u.net/digitalEnglish/index.jsp

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http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/

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http://pbskids.org/lions/

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 Hot social issues in Korea
 the high cost of private English education
 the negative cycle of English education
 Major changes in Korean English education
 In 1994, introduction of listening to KSAT
 In 1997, introduction of English in elementary schools
 In 2012, introduction of speaking & writing to NEAT
 On-going arguments for/against earlier English education
 Major steps of Korean government
 goal: to reduce the cost of private education & the gap
between the rich and the poor.
 improve public school English education
 support teachers’ teaching abilities
Summary

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Tons of thanks for your attention!

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References
BBC teaching English website: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/
EBEe (website) : http://www.ebse.co.kr/ebs/britishcouncil.lafEBEe (website) : http://www.ebse.co.kr/ebs/britishcouncil.laf
Genesee, F. (1982) “Experimental neuropsychological research on second language
processing,” TESOL Quarterly 16: 315-22.
Kim, Jeong-ryeol. (2008) “Theoretical & practical discussions of early English education inKim, Jeong-ryeol. (2008) “Theoretical & practical discussions of early English education in
EFL context,”EFL context,”
Kwon, O. (2006) Seeking ways to activate elementary & secondary English education by
analyzing 10 years achievements of elementary English education. Ministry of Education.
Kwon, O. et.al. (2006) Results of an Interview and Questionnaire Survey with Teachers ,”Results of an Interview and Questionnaire Survey with Teachers ,”
The 4th Asia TEFL ConferenceThe 4th Asia TEFL Conference , Fukuoka,, Fukuoka, August 18-20.August 18-20.
Lenneberg, E.H. (1967) Biological foundations of language. Wiley, New York.
Obler, L. (1981) “Right hemisphere participation in second language acquisition,”
Scovel, T. (1969). Foreign accents, language acquisition, and cerebral dominance.
Language Learning, 19, (3 & 4), 245-253.
Seliger, H. (1982) "On the possible role of the right hemisphere in second language
acquisition," TESOL Quarterly 16: 307-314.
Ministry of Education, Science & Technology. http://english.mest.go.kr/index.jspMinistry of Education, Science & Technology. http://english.mest.go.kr/index.jsp
Ministry of Education, Science & Technology. 2010.Ministry of Education, Science & Technology. 2010. Elementary English 3Elementary English 3..
http://www.english.go.kr/http://www.english.go.kr/ (Korean English policy)(Korean English policy)