The Cost of English Divide of South Korea

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The Cost of English Divide of South Korea

• Gyonggu Shin (Chonnam National U)
• http//gshin.chonnam.ac.kr

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Dr. Norman Bethune (1890-1939)

• What we have here is an ethical and moral problem
  in the field of social and political economics.

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Outline

• Digital divide
• English divide
• Causes of English divide
• Measures to take
• Economic and non-economic gain of the measures

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I. Digital Divide
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Definition of digital divide
Socio-economic gap between industrialized
lesser developed communities due to the rapid
and efficient deployment of digital technologies.
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Digital divide of the world
Source ITU (internet host data Network Wizards,
Ripe 2000
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Results of digital divide

• A limited access to the ICTs will restrict the
  scope of the social activities in
• Receiving education
• Finding information
• Finding jobs

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II. English Divide
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English divide

• Definition A Limited access to the international
  language will restrict the scope of the social
  activities by
• Limited access to the knowledge structures
• Limited commercial relationships
• Limited opportunities in finding jobs
• Marginalization in the social process

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III. Causes of English Divide
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Causes of English divide 1

• Theory-oriented language departments
• Non-professional management of the language
  program
• Low public expenditure
• Nonprofessional teachers
• Dependence on native speakers

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Theory-oriented language departments
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Other language departments
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Curriculum comparison
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Non-professional management of the language
program
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Low government expenditure
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Dependence on native speakers

• English Program In Korea (EPIK)
• As many foreign teachers as possible in most
  schools and universities
• Busan, Jeonnam

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Causes of the divide 2

• Non-professional management by the bureaucrats
  primary school English, non-major English
  teachers
• Non-professional management of university
  administration
• Non-professional management of university
  language programs
• Dogmatic English department faculty

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Non-professional management of language programs
Language Center Directors Terms
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Non-professional management by university
administration

• English certification Low quality but high
  demand
• No systematic long-term planning of university
  language programs

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Non-professional management by the bureaucrats

• Primary school teachers with 120 hr preparation
• Non-major high school teachers with 200 hr
  preparation
• Non-standardized teacher training programs
  Teachers with no confidence in target language
  are certified to teach.

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Current situation 1 Voluntary colonialism

• Making all Koreans subjects of English empire
• Business firms higher criteria for language
  proficiency of new employees Excessive emphasis
  on the importance of English regardless of
  positions
• Government requiring English proficiency for new
  recruits
• Mass media actively propagating English
• Language business firms making the most of the
  growing lucrative market
• English teachers and KATE happy with more
  influence of English

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Current situation 2 Impact on people

• English is a religion.
• English is a means of survival.
• People with no language talent lose
  self-confidence (Poor performance by Korean
  diplomats is no wonder.)

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Current situation 3 English divide

• Message English is the goal of your life.
• Reality You have to develop the skill on your
  own.
• Subjects Invest time and money, whatsoever, to
  develop English language skill.
• English divide Learning English is expensive,
  and economic gap is readily transferred to
  English divide.
• Social injustice ruling class with English and
  ruled class with no English

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National economy

• More emphasis on English is translated into more
  waste of national wealth.
• People spend seven billion dollars a year with
  increasing amount every year.
• Young people invest more time spent on language
  learning than on major areas.
• Families are willing to suffer the separation for
  childrens language learning. ( brain drainage
  followed)

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Result

• High expense low productivity Children of poor
  daddy cannot speak good English.

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High expense US6 billion
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Low productivity
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IV. Measures to Take
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Measures in micro level

• Language department change- More applied
  linguistics majors- More practical courses
• Professional language programs
• Professional teacher training programs

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Important areas for students
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Measures in macro level

• Government side
• Investment for quality education
• 10 million for teacher development
• 10 million for college language program
• 10 million for HS language teaching
• 2. Control the irrational emphasis of English
• Quality education limitation of English

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V. Economic and non-economic gains from the
measures
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Economic gain
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Non-economic gains

• Less or no English divide Linguistically better
  integrated society
• No lost of self confidence of the young people
  who has low English proficiency
• More work on major areas by students

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Thank youfor your attention.