To sum up, the history of English language education can be divided into "two and a half" period. To many, it can be divided into three periods, but my view on this is that we are still in the second period.
The first period: 1950-1970s
Back then, English was taught in Korea essentially for military purposes. South Korea had a US military presence in its territory and therefore had to train its citizens to be competent in communication with the US army and with the US ally in case of war. The United States technically has "wartime operational control" in South Korea meaning that if a war were to break out with North Korea, the United States would be in charge of leading the war. Korean men, considered potential future soldiers, had to be good "followers" of the US army.
How is language taught for military purposes? Focus is put on a comparison between the native language, Korean, and English. No conversation in class, classes are taught in Korean and Koreans were essentially taught aspects of English grammar that they were expected to be able to translate into their language. Exam questions were in Korean, and students had to answer in English.
This method was used worldwide when training spies who were expected to translate confidential documents into their native language, or by Europeans learning Latin and Ancient Greek.
The second period: 1970s-1990s
During the 1970s the South Korean economy grew considerably and the government expected students to have "business" knowledge of English.
In language there are three aspects: Competence, performance and communicative competence.
-Competence is the ability to know what is right or wrong in a language, say knowing that "I did it" is right and that "*I it did" is wrong.
-Performance is the ability to speak a language. Most speakers of a second language, despite knowing what is right or wrong in a language, reproduce what they know in the language. Say they know that "*I it did" is wrong but they still say it.
-Communicative competence is the ability to speak a language and also to know what to say, when to say it, and what is not appropriate to say in the language's culture.
So while the first period focused exclusively on competence, the second period started focusing on performance. That is, students were put under pressure to write and speak English properly, asked tricky grammar and vocabulary questions, and were rebuked when they made mistakes.
The curriculum was essentially grammar based and test based: students were tested and heavily sanctioned if they made mistakes speaking English, thus viewed speaking English as a continuous test and thought that native speakers were actually evaluating them when they were speaking, and Koreans were obsessed with "mistakes"
The third period: 1990s-today
In 1997, the Korean government decided to bring native speakers to help students focus on "communicative competence", that is, to communicate effectively with American businessmen. Soon after, the 1997 financial crisis delayed the project, and once Korea recovered, native speakers were invited to the country.
What happened? Though the government wanted students to focus on their ability to communicate with foreigners making colloquial use of English, students and companies focused on "performance": the less you make mistakes, the better you are, regardless of whether you are actually able to converse with foreigners.
Test scores became primordial, and surprised and disillusioned English teachers ended up torn between teaching "performance" and "communicative competence". While the government keeps reiterating its idea that Koreans should focus on "communicative competence", students return to "performance". A funny example is that when Korean students are asked to hold conversations in English, they write down what they have to say first, proofread grammar mistakes, double check meaning in the dictionary, and then recite their sentence. Typical behavior of people who focus on "performance" rather than "communicative competence".
This is why I argue that Korea is still in its second period. While the Western world is learning English to improve their "communicative competence" through watching English language movies and interaction with native English speakers, Koreans have decided to remain economy oriented and to focus on making less mistakes when they speak English.
Showing posts with label English as a second language in Korea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English as a second language in Korea. Show all posts
When hagwons go out of business - and don't pay you
The hagwon industry is a very competitive one in Korea. Teaching English is a lucrative business which requires little effort and where profits can be high, but still a lot of hagwons fail.
If your hagwon didn't pay you, this is what might have happened:
There are big hagwons in Korea whose reputation is intact and who make record profits every year. Some dream of reaching such a level and open such hagwons.
Reputed hagwons have everything a decent hagwon needs: they are expensive, but their teachers have experience, they are very strict about what should be taught and how, that is, they delineate the curriculum very carefully and train teachers to teach efficiently. For example, they will tell their teachers that if a student asks a question, they provide a simple answer, and if the student is not satisfied with the answer, they just tell him that the question will be studied later.
However, a number of hagwons open without knowing anything about language teaching. All they think about is the money they will make teaching English. So they find a building, hire the first teacher who applies for the job, and don't provide teachers with teaching guidlines, and sometimes don't even give teachers textbooks.
Such hagwons practice low prices to attract as many students as possible. But they don't divide students by language ability or by level, they mix students using arbitrary criteria such as age, or sometimes don't have a policy on how classes should be divided at all. So teachers end up without textbooks, in classrooms where some students speak advanced English while others don't speak a word of English.
Teachers end up being clueless. They don't know what to teach or how to teach, and can not manage a class where students' levels are heterogeneous. Some focus on students with advanced knowledge of English and forget to take care of those who have more difficulties, while other teachers focus on students with difficulties. Also, rather than advancing steadily in curriculums that teachers often designed themselves, they tend to stop at one particular point of English grammar or one particular word, and may spend a whole class teaching that particular point.
A blunder that such hagwon managers make is that they don't take into account the fact that parents and adults in Korea often attend hagowns in order to get better tests at their scores. While experienced hagwons tell their foreign teachers how to focus on such tests and to teach what might come up in such tests, many hagwons do not tell their teachers to focus on students' tests. So angry parents and adults attending such hagwons find out that what is taught there is not related to the tests that they are taking.
Parents notice that their children are not making progress in class, adult students notice that they are not learning much from the class. Test scores do not improve for both students and adults. Such parents or adults often post negative reviews on Internet forums related to the hagwon, and the hagwon has difficulties attracting new students. Such hagwons often end up going out of business.
So, if your hagwon did not pay you or paid you late, it is a better idea to quit, because such hagwons are often in difficult financial situations and their reputation is so damaged that they can not attract new students.
If your hagwon didn't pay you, this is what might have happened:
There are big hagwons in Korea whose reputation is intact and who make record profits every year. Some dream of reaching such a level and open such hagwons.
Reputed hagwons have everything a decent hagwon needs: they are expensive, but their teachers have experience, they are very strict about what should be taught and how, that is, they delineate the curriculum very carefully and train teachers to teach efficiently. For example, they will tell their teachers that if a student asks a question, they provide a simple answer, and if the student is not satisfied with the answer, they just tell him that the question will be studied later.
However, a number of hagwons open without knowing anything about language teaching. All they think about is the money they will make teaching English. So they find a building, hire the first teacher who applies for the job, and don't provide teachers with teaching guidlines, and sometimes don't even give teachers textbooks.
Such hagwons practice low prices to attract as many students as possible. But they don't divide students by language ability or by level, they mix students using arbitrary criteria such as age, or sometimes don't have a policy on how classes should be divided at all. So teachers end up without textbooks, in classrooms where some students speak advanced English while others don't speak a word of English.
Teachers end up being clueless. They don't know what to teach or how to teach, and can not manage a class where students' levels are heterogeneous. Some focus on students with advanced knowledge of English and forget to take care of those who have more difficulties, while other teachers focus on students with difficulties. Also, rather than advancing steadily in curriculums that teachers often designed themselves, they tend to stop at one particular point of English grammar or one particular word, and may spend a whole class teaching that particular point.
A blunder that such hagwon managers make is that they don't take into account the fact that parents and adults in Korea often attend hagowns in order to get better tests at their scores. While experienced hagwons tell their foreign teachers how to focus on such tests and to teach what might come up in such tests, many hagwons do not tell their teachers to focus on students' tests. So angry parents and adults attending such hagwons find out that what is taught there is not related to the tests that they are taking.
Parents notice that their children are not making progress in class, adult students notice that they are not learning much from the class. Test scores do not improve for both students and adults. Such parents or adults often post negative reviews on Internet forums related to the hagwon, and the hagwon has difficulties attracting new students. Such hagwons often end up going out of business.
So, if your hagwon did not pay you or paid you late, it is a better idea to quit, because such hagwons are often in difficult financial situations and their reputation is so damaged that they can not attract new students.
Is English a difficult language to learn for Koreans?
We native English speakers have our prejudices. We see all those Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Scandinavian or Israeli people speak fluent conversational English and feel like English should be an accessible language to everyone.
Let first set things straight. English is from the Germanic family of languages, which includes Yiddish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, German and many other languages. Those languages have similar grammatical structures and their basic vocabularies have the same roots. As for French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Romanian, they are Romance languages, and English has borrowed many many Latin and French words throughout the years. Note that modern Hebrew has lots of borrowings from Yiddish.
Speakers of these languages are the foreigners Americans are the most likely to meet, as whether they are Latinos, Africans or Europeans, there is a big chance such people speak one of those languages related to English or from which English borrowed significant portions of vocabulary.
And then there are the Asian, who borrowed some vocabulary from English, but not enough to make learning learning English easy. While Dutch and German people can easily infer what an English word means by looking at their native languages, Koreans can't.
Koreans have this disadvantage compared to speakers of other languages. And with the prejudice English speakers have that most foreigners have a language related to English in some way, we think that Koreans are slow at learning English.
While Dutch and German people may still make "cute" grammar mistakes when they speak English, they are not afraid of the "unknown": if they hear a word they never heard before there are high chances that such words will be in their native language. That is not the case for Koreans.
Koreans therefore go through what linguists call "language shock". Just like culture shock, when people experience language shock, they refrain from speaking the language that they are learning from fear of not understanding what the person is saying and being considered "stupid". Native English speakers learning Korean also have their "language shock" phase.
The rest is a question of motivation and need: Koreans who need to learn English to communicate with their husbands will speak English better than those who need to learn it to get a decent score at the TOEFL test which will guarantee them a job.
Let first set things straight. English is from the Germanic family of languages, which includes Yiddish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, German and many other languages. Those languages have similar grammatical structures and their basic vocabularies have the same roots. As for French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Romanian, they are Romance languages, and English has borrowed many many Latin and French words throughout the years. Note that modern Hebrew has lots of borrowings from Yiddish.
Speakers of these languages are the foreigners Americans are the most likely to meet, as whether they are Latinos, Africans or Europeans, there is a big chance such people speak one of those languages related to English or from which English borrowed significant portions of vocabulary.
And then there are the Asian, who borrowed some vocabulary from English, but not enough to make learning learning English easy. While Dutch and German people can easily infer what an English word means by looking at their native languages, Koreans can't.
Koreans have this disadvantage compared to speakers of other languages. And with the prejudice English speakers have that most foreigners have a language related to English in some way, we think that Koreans are slow at learning English.
While Dutch and German people may still make "cute" grammar mistakes when they speak English, they are not afraid of the "unknown": if they hear a word they never heard before there are high chances that such words will be in their native language. That is not the case for Koreans.
Koreans therefore go through what linguists call "language shock". Just like culture shock, when people experience language shock, they refrain from speaking the language that they are learning from fear of not understanding what the person is saying and being considered "stupid". Native English speakers learning Korean also have their "language shock" phase.
The rest is a question of motivation and need: Koreans who need to learn English to communicate with their husbands will speak English better than those who need to learn it to get a decent score at the TOEFL test which will guarantee them a job.
Korean language education in Korea - common misunderstandings
Figures show that around 70,000 Koreans attend English hagwons. English in Elementary school from 3rd grade on, and 1 in 5 TOEFL test takers in the world is Korean. The English teaching business is a 10 billion dollar business. Yet few Koreans seem to be proficient in English conversation. Why is that?
First of all, I did not get grants or money to do research, but I am convinced that more than 71,000 Koreans speak fluent or proficient conversational English. As to those school children who seem unable to speak conversational English, I would ask how many of us are able to have conversations in that French, Spanish or Japanese that we studied since Junior High school...
Korean people don't like foreigners moralizing them on how they should learn or not learn a language, as much as Americans don't like French people moralizing them on how they should learn French. Several factors need to be taken into account when judging Korean people's language ability.
First, Koreans learn English to enter a job market which does not require knowledge of conversational English. In fact, if there is any language Koreans should learn, it should be Chinese, because half the 850,000 legal immigrants living in Korea are Chinese. English speakers only represent a small proportion of the foreigners living in Korea, and Korean workers will encounter very few opportunities to meet such people.
When it comes to tourism, a vast majority of tourists entering Korea are Japanese, and they don't seem to complain about communication problems. Most touristic venues have fluent Japanese speakers in Korea, but due to the lack of English speaking tourists in Korea, Koreans don't see the need to employ fluent English speakers in that industry.
Academia is one area where you will be likely to meet English speakers. In a competitive educational system, Koreans highly value degrees from the US and most professors do speak English fluently. However, such professors will refuse to speak English the Korean introduction etiquette was not respected by English speaking foreigners. Korean professors have no reason to act like Americans when dealing with foreign students, as much as American professors have no reason to act French when dealing with French students.
Universities and the job market are highly competitive in Korea. There are only three top ranked universities requiring very difficult examinations -examinations including questions that students may not have come across during their high school years and involving very specialized knowledge - and prestigious jobs require three, four, or five rounds of selection. Koreans are too busy preparing entering such universities and getting such jobs to meet foreigners on regular basis with whom they may practice conversational English.
What matters is the grade, grade to enter college, grade to get that prestigious job. English teachers in Korea can't tell Koreans "listen, forget about entering that prestigious university or getting that prestigious job, try to learn conversational Korean, will you?" As for usefulness, the only people Koreans may actually practice their English with are English teachers or Philippino migrant workers. Might as well learn Chinese or Japanese, which have much more diverse populations living in Korea. Ironically, those Chinese and Japanese people are learning Korean, not asking Koreans to speak to them in English. Finally, if native English speakers are complaining about Koreans speaking to them in English rather than Korean, then why are they putting so much pressure on them to learn English?
First of all, I did not get grants or money to do research, but I am convinced that more than 71,000 Koreans speak fluent or proficient conversational English. As to those school children who seem unable to speak conversational English, I would ask how many of us are able to have conversations in that French, Spanish or Japanese that we studied since Junior High school...
Korean people don't like foreigners moralizing them on how they should learn or not learn a language, as much as Americans don't like French people moralizing them on how they should learn French. Several factors need to be taken into account when judging Korean people's language ability.
First, Koreans learn English to enter a job market which does not require knowledge of conversational English. In fact, if there is any language Koreans should learn, it should be Chinese, because half the 850,000 legal immigrants living in Korea are Chinese. English speakers only represent a small proportion of the foreigners living in Korea, and Korean workers will encounter very few opportunities to meet such people.
When it comes to tourism, a vast majority of tourists entering Korea are Japanese, and they don't seem to complain about communication problems. Most touristic venues have fluent Japanese speakers in Korea, but due to the lack of English speaking tourists in Korea, Koreans don't see the need to employ fluent English speakers in that industry.
Academia is one area where you will be likely to meet English speakers. In a competitive educational system, Koreans highly value degrees from the US and most professors do speak English fluently. However, such professors will refuse to speak English the Korean introduction etiquette was not respected by English speaking foreigners. Korean professors have no reason to act like Americans when dealing with foreign students, as much as American professors have no reason to act French when dealing with French students.
Universities and the job market are highly competitive in Korea. There are only three top ranked universities requiring very difficult examinations -examinations including questions that students may not have come across during their high school years and involving very specialized knowledge - and prestigious jobs require three, four, or five rounds of selection. Koreans are too busy preparing entering such universities and getting such jobs to meet foreigners on regular basis with whom they may practice conversational English.
What matters is the grade, grade to enter college, grade to get that prestigious job. English teachers in Korea can't tell Koreans "listen, forget about entering that prestigious university or getting that prestigious job, try to learn conversational Korean, will you?" As for usefulness, the only people Koreans may actually practice their English with are English teachers or Philippino migrant workers. Might as well learn Chinese or Japanese, which have much more diverse populations living in Korea. Ironically, those Chinese and Japanese people are learning Korean, not asking Koreans to speak to them in English. Finally, if native English speakers are complaining about Koreans speaking to them in English rather than Korean, then why are they putting so much pressure on them to learn English?
Explaining "bad Korean English"
When human beings enter a new country, they tend to compare everything they see with what they had previously experienced. They tend to think that what they experienced until then was "right" and that what they see is somewhat "wrong". In a Korean context, Koreans bumping into you and not excusing themselves is "wrong" because the "right" thing to do in your country is to excuse yourself.
The same thing happens when people learn a new language. Foreigners learning Korean tend to think that a lot of the aspects of Korean language are "wrong" and that the way to say things in our language is "right". It is something hidden in the subconscious, but when people learn foreign languages, they tend to use the same grammatical structures, pronunciation, word formation rules and meanings of words as in their native language.
Linguists argue that Korean is a "mirror" language of English. That is, if you put English on a mirror, you will get the Korean word order. Verbs at the end, post-positions instead of prepositions etc.
However, when Koreans speak English, they have their rules, which they think of as best, and when Americans speak Korean they have their rules which they think of as best.
PRONUNCIATION
Korean has different pronunciation rules from English which are as follows:
-There can not be two consonants at the beginning of a word or syllable
Therefore Koreans will add the "eu" (으) sound between consonants at the beginning of a syllable: Christmas becomes "Keurismaseu"
-Some sounds have to be followed by vowels in Korean: ㅎ (h), ㅅ (s), ㅈ (j), ㅊ(ch), ㅌ (t), ㅋ (k) have to be followed by vowels. Therefore, if such sounds are placed at the end of a syllable in English, Koreans will add "eu"(으), and "i"(이) if they are "j" or "ch" sounds at the end of a word: "mask" becomes "maseukeu", "bench" becomes "benchi"
-Some English sounds (mostly consonants)do not exist in Korean. They will therefore either be replaced by Korean consonants or will alter between them.
"f" will tend to become "p", "z" will become "j", "r" will either become "l" or a "flapped r", "th" will become "d" or "s", "v" will become "b". Note however that Koreans alter such consonants and give them "allophonic" values, meaning that they are the same sound but change pronunciation depending whether they are preceded by a consonant, vowel or nothing. "p", "b", "f" and "v" tend to have the same value among Korean speakers as they may say things like "vanana" instead of "banana", "fancake" instead of "pancake" etc. They may also say "Zames" instead of "James" and the like.
WORD FORMATION
Korean is an agglutinative language where parts which have meaning stick together to form words in a regular way. If one combination is word parts is possible in Korean, it is possible for all other words. Explaining this would involve complicated "morphological" analysis so let's just put it this way:
In Korean, 조심-스럽-게, 건강-스럽-게 or 흥미-럽-게 are all possible words (note that 스럽다 becomes 럽다 when preceded by a consonant), as is any adjective with 스럽/럽 and 게. If Koreans know that "care-FUL-LY" is a possible word, they will think it is possible with all adjectives: "health-FUL-LY", "interest-FUL-LY" etc.
GRAMMAR
There are a number of grammar rules that Koreans calque from their native language when they speak English. An example of this would be that Koreans do not need an auxiliary (to be) when an adjective becomes a verb: to be handsome in Korean would be literally "to handsome". In fact Koreans tend to drop the verb "be" all together. Therefore "he's gonna come" becomes "he gonna come" etc.
Koreans also use particles differently, since they are used differently in Korean. For, to, at, from etc. are all used differently from American English. Koreans may say "I gave it for someone" instead of "to someone" etc. because in this case 에게 can sometimes be used in contexts meaning "for" in Korean (ㅇㅇ에게 케익 만들었다= I made cake for someone).
Koreans may add articles to names of people, cities and countries (the Australia, the New York, the James) because in Korean, if you apply a preposition to a noun, it should be applied to all nouns in the context
While Koreans use "the" a lot, the preposition "a" seems to be omitted. Koreans will often say "I am man" or in some cases "I man" (instead of I am a man) or "He works for company" (instead of "he works for a company". That is because in Korean there is no equivalent of the preposition "a".
SEMANTICS AND MEANING
Korean has a lot of loanwords from English which experienced semantic change over the years. Some words were also loaned from British English, from 19th Century American English through Japan or recently from Singapore, and have different meanings in American English today.
Koreans still borrow words from English and use them differently, not because they are stupid, but because they have a different vision of words and life.
Koreans may use "one piece", "hand phone", "overeat" in English sentences to mean "dress", "cell phone" or "throw up". A large number of technical terms were coined in Korean with no equivalent in American English. Americans working in the broadcasting industry in Korea may hear a lot of words they are not familiar with, including "VJ" (video journalist), "announcer" (reporter), "UCC" (video as in youtube video), "NG" (no good, when the scene needs to be shot over again) etc. Koreans use such words when they speak English.
As I argued, they "calque" Korean when they speak English, which is something every human being does when he speaks a second language. Calling Koreans "stupid" for not being able to learn and use English "properly" is equivalent to calling human beings "stupid" for having unsophisticated brains which calque native languages when they speak foreign languages.
The same thing happens when people learn a new language. Foreigners learning Korean tend to think that a lot of the aspects of Korean language are "wrong" and that the way to say things in our language is "right". It is something hidden in the subconscious, but when people learn foreign languages, they tend to use the same grammatical structures, pronunciation, word formation rules and meanings of words as in their native language.
Linguists argue that Korean is a "mirror" language of English. That is, if you put English on a mirror, you will get the Korean word order. Verbs at the end, post-positions instead of prepositions etc.
However, when Koreans speak English, they have their rules, which they think of as best, and when Americans speak Korean they have their rules which they think of as best.
PRONUNCIATION
Korean has different pronunciation rules from English which are as follows:
-There can not be two consonants at the beginning of a word or syllable
Therefore Koreans will add the "eu" (으) sound between consonants at the beginning of a syllable: Christmas becomes "Keurismaseu"
-Some sounds have to be followed by vowels in Korean: ㅎ (h), ㅅ (s), ㅈ (j), ㅊ(ch), ㅌ (t), ㅋ (k) have to be followed by vowels. Therefore, if such sounds are placed at the end of a syllable in English, Koreans will add "eu"(으), and "i"(이) if they are "j" or "ch" sounds at the end of a word: "mask" becomes "maseukeu", "bench" becomes "benchi"
-Some English sounds (mostly consonants)do not exist in Korean. They will therefore either be replaced by Korean consonants or will alter between them.
"f" will tend to become "p", "z" will become "j", "r" will either become "l" or a "flapped r", "th" will become "d" or "s", "v" will become "b". Note however that Koreans alter such consonants and give them "allophonic" values, meaning that they are the same sound but change pronunciation depending whether they are preceded by a consonant, vowel or nothing. "p", "b", "f" and "v" tend to have the same value among Korean speakers as they may say things like "vanana" instead of "banana", "fancake" instead of "pancake" etc. They may also say "Zames" instead of "James" and the like.
WORD FORMATION
Korean is an agglutinative language where parts which have meaning stick together to form words in a regular way. If one combination is word parts is possible in Korean, it is possible for all other words. Explaining this would involve complicated "morphological" analysis so let's just put it this way:
In Korean, 조심-스럽-게, 건강-스럽-게 or 흥미-럽-게 are all possible words (note that 스럽다 becomes 럽다 when preceded by a consonant), as is any adjective with 스럽/럽 and 게. If Koreans know that "care-FUL-LY" is a possible word, they will think it is possible with all adjectives: "health-FUL-LY", "interest-FUL-LY" etc.
GRAMMAR
There are a number of grammar rules that Koreans calque from their native language when they speak English. An example of this would be that Koreans do not need an auxiliary (to be) when an adjective becomes a verb: to be handsome in Korean would be literally "to handsome". In fact Koreans tend to drop the verb "be" all together. Therefore "he's gonna come" becomes "he gonna come" etc.
Koreans also use particles differently, since they are used differently in Korean. For, to, at, from etc. are all used differently from American English. Koreans may say "I gave it for someone" instead of "to someone" etc. because in this case 에게 can sometimes be used in contexts meaning "for" in Korean (ㅇㅇ에게 케익 만들었다= I made cake for someone).
Koreans may add articles to names of people, cities and countries (the Australia, the New York, the James) because in Korean, if you apply a preposition to a noun, it should be applied to all nouns in the context
While Koreans use "the" a lot, the preposition "a" seems to be omitted. Koreans will often say "I am man" or in some cases "I man" (instead of I am a man) or "He works for company" (instead of "he works for a company". That is because in Korean there is no equivalent of the preposition "a".
SEMANTICS AND MEANING
Korean has a lot of loanwords from English which experienced semantic change over the years. Some words were also loaned from British English, from 19th Century American English through Japan or recently from Singapore, and have different meanings in American English today.
Koreans still borrow words from English and use them differently, not because they are stupid, but because they have a different vision of words and life.
Koreans may use "one piece", "hand phone", "overeat" in English sentences to mean "dress", "cell phone" or "throw up". A large number of technical terms were coined in Korean with no equivalent in American English. Americans working in the broadcasting industry in Korea may hear a lot of words they are not familiar with, including "VJ" (video journalist), "announcer" (reporter), "UCC" (video as in youtube video), "NG" (no good, when the scene needs to be shot over again) etc. Koreans use such words when they speak English.
As I argued, they "calque" Korean when they speak English, which is something every human being does when he speaks a second language. Calling Koreans "stupid" for not being able to learn and use English "properly" is equivalent to calling human beings "stupid" for having unsophisticated brains which calque native languages when they speak foreign languages.
Different methods Koreans use to learn English
With the fact that a good TOEFL or TOEIC score will be a decisive factor to getting a job in Korea, Koreans teach their children English as early as pregnancy, and some adults spend every minute of their spare time studying English. Here's how they proceed:
Pregnant women teaching their baby English:
They read their children stories in English, make them listen to tapes in English, watch educational English programs and other English language programs on television. In some cases, they will hire a native speaker to read stories out loud or even have conversations with their to-be-born baby.
Does it work? There is no scientific evidence that a fetus who listens to people speaking any language around them will grow up to speak the language. So far, linguists have demonstrated that language acquisition is a lifetime achievement, but that the crucial stages of language acquisition are between the ages of 8 and 12. That is, languages learned before will be forgotten, languages learned afterward will be spoken with minor grammar mistakes.
Hiring English speaking nannies to talk with babies from 0-5 years old:
They hire nannies and ask them to play with their children so that they can learn English.
Does it work? Depending on how much time the child will spend with the nanny, some English can be learned. But as soon as the nanny will be gone, so will the English.
Making children attend English-language pre-schools:
Some Koreans pay of fortune so that they children can attend kindergarten with teachers from English speaking countries. Since linguists have demonstrated that language acquisition in schools is made through interaction with students and not through that with teachers, and Korean children will spend most of their time speaking Korean to each other. And what five year old child would pay attention to a language class or to a teacher speaking a language he does not understand? Children attending such kindergartens may at most learn a few English words and phrases, but will not be able to build constructive grammatical sentences.
Making elementary school children attend hagwons:
Those children have often reached the crucial age to learn a language: 8-12. They attend English hagwons and take English classes in school, classes which require them to answer standardized questions and check whether they memorized the vocabulary, but where they don't have actual conversations in English.
Does it work? Though children have reached the crucial age to learn a language, once again, languages are learned through interaction with classmates. They may learn a great deal of vocabulary and grammatical structures, but they will only remember them if they use them. If class consists in answering written questions, they will be good at answering questions, period. If class consists in memorizing vocabulary, they will be good at memorizing vocabulary. And if class consists in having conversation in class, they will be good at having conversation inside the classroom, but will not be able to have conversation with an actual English speaker.
Hiring private tutors for children:
Private tutors are expected to help their children with homework and check if they have memorized those lists of grammar or vocabulary. In some cases, they will expect tutors to have conversation with children.
Does it work? It may help children get better grades in school but it will not actually help kids be fluent in English. To be fluent in English, constant interaction with classmates or parents is required.
Sending children to foreign countries:
Some parents send their children to English-speaking countries so that they can learn English. They attend local US, Canadian or Australian schools and interact with local people.
Does it work? Children will learn the language and speak it more or less fluently, depending on how old they were and how long they lived in the country. They will learn the language regardless of their personality. However, they will also learn the culture and start to view some aspects of Korean culture as unacceptable. When they grow up and become adults, they are not likely to live in Korea, and if they do, they will tend to own their own businesses or work in the education sector or any independent job that does not require having to deal with the local culture. Note that children who only spent one year as part of an exchange program will not learn to speak the language fluently.
College students spending a year in an English-speaking country:
Some college students go to English-speaking countries and attend English language institutes for one year or more. They often get their information from Korean websites which recommend schools where there is a large number of Korean students, and will sometimes live in towns where there are large Korean populations.
Does it work? It depends on what ambition those students have in mind. Some will want live in a foreign country, forget about Korean life and interact with English-speaking people without worrying about that TOEFL test they will have to take when they go back to Korea. Such students are often cast out by their Korean circle who considers they betrayed them, and get pressured by their parents to spend less time talking with local people and more time studying to get those grades and that degree. Others keep in mind that they have to get a job in Korea, take standardized tests in Korea, therefore focus on getting good grades without ever talking to foreigners or actually using the language. Finally, some travel to English speaking countries because everyone else does, do not have the TOEFL in mind but do not want to interact with local people either.
Adults attending hagwons:
Adults attend hagwons expecting vocabulary lists that they will memorize. They want native English speakers because such teachers will pronounce words with a standard pronunciation which will help them memorize the word. Others want to learn conversation, understand movies, understand the news etc. but always do so underlining words they don't understand and memorizing them.
Does it work? Hagwon students often focus on vocabulary and grammar rather than on actually speaking the language. Their goal is to expand their vocabulary and expand their understanding of the grammatical structure of English, but not to understand actual conversations in English. Those who have family, friends or spouses who speak English will usually "practice" speaking English with those people rather than attend hagwons.
Adults hiring private tutors:
Adults often hire private tutors to have conversation with them. There are two complementary reasons why adults hire private tutors: in Korean culture, it is a social taboo to have conversation with a person who was not introduced by a third party or who belongs to the same organization.
* Korean people rarely answer adds posted by English speaking individuals. They usually look for a private tutor through their Korean connections who will help them find one they already know and can trust.
The second reason is that there are few native English speakers living in Korea and that it is difficult to sustain lasting contact with native speakers. So the only way to have English conversation is to pay for it.
Does it work? Since tutors are paid to have conversation, they are expected to listen rather than have a two-way conversation. Some individuals are comfortable with foreigners, have two-way conversations, and their conversational English improves dramatically after each session. They also familiarize themselves with the conversation culture of the English native speaker, and actually want to learn more about how to make conversation with foreigners. Others will want the conversation to go their way. Although conversation will make perfect grammatical sense, they will learn "Korean style" English conversation. But students hiring tutors do end up more comfortable speaking English.
Language exchange:
Some individuals will opt for language exchange with a native English speaker. They will have English conversation for a certain amount of time before they switch to Korean.
Does it work? Though language exchange is a great way to practice conversational English, in the end, it is a question of commitment. No money is involved, and both individuals should feel that they are learning the language equally in order to commit to having frequent language exchange sessions. If one feels left out, he will drop out.
Pregnant women teaching their baby English:
They read their children stories in English, make them listen to tapes in English, watch educational English programs and other English language programs on television. In some cases, they will hire a native speaker to read stories out loud or even have conversations with their to-be-born baby.
Does it work? There is no scientific evidence that a fetus who listens to people speaking any language around them will grow up to speak the language. So far, linguists have demonstrated that language acquisition is a lifetime achievement, but that the crucial stages of language acquisition are between the ages of 8 and 12. That is, languages learned before will be forgotten, languages learned afterward will be spoken with minor grammar mistakes.
Hiring English speaking nannies to talk with babies from 0-5 years old:
They hire nannies and ask them to play with their children so that they can learn English.
Does it work? Depending on how much time the child will spend with the nanny, some English can be learned. But as soon as the nanny will be gone, so will the English.
Making children attend English-language pre-schools:
Some Koreans pay of fortune so that they children can attend kindergarten with teachers from English speaking countries. Since linguists have demonstrated that language acquisition in schools is made through interaction with students and not through that with teachers, and Korean children will spend most of their time speaking Korean to each other. And what five year old child would pay attention to a language class or to a teacher speaking a language he does not understand? Children attending such kindergartens may at most learn a few English words and phrases, but will not be able to build constructive grammatical sentences.
Making elementary school children attend hagwons:
Those children have often reached the crucial age to learn a language: 8-12. They attend English hagwons and take English classes in school, classes which require them to answer standardized questions and check whether they memorized the vocabulary, but where they don't have actual conversations in English.
Does it work? Though children have reached the crucial age to learn a language, once again, languages are learned through interaction with classmates. They may learn a great deal of vocabulary and grammatical structures, but they will only remember them if they use them. If class consists in answering written questions, they will be good at answering questions, period. If class consists in memorizing vocabulary, they will be good at memorizing vocabulary. And if class consists in having conversation in class, they will be good at having conversation inside the classroom, but will not be able to have conversation with an actual English speaker.
Hiring private tutors for children:
Private tutors are expected to help their children with homework and check if they have memorized those lists of grammar or vocabulary. In some cases, they will expect tutors to have conversation with children.
Does it work? It may help children get better grades in school but it will not actually help kids be fluent in English. To be fluent in English, constant interaction with classmates or parents is required.
Sending children to foreign countries:
Some parents send their children to English-speaking countries so that they can learn English. They attend local US, Canadian or Australian schools and interact with local people.
Does it work? Children will learn the language and speak it more or less fluently, depending on how old they were and how long they lived in the country. They will learn the language regardless of their personality. However, they will also learn the culture and start to view some aspects of Korean culture as unacceptable. When they grow up and become adults, they are not likely to live in Korea, and if they do, they will tend to own their own businesses or work in the education sector or any independent job that does not require having to deal with the local culture. Note that children who only spent one year as part of an exchange program will not learn to speak the language fluently.
College students spending a year in an English-speaking country:
Some college students go to English-speaking countries and attend English language institutes for one year or more. They often get their information from Korean websites which recommend schools where there is a large number of Korean students, and will sometimes live in towns where there are large Korean populations.
Does it work? It depends on what ambition those students have in mind. Some will want live in a foreign country, forget about Korean life and interact with English-speaking people without worrying about that TOEFL test they will have to take when they go back to Korea. Such students are often cast out by their Korean circle who considers they betrayed them, and get pressured by their parents to spend less time talking with local people and more time studying to get those grades and that degree. Others keep in mind that they have to get a job in Korea, take standardized tests in Korea, therefore focus on getting good grades without ever talking to foreigners or actually using the language. Finally, some travel to English speaking countries because everyone else does, do not have the TOEFL in mind but do not want to interact with local people either.
Adults attending hagwons:
Adults attend hagwons expecting vocabulary lists that they will memorize. They want native English speakers because such teachers will pronounce words with a standard pronunciation which will help them memorize the word. Others want to learn conversation, understand movies, understand the news etc. but always do so underlining words they don't understand and memorizing them.
Does it work? Hagwon students often focus on vocabulary and grammar rather than on actually speaking the language. Their goal is to expand their vocabulary and expand their understanding of the grammatical structure of English, but not to understand actual conversations in English. Those who have family, friends or spouses who speak English will usually "practice" speaking English with those people rather than attend hagwons.
Adults hiring private tutors:
Adults often hire private tutors to have conversation with them. There are two complementary reasons why adults hire private tutors: in Korean culture, it is a social taboo to have conversation with a person who was not introduced by a third party or who belongs to the same organization.
* Korean people rarely answer adds posted by English speaking individuals. They usually look for a private tutor through their Korean connections who will help them find one they already know and can trust.
The second reason is that there are few native English speakers living in Korea and that it is difficult to sustain lasting contact with native speakers. So the only way to have English conversation is to pay for it.
Does it work? Since tutors are paid to have conversation, they are expected to listen rather than have a two-way conversation. Some individuals are comfortable with foreigners, have two-way conversations, and their conversational English improves dramatically after each session. They also familiarize themselves with the conversation culture of the English native speaker, and actually want to learn more about how to make conversation with foreigners. Others will want the conversation to go their way. Although conversation will make perfect grammatical sense, they will learn "Korean style" English conversation. But students hiring tutors do end up more comfortable speaking English.
Language exchange:
Some individuals will opt for language exchange with a native English speaker. They will have English conversation for a certain amount of time before they switch to Korean.
Does it work? Though language exchange is a great way to practice conversational English, in the end, it is a question of commitment. No money is involved, and both individuals should feel that they are learning the language equally in order to commit to having frequent language exchange sessions. If one feels left out, he will drop out.
Konglish politics
I hear some people here and there blame Koreans for using English loanwords or for using "bad" English in sign boards and speaking "bad" English.
Regarding English loanwords in Korean, it has been argued that the words do no have the same meaning in English, that English and Korean are unrelated languages therefore Korean should borrow or use words that are only derived from related languages.
I would like to start by saying that approximately 65% Korean words are derived from old Chinese. Chinese and Korean are not related languages, and are as unrelated as English and Korean. Chinese is an analytical language, a language in which each syllable has a meaning. Korean however is an agglutinative language, a language where chunks of words "stick" together to form longer words or grammatical elements. Therefore in Chinese, a word like 알밥 (a dish made up of rice and fish eggs) could be broken down into two words, 알 and 밥, meaning eggs and rice. However, a word like 하나, which is a Korean word meaning one, can not be broken down into syllables. Most importantly, Chinese is a Sinitic language which evolved in China, while Korean is most probably an Altaic language which evolved in a part of what is today Russia.
*There are a lot of French loanwords in English, yet French and English are only very distantly related... both are Indo-European languages, but French is a Romance language and English a Germanic language. There are lots of Yiddish loanwords in Hebrew yet to the surprise of many Yiddish and Hebrew are not related at all. Actually, Yiddish is related to English as they are both Germanic languages, whereas Hebrew is a Semitic language of the larger Afro-Asiatic family of languages. Japanese and Korean are related but both languages are not related to Chinese. Therefore some languages can loanwords from other languages without impairing the language.
Being Jewish or having slanted eyes does not automatically qualify people to speak related languages.
As for "incorrect" use of English, we first have to define what the "correct" form of English is. British English? American English? What about inner city English or Ebonics? Politicians widely agree on the fact that "correct" English is upper middle class White English, because they are usually themselves upper middle class white people. However, linguists agree that all forms of English spoken by people as their first language are correct forms of English. Konglish may not be a correct form of English but it certainly is a correct form of Konglish.
However I must say that since Korean people usually read Korean signboards and that only those who don't speak Korean read signboards in English, Koreans should write their signboard in English rather than Konglish. But, hiring native English speakers to proofread Konglish is an investment that authorities are not willing to make. After all still relatively few foreigners come to Korea, and even fewer speak English.
Let's just say that according to the Korea Immigration Office Website, out of 873,000 foreigners registered in Korea, 806,000 are from Asian countries, a large majority from countries where English is not even spoken as a second language. So the sign boards in English are for the minority of People who are likely to speak English as their first or second language. If I had to write signboard for 50,000 people out of a population of 48 million, I would not put too much effort into them. With 350,000 of the foreigners, or almost half, being Chinese, there should perhaps be more signboards in Chinese. However, it is important for Koreans not to offend their English speaking investors, which is probably why there are English signboards in the first place.
Regarding English loanwords in Korean, it has been argued that the words do no have the same meaning in English, that English and Korean are unrelated languages therefore Korean should borrow or use words that are only derived from related languages.
I would like to start by saying that approximately 65% Korean words are derived from old Chinese. Chinese and Korean are not related languages, and are as unrelated as English and Korean. Chinese is an analytical language, a language in which each syllable has a meaning. Korean however is an agglutinative language, a language where chunks of words "stick" together to form longer words or grammatical elements. Therefore in Chinese, a word like 알밥 (a dish made up of rice and fish eggs) could be broken down into two words, 알 and 밥, meaning eggs and rice. However, a word like 하나, which is a Korean word meaning one, can not be broken down into syllables. Most importantly, Chinese is a Sinitic language which evolved in China, while Korean is most probably an Altaic language which evolved in a part of what is today Russia.
*There are a lot of French loanwords in English, yet French and English are only very distantly related... both are Indo-European languages, but French is a Romance language and English a Germanic language. There are lots of Yiddish loanwords in Hebrew yet to the surprise of many Yiddish and Hebrew are not related at all. Actually, Yiddish is related to English as they are both Germanic languages, whereas Hebrew is a Semitic language of the larger Afro-Asiatic family of languages. Japanese and Korean are related but both languages are not related to Chinese. Therefore some languages can loanwords from other languages without impairing the language.
Being Jewish or having slanted eyes does not automatically qualify people to speak related languages.
As for "incorrect" use of English, we first have to define what the "correct" form of English is. British English? American English? What about inner city English or Ebonics? Politicians widely agree on the fact that "correct" English is upper middle class White English, because they are usually themselves upper middle class white people. However, linguists agree that all forms of English spoken by people as their first language are correct forms of English. Konglish may not be a correct form of English but it certainly is a correct form of Konglish.
However I must say that since Korean people usually read Korean signboards and that only those who don't speak Korean read signboards in English, Koreans should write their signboard in English rather than Konglish. But, hiring native English speakers to proofread Konglish is an investment that authorities are not willing to make. After all still relatively few foreigners come to Korea, and even fewer speak English.
Let's just say that according to the Korea Immigration Office Website, out of 873,000 foreigners registered in Korea, 806,000 are from Asian countries, a large majority from countries where English is not even spoken as a second language. So the sign boards in English are for the minority of People who are likely to speak English as their first or second language. If I had to write signboard for 50,000 people out of a population of 48 million, I would not put too much effort into them. With 350,000 of the foreigners, or almost half, being Chinese, there should perhaps be more signboards in Chinese. However, it is important for Koreans not to offend their English speaking investors, which is probably why there are English signboards in the first place.
Explaning Konglish
Some foreigners complain that English loanwords in Korean do not have the same meaning in English. Korean is not the only language where loanwords evolve, they do in all languages. Promiscuity means what it means in English, but the word was borrowed from French where it means "proximity".
Therefore Koreans have the right to use whatever word they want to use what they want to describe in their language. If they want to call their cell phone a "hand phone", foreigners have no right to tell them to start using "cell phone" or to use the Korean term hyudae chonhwa, as much as the French have no right to tell Americans to mean "proximity" when they say "promiscuity".
Without being too political, "hand phone" is not Konglish when it is used in a Korean sentence, nor is it "code-switching". It is a term that is now a full member of the Korean language, and Koreans treat it as one.
What is Konglish then? Konglish is a "sublanguage", a language spoken by many as a second language but by few or no people as a first language. It is a language with grammar rules, words and everything else languages have, but those rules differ from any other type of language and the language is therefore called Konglish.
Since Koreans interact relatively little with native English speakers, the arising of this sublanguage was inevitable. The language is a mixture of English and Korean patterns. It may sound cute to some foreigners, or be a sign of ignorance to others, it will nontheless be very difficult to teach Koreans not speak Konglish and to speak American English or whatever English instead.
When speaking a foreign language, foreigners calque their native language. This means that they will use the conversation etiquette I described in previous posts, and ask the same kinds of questions that they ask foreigners, use the same appellations, titles, respect forms etc.
Since it is inconceivable for Koreans to call a teacher by his first name, they will call him "teacher" regardless of the language they speak. Therefore if you are an English teacher in Korea, most students will call you "teacher". They will also use Korean expressions in their cultural context, so when they ask you about your kibun they will ask you "how is your feeling".
English loanwords which experienced semantic change in Korean will be used when speaking Konglish. For example, words like "announcer" (anchor), "one piece" (dress) or "live English" (colloquial English) will be used by Korean English speakers.
Other rules include drooping the final -s plural marker when it is phonetically a [z] sound("two car" instead of "two cars", but "two cats" and not "two cat") dropping the auxiliary "to be" ("no one there" instead of "no one was there" or "if you wanna pretty" instead of "if you wanna be pretty" etc.) and many many other rules.
Asking Koreans to switch from Konglish to American English would be like asking Americans to switch from American to British English. Remember, Korean people's intention is not to make lots of American friends or to be more Americanized, but to get a decent TOEFL score and get a decent job.
Therefore Koreans have the right to use whatever word they want to use what they want to describe in their language. If they want to call their cell phone a "hand phone", foreigners have no right to tell them to start using "cell phone" or to use the Korean term hyudae chonhwa, as much as the French have no right to tell Americans to mean "proximity" when they say "promiscuity".
Without being too political, "hand phone" is not Konglish when it is used in a Korean sentence, nor is it "code-switching". It is a term that is now a full member of the Korean language, and Koreans treat it as one.
What is Konglish then? Konglish is a "sublanguage", a language spoken by many as a second language but by few or no people as a first language. It is a language with grammar rules, words and everything else languages have, but those rules differ from any other type of language and the language is therefore called Konglish.
Since Koreans interact relatively little with native English speakers, the arising of this sublanguage was inevitable. The language is a mixture of English and Korean patterns. It may sound cute to some foreigners, or be a sign of ignorance to others, it will nontheless be very difficult to teach Koreans not speak Konglish and to speak American English or whatever English instead.
When speaking a foreign language, foreigners calque their native language. This means that they will use the conversation etiquette I described in previous posts, and ask the same kinds of questions that they ask foreigners, use the same appellations, titles, respect forms etc.
Since it is inconceivable for Koreans to call a teacher by his first name, they will call him "teacher" regardless of the language they speak. Therefore if you are an English teacher in Korea, most students will call you "teacher". They will also use Korean expressions in their cultural context, so when they ask you about your kibun they will ask you "how is your feeling".
English loanwords which experienced semantic change in Korean will be used when speaking Konglish. For example, words like "announcer" (anchor), "one piece" (dress) or "live English" (colloquial English) will be used by Korean English speakers.
Other rules include drooping the final -s plural marker when it is phonetically a [z] sound("two car" instead of "two cars", but "two cats" and not "two cat") dropping the auxiliary "to be" ("no one there" instead of "no one was there" or "if you wanna pretty" instead of "if you wanna be pretty" etc.) and many many other rules.
Asking Koreans to switch from Konglish to American English would be like asking Americans to switch from American to British English. Remember, Korean people's intention is not to make lots of American friends or to be more Americanized, but to get a decent TOEFL score and get a decent job.
Why Koreans learn English
A lot of Koreans learn English. They put a lot of time, money and efforts in learning the language. However, to native English speaker's eye's, Koreans do not speak as fluently as they should after having invested all those efforts. Many view this as a problem, a national disaster, a tragedy. However I will argue that it's not.
First we need to ask the question of why Koreans learn English. As I argued in the previous post, if you ask Koreans why they study English, they are likely to say because they have to get good scores at standardized English tests in order to get a good job, get admission from universities in English-speaking countries, or get a promotion at work. Those who want to learn English to communicate with their English speaking friends don't attend hagwons, they hang out with English speaking friends. Those who want to learn English to understand Hollywood movies don't go to hagwons, they download Hollywood movies. So if you're an English teacher at a hagwon, your students are most likely studying English to nail that TOEFL, TOEIC or TEPS which will get them their dream job.
Though tests like the TOEFL do have a speaking section, that speaking section is very predictable and Koreans found a way to study for it. Rather than spending time having conversation with English speakers to improve their skills in a language they don't like speaking, they memorize sample answers (sometimes as many as 500-1,000 sample answers) and use the sample sentences during the test. What they are looking for is a good score, not the ability to prove that they can speak good English.
In class, they do not learn English because they want to communicate with foreigners. The Korean job market is very competitive and chitchatting with foreigners is considered a waste of time that could be gained studying for other standardized tests or doing something that would look nice on the resume.
In fact, some people prepare their children to take standardized tests from a very early age. Foreign language high schools are very prestigious, and an excellent TOEFL score may guarantee admission to one of those schools. Others want their children to be familiar with the TOEFL so that they achieve excellent scores when they become adults. The important thing is getting a good job in the future, not being regarded as a "cool guy" by native English speakers.
So why the TOEFL? Why not design a Korean language test that would be designed to fail those who did not perform well? Koreans are very cooperative when it comes to tips on how to improve scores in standardized tests. There are online lectures, books, websites that know every trick in the book to get a perfect score in a standardized test. However, when it comes to foreign languages, people have to start from scratch and to use a very methodical approach to study languages. And while one can easily ace a test in his native language without being too disciplined, studying for foreign language tests requires discipline.
Standardized tests use a form of language which can not be acquired through chatting with friends or enjoying cultural products. They use academic language, the kind of language you will find in academic publications and conferences, a language that even native speakers can have trouble with. In fact without familiarizing one's self with the TOEFL or TOEIC formats, even a native speaker may get a low score.
Recently the Korean government has promised to focus high school tests more on speaking ability that on writing ability. However, without conversing with actual native speakers, high school students will be likely to speak using sentences that they memorized from a book or write down what they will say first, and their objective will remain obtaining a high score to enter prestigious universities, and not interaction with foreigners.
So why don't Koreans want to learn languages to talk with foreigners. I hear a lot of people say that it is because of Korean culture, Confucianism or what not... But I see it as a question ambitions. Koreans have a difficult time remaining competitive within their own community, and they would be even less competitive in foreign countries where they have to beat the language barrier, the cultural barrier and racial stereotypes in addition traditional competition.
The bottom line is many Koreans attending hagwons have no intention to be closer to foreigners. They face tough competition at home, since they have a small country with few natural resources, all speak the same language, and are geographically a landlocked country. Since they all speak the same language and all have access to the same products, and with little diversity in the economy, jobs are all pretty much the same. The only difference that will determine whether they are competitive or not is how well they score in tests, not how well they get along with foreigners.
First we need to ask the question of why Koreans learn English. As I argued in the previous post, if you ask Koreans why they study English, they are likely to say because they have to get good scores at standardized English tests in order to get a good job, get admission from universities in English-speaking countries, or get a promotion at work. Those who want to learn English to communicate with their English speaking friends don't attend hagwons, they hang out with English speaking friends. Those who want to learn English to understand Hollywood movies don't go to hagwons, they download Hollywood movies. So if you're an English teacher at a hagwon, your students are most likely studying English to nail that TOEFL, TOEIC or TEPS which will get them their dream job.
Though tests like the TOEFL do have a speaking section, that speaking section is very predictable and Koreans found a way to study for it. Rather than spending time having conversation with English speakers to improve their skills in a language they don't like speaking, they memorize sample answers (sometimes as many as 500-1,000 sample answers) and use the sample sentences during the test. What they are looking for is a good score, not the ability to prove that they can speak good English.
In class, they do not learn English because they want to communicate with foreigners. The Korean job market is very competitive and chitchatting with foreigners is considered a waste of time that could be gained studying for other standardized tests or doing something that would look nice on the resume.
In fact, some people prepare their children to take standardized tests from a very early age. Foreign language high schools are very prestigious, and an excellent TOEFL score may guarantee admission to one of those schools. Others want their children to be familiar with the TOEFL so that they achieve excellent scores when they become adults. The important thing is getting a good job in the future, not being regarded as a "cool guy" by native English speakers.
So why the TOEFL? Why not design a Korean language test that would be designed to fail those who did not perform well? Koreans are very cooperative when it comes to tips on how to improve scores in standardized tests. There are online lectures, books, websites that know every trick in the book to get a perfect score in a standardized test. However, when it comes to foreign languages, people have to start from scratch and to use a very methodical approach to study languages. And while one can easily ace a test in his native language without being too disciplined, studying for foreign language tests requires discipline.
Standardized tests use a form of language which can not be acquired through chatting with friends or enjoying cultural products. They use academic language, the kind of language you will find in academic publications and conferences, a language that even native speakers can have trouble with. In fact without familiarizing one's self with the TOEFL or TOEIC formats, even a native speaker may get a low score.
Recently the Korean government has promised to focus high school tests more on speaking ability that on writing ability. However, without conversing with actual native speakers, high school students will be likely to speak using sentences that they memorized from a book or write down what they will say first, and their objective will remain obtaining a high score to enter prestigious universities, and not interaction with foreigners.
So why don't Koreans want to learn languages to talk with foreigners. I hear a lot of people say that it is because of Korean culture, Confucianism or what not... But I see it as a question ambitions. Koreans have a difficult time remaining competitive within their own community, and they would be even less competitive in foreign countries where they have to beat the language barrier, the cultural barrier and racial stereotypes in addition traditional competition.
The bottom line is many Koreans attending hagwons have no intention to be closer to foreigners. They face tough competition at home, since they have a small country with few natural resources, all speak the same language, and are geographically a landlocked country. Since they all speak the same language and all have access to the same products, and with little diversity in the economy, jobs are all pretty much the same. The only difference that will determine whether they are competitive or not is how well they score in tests, not how well they get along with foreigners.
Foreign languages in Korea
Over the past few years, Korea has become an industrialized country with a globally competitive economy. This means that an increasing number of foreign companies are investing in Korea and many Korean companies are investing abroad. There is also an increasingly large number of foreigners in Korea and of Koreans going abroad.
Those foreigners living in Korea and Koreans who work with foreigners may learn of foreign language. Foreigners try to learn Korean (although an increasing number of foreigners are attending Korean hagwons to learn English or other foreign languages) and Koreans usually learn English, all though languages like Chinese and Japanese are also very popular.
People wonder why studying English in particular has become so popular in Korea. Well the Korean job market is very competitive. And Korea is still a relatively homogeneous country. Therefore most job applicants look alike and have similar backgrounds. Just like graduate schools in the US have lots of applicants with similar backgrounds who may have their sample papers and SOPs carefully proofread, one thing they can not cheat with is a standardized test like the GRE, therefore many schools require the GRE as an additional factor to select students. In Korea, it used to be very hard to select job applicants since they all did well in their applications. However, standardized English test scores have become a good way to select students, as some do well and others don't.
Standardized TOEFL, TOEIC etc. tests in Korea are only a way to select job applicants from a shorter pool of applicants, as those who did not perform well will be eliminated. Companies have no interest in the actual ability of applicants to speak English, although some may also carry out interviews in English. As more and more Korean students perform well on English standardized tests in Korea, some companies have required ridiculously high TOEFL scores as a precondition for recruitment: a 100 score in the TOEFL (out of 120) when most ivy league schools in the United States only require 70 or 80.
So why study English in Korea. Studying a foreign language is motivated by a need. Some need English for economic reasons (getting a job, making money) others for "kinship" reasons (fitting in a foreign community). Most Westerners studying Korean do so to fit in with Koreans (but not all, many study Korean for economic reasons) while most Koreans study English, because as I just said, it is a precondition to getting a good job.
Here are the main differences in behavior between those who learn English for economic reasons and those who learn it to fit in:
ECONOMIC REASONS (MOTIVATED BY MONEY)
-Have a very negative approach towards learning the language
-Refuse to speak the language unless they are forced to
-Always carry textbooks with them
-Refuse to say anything that is not in the textbook
-Memorize lists of words
-Practice grammar with grammar textbooks
-Tend to get very good grades in class
-Insist that writing is more important than speaking
-Insist that "they don't speak the language very well"
-Dislike being corrected but constantly ask themselves and other people "am I speaking properly?"
-Do not talk in class if they are not asked a question
-Give very short answers when asked a question
-May ask teachers lots of questions about the meanings of certain words or grammar
-Very nervous when they speak, may sweat, blink constantly, refuse to look at the person
-Are very careful when they speak and speak very systematically
KINSHIP REASONS (MOTIVATED BY TRYING TO FIT IN)
-Have a very positive approach towards learning the language
-Try to hang out with as many people who speak the language as possible
-Make lots of comments in class
-Only study before the exam, if at all
-Think speaking is more important than writing
-Tend to perform poorly at exams but still pass
-Enjoy the language's cultural products (foreigners in Korea may enjoy watching Korean movies, Koreans may enjoy watching channels like "on style")
-Like to tell jokes, are very relaxed when they speak the language
-Their relaxation means that they are more prone to "cute" mistakes which will not impair intelligibility
-Confident or overconfident with their language skills and highly dislike being corrected
-dislike being reminded that the foreign language is their second language
So yes, most Koreans study English to get good TOEFL scores and know that they may never use English when they get their actual job. Just like students applying for graduate schools in the US memorizing GRE words that they know they may never use once they get admission.
Those foreigners living in Korea and Koreans who work with foreigners may learn of foreign language. Foreigners try to learn Korean (although an increasing number of foreigners are attending Korean hagwons to learn English or other foreign languages) and Koreans usually learn English, all though languages like Chinese and Japanese are also very popular.
People wonder why studying English in particular has become so popular in Korea. Well the Korean job market is very competitive. And Korea is still a relatively homogeneous country. Therefore most job applicants look alike and have similar backgrounds. Just like graduate schools in the US have lots of applicants with similar backgrounds who may have their sample papers and SOPs carefully proofread, one thing they can not cheat with is a standardized test like the GRE, therefore many schools require the GRE as an additional factor to select students. In Korea, it used to be very hard to select job applicants since they all did well in their applications. However, standardized English test scores have become a good way to select students, as some do well and others don't.
Standardized TOEFL, TOEIC etc. tests in Korea are only a way to select job applicants from a shorter pool of applicants, as those who did not perform well will be eliminated. Companies have no interest in the actual ability of applicants to speak English, although some may also carry out interviews in English. As more and more Korean students perform well on English standardized tests in Korea, some companies have required ridiculously high TOEFL scores as a precondition for recruitment: a 100 score in the TOEFL (out of 120) when most ivy league schools in the United States only require 70 or 80.
So why study English in Korea. Studying a foreign language is motivated by a need. Some need English for economic reasons (getting a job, making money) others for "kinship" reasons (fitting in a foreign community). Most Westerners studying Korean do so to fit in with Koreans (but not all, many study Korean for economic reasons) while most Koreans study English, because as I just said, it is a precondition to getting a good job.
Here are the main differences in behavior between those who learn English for economic reasons and those who learn it to fit in:
ECONOMIC REASONS (MOTIVATED BY MONEY)
-Have a very negative approach towards learning the language
-Refuse to speak the language unless they are forced to
-Always carry textbooks with them
-Refuse to say anything that is not in the textbook
-Memorize lists of words
-Practice grammar with grammar textbooks
-Tend to get very good grades in class
-Insist that writing is more important than speaking
-Insist that "they don't speak the language very well"
-Dislike being corrected but constantly ask themselves and other people "am I speaking properly?"
-Do not talk in class if they are not asked a question
-Give very short answers when asked a question
-May ask teachers lots of questions about the meanings of certain words or grammar
-Very nervous when they speak, may sweat, blink constantly, refuse to look at the person
-Are very careful when they speak and speak very systematically
KINSHIP REASONS (MOTIVATED BY TRYING TO FIT IN)
-Have a very positive approach towards learning the language
-Try to hang out with as many people who speak the language as possible
-Make lots of comments in class
-Only study before the exam, if at all
-Think speaking is more important than writing
-Tend to perform poorly at exams but still pass
-Enjoy the language's cultural products (foreigners in Korea may enjoy watching Korean movies, Koreans may enjoy watching channels like "on style")
-Like to tell jokes, are very relaxed when they speak the language
-Their relaxation means that they are more prone to "cute" mistakes which will not impair intelligibility
-Confident or overconfident with their language skills and highly dislike being corrected
-dislike being reminded that the foreign language is their second language
So yes, most Koreans study English to get good TOEFL scores and know that they may never use English when they get their actual job. Just like students applying for graduate schools in the US memorizing GRE words that they know they may never use once they get admission.
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