'English Fever' in South Korea: Its History and Symptoms
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‘English fever’ in South Korea: its history and symptoms JIN-KYU PARK ‘Education fever’ drives the demand for English in South Korea today Introduction themselves call ‘education fever’ (kyoyukyeol) or ‘national obsession with the attainment of One professor of politics has recently deplored education’ (Seth, 2002:9). ‘This preoccupation the current pursuit of ‘English education’ with the pursuit of formal schooling,’ according (yeongeokyoyuk) in South Korea as a ‘collective to Seth, ‘was the product of the diffusion of neurosis of English fever’ (Y-M. Kim, 2002). traditional Confucian attitudes toward learning What has brought this current English boom to and status, new egalitarian ideas introduced South Korea? It can be traced back to the from the West, and the complex, often traditional ‘education fever’ (kyoyukyeol) or contradictory ways in which new and old ideas ‘preoccupation with education’ (Seth, 2002). and formulations interacted’ (p. 6). As ‘a way of The English boom resulting from the Korean achieving status and power’ as well as ‘a means education fever has led to a strong antipathy of self-cultivation,’ most Koreans agree, toward Koreans – even in English-speaking education in South Korea has been valued for countries. centuries (Seth, 2002:9). In addition, modern This article explains how the current English egalitarian ideas from the West, along with the boom in South Korea has been founded on the collapse of traditional social classes after the long tradition of education fever in the country, Japanese occupation in the early twentieth and why more and more Korean children are century has driven the country to suffer from sent abroad to learn the English language. In new and more intense ‘education fever.’ addition, I also attempt to show the connection These days, owing to the collapse of the tra- between this English boom and an associated ditional class system, there is a belief that antipathy toward the Korean language and virtually any Korean can advance himself Korean speakers in English-speaking countries. through his own efforts. Education is seen as the most powerful means to achieve upward ‘Education fever’ and English social mobility and economic prosperity, and many Korean parents believe that they can help These days, a huge amount of money is being spent on ‘English education’ (yeongeokyoyuk) in South Korea every year. Children as young as JIN-KYU PARK is currently five years as well as school-age students are working as a research studying English until late at night in tens of professor and instructor at thousands of cramming schools (hagwon). A Korea University and great number of children are being sent to Kyunghee University in South foreign countries for the purpose of ‘English Korea. His research interest education’ and the number is increasing year by includes early study-abroad, year. bilingualism, gifted education This current English boom in South Korea is and teacher training. Email: considered to have its roots in what Koreans [email protected] doi:10.1017/S026607840900008X 50 English Today 97, Vol. 25, No. 1 (March 2009). Printed in the United Kingdom © 2009 Cambridge University Press http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 19 Jan 2010 IP address: 140.233.93.85 their children succeed by emphasizing, and exam-obsessed culture in the world’ (Seth, even imposing, education for their children. 2002:5). Although this ‘education fever’ has This current excessive pursuit of ‘intense, all- reduced the illiteracy rate of South Korea to or-nothing competition’ in South Korea almost zero, the ‘education fever’ as a form of (Vitello, 2006) is similar to the efforts of ‘the ‘the relentless competition to score well on transgenerational reproduction’ by the North entrance exams’ has been a major force in American white middle class (Griffith & Smith, shaping the country’s educational 2005:28). The Korean mothers in the education development, producing such problems as fever who have reached the middle class ‘great financial hardship for millions of through education are also ‘married, college- Koreans and many anomalies in both the educated, suburban women with school-age educational system and the general economy’ children,’ who are quite similar to American (Seth, 2002:5–6). ‘soccer moms’ (Weisberg, 1996). A typical The amount of money spent on education in Korean ‘soccer mom’ can be defined – along 2006 reached up to 20 trillion won or with her American counterpart – as ‘a well- approximately $20 billion, according to a heeled super-parent whose primary mission in Korean daily newspaper The Hankyoreh (C-S. life is to do too much for her children,’ a defini- Park, 2007). Korean parents ‘invest’ a large tion Weisberg (1996) quotes from a South Car- portion of their income on their children’s olina newspaper. education. The education includes all extracur- These Korean ‘soccer moms’ have produced a ricular lessons, such as cram schools (hagwon), different kind of inequality by arranging extra private tutoring (kwaoe), English camps teaching for their children outside school, and (yeongeocamp), and even language training kwaoe, or ‘private tutoring and out-of-school abroad (haewoeyonsu). More than half of the lessons,’ is now widespread throughout South money is being spent on ‘English education’ Korea. According to Seth (2002), kwaoe is the (yeongeokyoyuk). According to a recent report, greatest single factor in the escalating price of the estimated amount spent on ‘English schooling, placing a big financial burden on education’ in 2005 reached up to 15 trillion Korean families, and undermining the policy of won (nearly $ 15 billion), including the money egalitarian access to education (Seth, spent for tests of English (H-C. Chun & H-S. 2002:185). Choi, 2006). This is a huge increase when ‘In ensuring the transmission of middle-class compared to the around 10 trillion won (nearly status to their children,’ the new Korean $10 billion) spent in 2000 (E-A. Cho, 2006). middle-class parents, quite similar to the Unfortunately, this expensive investment in American middle-class parents, are inclined to English education has never been regarded by ‘rely on educational institutions that would Koreans as satisfactory or, more precisely, secure the appropriate credentials’ (Griffith & efficient. Compared with Japan, South Korea Smith, 2005:22). A recent newspaper article spent almost three times more money on reported on what these Korean ‘soccer moms’ English education, but, in spite of this, the do for their children (J-Y. Kim, 2007), including average TOEFL scores for South Korean exam- paying one million won (nearly $1,000) a inees ranked 93rd out of 147 countries in 2004 month to English-immersion schools where and 2005. This means that there is a ‘high-cost their 5- to 6-year-old children learn English and low-efficiency’ in the English education of from native speakers of English. When their Koreans (H-C. Chun & H-S. Choi, 2006). This children become elementary school students, self-evaluated low competence in English has they travel with their children to an English- become ‘a concern for government and speaking country for a couple of years. Cru- industry, which feared a linguistic handicap cially, the focus of these parental practices is on that would hurt the international their children’s ‘educational entry into higher competitiveness of Korean firms’ (Seth, levels of schooling and prestigious institutions’ 2002:190). In turn, this concern has added (Seth, 2002:5). fuel to the education fever in South Korea, bringing about another more negative social phenomenon, ‘English fever,’ a term coined by The cost of education Krashen (2003), so much so that English has Parental practices in securing education for now become ‘a class marker’ (S-J. Park & N. their children has made South Korea ‘the most Abelmann, 2004:646). ‘ENGLISH FEVER’ IN SOUTH KOREA: ITS HISTORY AND SYMPTOMS 51 http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 19 Jan 2010 IP address: 140.233.93.85 1996). Parents then began sending their The English boom in South Korea children to English-speaking countries to gain an What, then, has brought about the current advantage over other students. Until then, this boom of English-related social practices includ- movement had not been as big a social issue ing ‘early study-abroad’? Historically, there are because only a privileged few with wealth and three main sources for this current emphasis on power had been able to afford such services for oral language competence in English and their children. associated ‘early study-abroad’: government The rather extreme practices of Korean policy changes, social and economic changes, parents in securing early English education for and increasing influence of communicative their children have been reported not only in teaching methods in academia. Korea, but also abroad. For example, Korean Most important of all, the Korean government parents gained notoriety for an extreme has played a critical role in creating the current practice known as ‘linguistic surgery’. In an English boom. In the late 1990s, experts argued article in the Los Angeles Times, Demick (2002) for the introduction of English listening tests in reported examples of Korean parents forcing the entrance examinations (e.g., J-H. Jung, their children to undergo a frenectomy, a 1990). This was also closely related to the surgical procedure to correct a condition English-only trend in academia, which will be popularly known as ‘tongue-tiedness’. These discussed below. In January 1991, the Korean Korean parents believed that the longer and government decided to include English listening more flexible tongue produced by the surgery tests into the national college entrance could better produce English sounds such as examinations (Donga Ilbo, 1991), which moved the ‘r’ in ‘rice,’ which is often pronounced by Korean parents to start pushing their children to Koreans as ‘lice.’ improve their listening skills in preparation for Other driving forces in the English boom were these new tests.