Left Flank

I agree with much of Jin Jung-kwon's comments reported in a Chosun Daily article, aside from some of the most sensational rhetoric in the second graph.

He said it was all very well helping students get a better education in English, «but committee members seem to believe that only when students have good command of English will the country become competitive." The reality does not bear this out, he argued. "The Philippines is one of the countries where people can speak English best in Asia, and it's hard to make yourself understood in English in Japan. But compare these two countries and see which is more competitive.

"Of course, nobody can say that a good command of foreign languages isn't helpful to enhancing national competitiveness. But it's not a decisive factor either. Those who need English should study the language hard, while others should study their own majors harder than English. That is how you boost national competitiveness."

He asked how many people in Korea actually meet foreigners and work in a foreign language, and how often they do so in a year. «Students can lag behind in technologies and major courses if they concentrate only on studying English,» he warned. He said the committee's plan to introduce English «immersion» education in 2010, was pie-in-the-sky. "It would be very hard for all current school teachers to participate in such immersion education even if they were given English language training in the U.S. and did nothing else for two full years."

I especially liked the Japan/Philippines comparison!

I ran into a bit of a dizzying moment today, when discussing the recent transition committee proposals on education, students started conflating "learning English" with " learning American-style". Along with the usual canard about globalization and competitiveness, I asked the class what "learning American-style" meant, and how did it compare to "learning Korean-style".

The answer in three separate classes: "American-style" = "free talking"—literally where the teacher prompts students to talk English amongst themselves uninterrupted, with "help" in individual cases. I told them, that "free talk" did not exist in America as they understood. It seems students are so annoyed by South Korean teachers reading composed lectures, that they want as different a learning style as possible.

Students don't need English; they need jobs and better teachers. That requires economic growth and structural reform, not worthless bureaucratic mandates.