영문학(과) 교수의 역할과 가르치는 일에 대한 반성

A Reflection on the Job of English Professor and Teaching English

  As a personal reflection upon the pedagogical role of English professors in Korea, this essay suggests that more ingenuity and effort should be invested in teaching language and literature. Because English departments in Korea have been facing a severe criticism from the society on their ineffectiveness in teaching the language, Quite a few efforts are made to revamp the programs and curriculum, not to mention teaching methods. While keeping in mind such on-going structural transformations, this paper ruminates upon what an individual professor of English can and should do to meet the societal expectation for the program. First, this essay puts strong emphasis on the importance of teaching well the English language in the classroom of literature. Second, literature professors are encouraged to rejuvenate the meaning of learning and teaching about literary texts to the extent that students can invent, reform, and communicate themselves through the experience of reading the literary texts. Third, the concept of literature should be redefined and its boundary must be redrawn so that a variety of written materials could be included for literary studies in English department. Fourth, English professors must overcome the wide-spread parochialism in and outside of department. With these suggestions, this essay point out the ways in which we can re-configure the role of English professors in Korean universities.