몰입교육을 시행하면 사교육이 증가하는가?

One of the biggest concerns with regard to the immersion education initiative in Korea has been a possible increase in private education expenses. The present study investigated 1) the extent to which this concern is justified based on the responses of parents to a questionnaire regarding whether they would increase their spending on private education if immersion is implemented and 2) the extent to which parents understand immersion education in terms of which languages are used as a medium of instruction. The study surveyed '572 parents of students enrolled in co-educational high schools in the Daegu metropolitan area in South Korea. Over 50% of the parents responded that they would delay the decision until and after immersion is actually implemented. Only about 16% responded that they would increase expenditures. Only a third of the parents had a correct understanding of what immersion education involves in terms of its linguitic goals and the proportion of the curriculum to be taught in English. The implications are that 1) the concerns that private education expenditures would increase with the advent of immersion education are relatively unfounded; 2) there is a need for informing the public about the true nature of immersion education, including its dual-language structure, before taking any immersion initiatives in the Korean public school system.