Path to English in Korea: Policies, practices, and outcomes

Path to English in Korea: Policies, practices, and outcomes

In this paper we outline some possible “untrodden” paths to English that may be of interest anduse to teachers and students in Korea. These paths are suggested by a comparative study ofEnglish policies, teaching and learning practices, and outcomes in Korea and Morocco. The twonations have official policies linking the acquisition of English in schools to economicdevelopment and prosperity and share a common history of colonization and linguisticimperialism in the first half of the Twentieth Century; yet attitudes and outcomes for the twonations in terms of students’ proficiency as speakers of English are very different. WhereasKorea is a largely monolingual society where English is typically learned as a second language,Morocco is a multilingual society where students become fluent in four or five languages beforeentering the university and language learning and discussions about language are something of anational pastime. Although Morocco ranks lower on the English Proficiency Index than Korea(45th vs. 24th), the Moroccan university students interviewed in an ongoing comparative studyare verbally more proficient that Korean university students. Comparative analysis of interviewdata from the two groups of students shows that Moroccan students rely far more on the Internetand satellite television programs broadcast in English with Arabic subtitles in learning Englishthan do Korean students, who indicate more reliance on formal schooling. In addition, althoughtesting figures greatly in Moroccan academic life, Moroccan students tend to treat learningEnglish more as a game than as a subject to be mastered. These findings suggest interestingpossibilities for English language acquisition by Korean students and for the development ofcurricular and instructional approaches in Korean schools.