재대양주 동포의 한국어 교육

Korean Language Education for Korean in Oceania

In the two countries in Oceania, Australia and New Zealand, the immigration of Korean has increased rapidly during the last 20 years. Since the number of Korean immigrants is expected to grow more in these areas, the policies for Korean immigrants such as education of the Korean language should be designed carefully for the future. Even though Korean Language schools in weekend are available and the course teaching Korean is an elective in the regular curriculum of elementary and middle schools in the two countries, the students who take it are rare. Since the governmental support would be increasing in Australia if more students take Korean, it is urged that Korean immigrants ask for opening of Korean courses in more regular schools, and furthermore that the Korean government backs up these plans with appropriate supports. However, the situation is different in New Zealand. Since there is no special governmental support for education of foreign languages and the Korean immigrant society is economically weak, the Korean government needs to provide intensive supports for the revitalization of Korean language schools.