English education in Korea is a huge industry. Hundreds, if not thousands, of English study books are being published every year and a growing number of parents are sending their kids to English-only kindergartens.

But the majority of Korean learners struggle, something often attributed to the methods they use and ineffective education policies.

Benjamin Kalt, professor of TESOL Graduate School at Dankook University, says that Korea’s English education system is “broken” and parties involved should admit that there are problems to be fixed.

Kalt, who earned a master’s degree in TESOL at Columbia University, encourages Korean learners to seek more effective strategies in a departure from the traditional concept of “No pain, no gain.”

Kalt also shares his perspective on other related topics such as age factor in learning a new language, online materials, accent training and standardized English tests.

The following is an excerpt of an email interview.

Korea Herald: In your perspective, what are the most pressing issues or problems for Korea’s English education?

Kalt: No country in the world spends more time, energy or money on English education than Korea. Total 2008 spending was near 15 trillion won ($ 12 billion) and yet Korea ranked 19th out of 20 countries on the IELTS and 136th out of 161 nations on the TOEFL speaking section.

The country’s English education system is broken. Despite the numbers, many students, parents, and teachers still truly believe in the system or believe only minor changes are called for. They hear stories of Koreans habitually studying English to exhaustion and getting accepted to Harvard or Yale and believe all that is needed is more hard work and more hours at “elite” academies when what is needed is much more fundamental change.

The biggest problem is denying there is a problem. Until government, teachers, parents and students can dispassionately reflect, respect one another and admit there are problems and decide to work together to address them, parents will continue to spend, students will continue to suffer psychologically and test scores will not go up.

KH: What steps or methods do you recommend for Korean students to improve their English proficiency?

Kalt: The difference between good language learners and bad language learners is not IQ or a special language ability but “love of learning” and study methods. Many students sincerely believe that English is extremely difficult so they dutifully accept the pain and tedium of memorization and “study” as a simple fact of life, almost like paying penance. The pain is unnecessary and much of the time is wasted.

I recommend students follow their own interests and try to enjoy themselves. Watch English-language movies, TV shows, read Harry Potter or children’s books, read online fashion, sports, celebrity magazines, listen to music, Google “funny commercials” or “fun English” and just start looking around at any English language sites that interest you.

Once you’ve found things you like, do them regularly, create goals based on what you do and write them on a calendar, and track your progress, repeat words and phrases you hear, pay close attention to context and try to understand the main idea not the details and most importantly relax and have fun.

Many students may feel this is more like playing than studying but it is actually a more effective way to study. Be patient and in a few months you will see real improvement. “No pain, no gain” needs to be replaced with “work smarter, not harder.”

KH: What should Korean parents know when it comes to bilingual education for their kids?

Kalt: My advice to parents is to do your research. Talk to parents, talk to kids (in English if you can, if they answer you in English that is a great sign) and see if they enjoy learning and then observe actual classes and look for student-teacher interaction and active, spontaneously speaking students as opposed to diligent students doing written work.

The clearest advantage of starting young is native-like pronunciation, so kindergartens that focus on speaking skills give you more bang for your buck. All-English kindergartens also have a major social and psychological impact on children. I recommend having a mature discussion before sending your child to an all-English kindergarten explaining why they are being thrown into an English environment.

KH: What is the latest trend or research on the limitation set by age in learning a foreign language, and what’s your advice for adult learners?

Kalt: Most research shows that language learning abilities gradually decline over time, but, more importantly, studies also show that it is possible to learn a language at almost any age if you have time, motivation and study appropriately.

I am an adult learner trying to learn Korean right now and I read Korean-language Aesop fables and any story books I can find that are at my level. I have found, for improving proficiency, reading many easy books is much more effective than reading a few difficult books.

KH: Korean learners often struggle with their accent. What should be done to improve their accent and pronunciation?

Kalt: Many Korean learners feel that a good accent is a talent that some people are born with and others are not. This is not only discouraging for many but also largely inaccurate. Pronunciation of individual sounds is relatively amenable to instruction, stress and intonation are more difficult but can be dramatically improved as well, but you need teachers with “good” accents and teaching know-how.

Disillusioned Korean adults who believe they will always have a bad accent might be happy to learn that, globally, outsourcing of corporate call centers, especially to India, has spawned an “accent reduction” industry that has proven quite effective in reducing or eliminating heavy Indian adults’ accents in order to communicate with North American customers. Basically, with focused study anyone can improve their accent.

KH: What is an effective strategy to take full advantage of English newspaper, magazine and other media materials for learning English?

Kalt: Quickly reading an article from start to finish has minimal effect on learning. The most important thing when reading is to read actively, reading with a pen is a good start.

First, you have to find articles that are of particular interest to you and not too difficult for your proficiency level. Then pause frequently in your reading and summarize what you’ve read in your own words, try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary from the context, write reflective or analytical questions in the margins, circle new words, phrases and expressions and repeat them to yourself and keep a notebook of all the sentences (not just the individual words or phrases) that contain something you want to remember.

If you can’t figure something out, Google it in English and keep searching until you understand and then write it in your notebook. Review your notebook regularly and try to integrate what you’ve learned into your actual speech.

KH: What are the most memorable episodes in your teaching experience in Korea that you want to share with our readers?

Kalt: I once tutored a 17-year-old high school student hoping to study at a North American university. He talked regularly of his visits with his psychiatrist to treat depression.

He had spent four years in New Zealand without his family and was badly traumatized by the experience and still struggling to speak English fluently. He also told me that if he was not a millionaire by age 30 he would kill himself. As a teacher trainer, his case is a constant reminder to me that what we do as parents and teachers has a profound impact on young peoples’ lives and that there are things that are more important than English language proficiency and material wealth.

Prof. Benjamin Kalt can be reached at bek2109@columbia.edu.

By Yang Sung-jin

(insight@heraldm.com)

2009.05.28