Korean learners and educators prefer American English, including its accent and idiomatic expressions. The evidence: Korean textbooks on the subject are mostly if not entirely based on American English.

Lee Chan-seung, CEO of NeungYule Education, said such dependence on the single variation of English is passι, as other countries are increasingly adopting a policy in favor of what is called “World English.”

The idea behind World English is the use of English as a lingua franca. English, after all, is widely used outside of United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and other English-speaking countries.

“The fundamental issue is that Korea is stuck with the past practices while global English education paradigm is fast shifting from English as a foreign language to English as an international language,” Lee said.

Lee, a famous author of English reference titles and head of a major publishing company specializing in English education, said Korean policymakers should reconfigure the current standards in favor of English as a global language.

“Korean students tend to think they are not good at English, particularly concerning accent, largely because they aim to pick up American English,” Lee said. “Although an American accent is natural and effective in the United States, it does not play well in Asia, where people have drastically different accent patterns.”

Idiomatic expressions affiliated with regional or national culture should be removed from the formal curriculum, Lee said. Once idioms and slang words are excluded, students might be able to learn English at a faster pace because the amount of work is reduced dramatically.

“We don’t have to learn a very difficult expression or usage. Why should we use the ‘it is’ pattern for describing weather when we can simply say that ‘the weather is fine’? And culture-specific expressions are not essential, either,” Lee said.

Lee travels extensively throughout the world, participating in major academic conferences related to English education. His impression is that a growing number of countries are adopting a set of policies toward English as a global language, which have proven more practical and effective.

“We don’t have to apply the American standard to our English education. Instead, we should respect regional varieties of English, including the Korean variety of English, under the broader concept of World English,” Lee said.

The concept of a native speaker of English is misleading, as well, Lee said. Given that English goes beyond regional and cultural barriers, “fluent speakers” should replace “native speakers.” Instead of using nationality as a standard for measuring the competence of English, how fluently one speaks the language should be a new yardstick, Lee said.

Lee also brushed aside concerns about decreased intelligibility due to the increasing varieties of English throughout the world.

“Intelligibility will be maintained because central forces – English used at the U.N., schools and TV programs – keep regional varieties from getting out of control,” he said.

The reality is that Korean education policymakers are reluctant to change the current system. Lee suggested that at least textbooks should be revised in a way that reflects the trend.

“We should include British, Australian and Indian varieties of English in school textbooks, perhaps one chapter for each country,” Lee said.

“What’s important is whether we can train our students to obtain multilingual competence, and what I mean is that Korean speakers of English should be able to understand Indian English and Chinese English,” Lee said.

Lee’s underlying argument is that Korea puts much emphasis on accuracy in learning English at the cost of undercutting intelligibility. One way to fix the problem is that fluent bilingual speakers instead of native speakers should become a new model for Korean students, he said.

When it comes to strategies for Korean learners of English, Lee said content and language learning should go hand in hand.

“The amount of exposure to English is very small for most Korean learners, so it’s almost impossible to gain competence if we separate what we do in the workplace and what we learn,” Lee said.

For instance, a Korean worker interested in business management should read a foreign MBA journal or related business magazine to get the latest information about the field in question. Such content-based approach will naturally lead to a higher proficiency in the target language, Lee said.

“What we really need is not those who are fluent in English only, but those who specialize in specific content while being able to speak English,” Lee said.

By Yang Sung-jin

(insight@heraldm.com)

2009.05.14

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

Just like prohibition in the United States from 1920 to 1933, the Korean education consumers will find another way to get their “drug.”  In the case of Koreans, they have two very large addictions (well at least two that are overtly obvious): alcohol and even bigger than that and definitely more healthy, “Education!”  This new proposal is similar to telling Korean old men they can’t drink anymore.  Obviously, there would be an even larger protest if the latter proposal was ever put forward!

So, why will I be opening from 10p to 2a in my English Consulting Business?  While English Private Lessons make up only a small percentage of Real English Consulting’s overall revenue, it still represents a significant sum to many.  It now appears, it may increase even moreso.  The parents of children and students who I’ve taught will do almost anything in order to make sure their children have a great future (at least one where they will not have regret not having tried).

Instead of legally going to Hagwons now after 10p, parents will do what they’ve traditionally done in the past if the proposal goes into effect: find other ways of getting their children the needed education to compete in this even more competitive landscape of 6.7684 billion people (as of July 2, 2009 according to the U.S. Census Bureau).   I’ve heard they already pay at least 500,000 won or more beyond the legal limits for their pre-school kids to get a proper pre-school education.

So…

Real English Consulting is NOW open for Business from 9a to 2a.  Yes, OPEN FOR BUSINESS 10p and later…