Fulbright U.S. Education Center

The Korea Times carried a summary of South Korean students’ performance on the TOEFL test, compared with test takers from other countries.  Not surprisingly, their speaking proficiency remains nearly at the bottom. Korean TOEFL test takers ranked 136th out of 161 nations in speaking skills.  However, Koreans overall TOEFL score stood at 78 out of 120, placing the country 89th, also lower than the world average of 79. In 2007, they scored 77.  Listening and writing scores were 19 and 20 each, compared with the world’s average of 19.5 and 20.5, respectively. Koreans beat the world average only in reading, at 20, compared with the global average of 19.4.

Korea has the world’s largest number of  TOEFL test takers. More than 90 percent of elementary school students receive private English education, and last year the amount of money spent on English education reportedly reached 15 trillion won.

Happy New Year (of the Ox)!   This blog is still alive and well, and we’ll be posting information more regularly from now on.  Yesterday, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that Seoul’s public elementary, middle and high school English classes will all be taught in English, starting in 2012.  This move, which has sparked considerable public discussion and even controversy over the past year will be implemented under the newly-announced School Managed Innovation of Learning English, or “SMILE” program.  An article in The Joongang Daily reports that the Office of Education plans to upgrade English education by

• offering English immersion classes,
• holding training sessions for Korean English teachers, AND
• recuiting more native-English speaking teachers.

The office hopes these moves will allow students to become fluent in English through classes at public schools, cutting the amount of money spent on private instruction.

We’ll have more to say on this important topic throughout the year.  In the meantime, I want to thank those of you who have sent in positive comments regarding this blog.  We are considering whether to make the effort to translate it into Korean for the benefit of parents and prospective study-abroad students.

Sincerely,

James F. Larson, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
Fulbright Commission
Seoul, Korea

The Korea Times and other local papers highlighted today’s government announcment that it intends to develop a new test that will hopefully replace much of the TOEFL exam volume in South Korea.  As announced by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, one purpose of the new test is to reduce the amount of money people spend on private cram schools and language institutes.  The new test, tentatively named the State English Aptitude Test, will be modeled on Japan’s EIKEN test, which has earned international recognition.  ”We believe, as long as we can develop a quality test, many overseas schools will accept it,” said Education Minister Ahn Byoung Man.   He further stated that he expects the new test to replace TOEIC and TOEFL in university admissions and job applications.  The government will run pilot tests between 2010 and 2011 before formally introducing the new test in 2012.

A report in today’s Korea Times about a recent survey by the National Statistical Office caught my eye.  According to a survey of 42,000 people over 15 years old from 20,000 families nationwide, 48.3 percent of those over 30 with children wanted to send them overseas to study. Among the mostly high-paid professionals or office workers, about half wanted overseas education from elementary school level.

The survey also questioned why parents wanted to send their children overseas.  A majority responded that they wanted their children to have an international sense of living, but 27.3 percent said they did not like the Korean education system; 16.6 percent wanted their children to learn in a liberal atmosphere; and 13.1 percent wanted them to learn a foreign language easily.

The government said Sunday it will expand the education budget to develop training programs for English teachers and recruit more native English-speaking teachers. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced Sunday that it will spend a total of 19.5 billion won ($15.9 million) next year, up 12.2 billion won from a year earlier, for English education programs at elementary and secondary schools.  As reported by the Korea Times, more than half of English teachers in the country are opposing next year’s planned introduction of “Teaching English in English (TEE)’’ teachers. The government plans to recruit 23,000 TEE teachers, who will conduct classes only in English, over the next five years.

There is an interesting report by Reuters today on the rapidly growing use of internet-based services that allow Korean students to talk with native-speakers of English.  The article notes that on any given day, students ranging from kids learning their alphabet to adults preparing for job interviews sign in on their Internet messengers, fire up their webcams and wait for English teachers to appear — from faraway continents.

Web English is one of the fastest growing segments in South Korea’s private English education industry, which is estimated at 15 trillion won ($13 billion) a year — almost half of the country’s annual education budget. About 150 to 200 companies are in the market offering phone and Web English tutoring.  KT Corp, South Korea’s dominant fixed-line and broadband operator, provides a service called “Hello ET” cooperating with a South Korean English education company. Internet portal SK Communications runs “Spicus” which includes a job interview drill on a video-chat platform. Applicants hand out their completed English resume before the drill. An interviewer stages a simulation interview through webcam, looking through resumes, and later provides feedback on logical speaking and communication skills.  In terms of cost, a three-times-a-week Web English course can be covered for about 100,000 won a month. ($1=1151.0 Won)

According to an article in the Korea Times, many South Korean universities are planning to shut down or downsize what they call unpopular departments in a bid to concentrate on sought-after studies and reduce their budget spending.  Konkuk University said Monday it might shut down its European Union Studies and Jewish and Middle East Studies departments from the spring semester after taking into account their poor employment rates and lukewarm response from students.The university will also downsize its Physical and Music Education departments as demand on teachers majoring in such subjects has been falling, while it will establish an English Education Department to meet the soaring demand for English-specialized teachers. Seoul National University, the nation’s No. 1 school, is considering unifying its three out-of-favor departments ㅡ the Department of Asian History, Western History.

The Korea Times reports today that Ewha Womans University will open a TESOL graduate school next March to meet the growing demand for English teachers.  Ewha, the oldest and biggest women’s school in Korea, will recruit 40 students at the end of the year and work together with the University of London Institute of Education on dual degree programs. Ehwa President Lee Bae-yong also said she wants to push for globalization projects. Ewha will set up eight more global centers in overseas universities. So far, Ewha has built centers in 12 cities including New York, Beijing, Boston, Tokyo and Hong Kong for networking. With the bases, it aims to send 60 percent of freshmen to sister universities as part of global outreach programs by 2010.

There was an interesting article in today’s Joongang Ilbo, English edition, about the effects of the announcement by the city of Seoul’s education authority that it would establish two new, all-English, international middle schools.   The article shows quite graphically the relationship between strategies in public education and the activities of private English and study abroad institutes.

The Korea Times published an editorial that provides interesting background on the issues raised by the announced plan for Seoul to establish two international middle schools.  This was the subject of an earlier post.  For those of you interested, this editorial helps to frame the issue more completely.