This column will not always be about issues of teaching English, but the topic is so big in Korea - especially in venues such as this paper - that I felt it only appropriate to use the topic of English instruction to kick off this column. In the first column I looked at the pros and cons of whether all Korean high school graduates should be conversational in English. In the second column I examined whether credentials matter when teaching English. Now I wrap up the English debate trilogy by considering whether academies (학원) are better places to study than schools.
In previous columns I have provided background and three arguments per side. Today I want to skip the background and give two points per side followed by rebuttals on each point. Please let me know which format you prefer.

YES
* CLASS SIZE. Public schools can have over 30 students in a classroom, while many hagwons cap their class size at less than half that. As learning a language involves the need to speak, it is difficult to be heard in a class of 30. In a class of six to twelve people in the hagwon setting, the teacher will hear everyone speak in a class.
* NATIVE SPEAKERS. There are more native English teachers in hagwons than in Korean schools. Sure the government is trying to bring over more native speakers for the schools, but that has not yet happened and many students only get a couple hours a week of instruction in English through the token native speaker.

NO
* PRICE. Hagwons are too expensive. Students can learn the fundamentals from school. If they want more English they can read, listen to audio programs, watch videos, or get involved with an English club with others.
* PEDAGOGY. While many English teachers in public schools are not native English speakers they are teachers with degrees in how to teach English. Such pedagogy, knowledge of how to teach, is more important in a classroom than merely speaking the language. Some hagwons are simply play-time, while such a lax environment is not tolerated at the school level.

NO RESPONDS
* COUNTER TO CLASS SIZE. Internationally, Korea came in fourth in math and first in reading according to the 2006 Programme for International Assessment.i) If Korea can have such great results with the current class size why should it change?
* COUNTER TO NATIVE SPEAKERS. See the “pedagogy” argument on NO. In debate this is called a clash. This side argues that teaching is more important than chatting.

YES RESPONDS
* COUNTER TO PRICE. Nobody is forced to attend academies. It is an option, just as nobody is forced to attend college. But like the option to attend college, attending academies to learn English does give students a leg up in the real world.
* COUNTER TO PEDAGOGY. See the “native speakers” argument on YES. This side argues that to truly understand a language one must converse at a native level.

Roger Hatridge is currently in Germany as Korea’s national coach for World Individuals. Visit the World Individuals website at http://www.worldindividuals.de/ to learn more. For questions about this column or debate contact Mr. Hatridge at hatridge@gmail.com.

i) http://www.pisa.oecd.org/document/2/0,3343,en_32252351_32236191_
39718850_1_1_1_1,00.html