By Kim Se-jeong
Education specialists are divided over whether to make Chinese characters part of the Korean language and literature textbook for elementary schoolchildren, with heated discussion continuing.
While opponents argue it will hurt students’ ability to understand the Korean language, supporters says it will enhance their ability.
The Ministry of Education has announced it will include Chinese characters in elementary school books from next year.
According to the government plan, up to 600 characters will appear in the textbooks. They will accompany Koreans vocabulary that needs clarification.
“It is because many Korean words are identical in writing and pronunciation but have different meanings according to how it is written in Chinese,” a ministry official said. “It is estimated that at least 50 percent of the Korean vocabulary has Chinese influence.”
Middle and high school students learn Chinese characters, but elementary schools have not taught the characters for almost four decades.
The official said the Chinese vocabulary would not be taught separately, nor tested.
Korean language educators and school teachers are against the new policy.
“The new measure goes against the trend that gives priority to learning Korean language without using Chinese words,” 400 university professors said in a statement.
“Thanks to that, the illiteracy rate has gone down, and Korean students’ reading comprehension ranks top in the world. Students will have difficulty understanding the content if the textbooks have Chinese characters, and this will damage their academic ability.”
Teachers also voiced concerns that the new measure will put additional academic pressure on students, who are already busy with after-school lessons at private institutes. A survey by a group of teachers, “Good Teachers,”showed 69 percent of teachers oppose the plan.
The ministry dismissed the concern, saying there would be no pressure because there would be no exam on Chinese characters.
Teachers’ groups also said the ministry had not asked their opinion.
But Chinese language educators welcomed the government’s move, saying it would further enhance Korean children’s reading comprehension.
“Much of the Korean vocabulary has roots in the Chinese language, and this shows how important it is to know Chinese language,” said Sungkyunkwan University Chinese language Professor Jeong Kwang-jin.
“In textbooks, many words with Chinese roots appear. Children who know Hangeul can read them of course, but they know the pronunciation, not the meaning.”
Myongji High School teacher Kim Su-sang said, “After the nation adopted the policy to prioritize Hangeul in the 1970s, many people in the generations that were affected do not understand Korean words with Chinese roots.”
The ministry has said it will hold a second review of the plan before making a final decision.