By Deauwand Myers
The English language owes its ubiquity to British power. Advancements in war technology and naval exploration created, for several hundred years, the largest empire ever known. Britain’s ex-colony, the United States, became a new kind of empire, and even in its current economic hardship, is the richest and most powerful nation in all of human history.
With this power came all the attendant privileges and problems. One of its privileges, that of English being the lingua franca of our time, makes it easier for American and British citizens (and her commonwealth nations) to globally interact.
But English is not the only language a student must know to be successful in the world. Asia’s fetishizing and romanticizing English, even ascribing magical powers to those who can master it, is wrong. There are racial, ethno-centric implications in this English worship. The more you can speak English, the more Western (white), sophisticated, and erudite you are.
Chinese and Spanish are widely used languages as well, and I wish Korean education would broaden its scope and enrich students’ academic lives with a menu of options in language learning.
Pedagogical studies have shown that students who learn several languages do better in understanding these languages (especially at an early age).
Conversely, pedagogical studies have never shown that forced, total language immersion (across all subjects and majors) works well in higher education (it does work well for the very, very young, however). Worse yet, some of the best Korean universities have implemented English-only teaching schemata, in which all subjects are taught to native Koreans in English.
This is as ridiculous as it is laughable. But for the students unfortunate enough to attend an English-only university, it’s no laughing matter. Imagine learning stellar cartography, physics, chemistry, or quantum mechanics in a foreign language. Their learning experience would be miserable. They would not understand the material, and couldn’t ask probing questions in their native tongue for better understanding. Simply, and tragically, they do not learn.
It’s sinful how reckless and poorly thought out these English-only schemes are, and I vigorously argue dismantling them in a hurry. Again, no serious educator, linguist, pedagogical theorist, or language specialist would promote this kind of educational environment.
Education is a national concern in Korea, as well it should be. But people who administer education must be educated in educating. Institutions of higher learning should seek out those who have that skill set and promote programs which have a track record of success. Clearly, English-only teaching is not, nor will ever be, successful.
My university, like many others in this country, do have specialized English courses, and some content courses, which are total-immersion (in English and Chinese). The compulsory English courses are just that. All students must take them. The specialized English courses and content courses are offered to students as electives.
If we took a more balanced approach to languages, then we’d have better outcomes. If Korea really wants to make foreign language a centralized and successful part of their citizens’ academic lives, they should introduce languages very early and often in a child’s academic life, not slam students with all-English curricula after Grade 12.
Moreover, they should offer a variety of languages to students from which to choose from and be specialized in. Businesses will have to change their hiring criteria accordingly (and considering the large and growing amount of trade Korea and China share, surely Chinese would be an asset for workers in large swaths of the business community).
English is one of several important languages to know. However, it’s not the only game in town. We should think more carefully about how we implement language learning.
Deauwand Myers holds an M.A. in English literature and literary theory and is currently an English professor at an institution outside of Seoul. He can be reached at deauwand@hotmail.com.