No English Immersion

President Lee Scraps English-Only Class Plan

The recent flop over English education only shows how difficult it is to initiate language immersion in classrooms here in South Korea. Considering the stark reality of English teaching, most teachers, parents and students are relieved after the government virtually gave up its plan to teach English only in English.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology presented its annual task report to President Lee Myung-bak. But it did not mention anything about the English immersion program that was actively promoted by the presidential transition committee before Lee's Feb. 25 inauguration. Instead, the ministry only said that it would press ahead with programs that will have a great impact on school education, after assessing public opinion.

It is quite displeasing to see the ministry fail to directly and clearly announce that the government has no immediate plan to implement English immersion. Instead, President Lee told education policymakers during the briefing session that a radical program for English immersion is unrealistic. Then he said it is impossible to conduct all classes in English right now, adding that it would be better to adopt more efficient methods.

Lee clarified that English immersion is a matter for the distant future. His remarks represented a dramatic change from his earlier position stressing the importance of the immersion program. He once emphasized that high school graduates should feel at ease in communicating with foreigners in English. The power transition team floated the idea of English immersion in January, suggesting that all English classes in high schools be solely in English from 2010.

Faced with a strong backlash from teachers and parents, the committee took a step backward and unveiled a proposal to start the immersion scheme in 2012 or 2013 after undergoing a pilot program. But now the Lee administration seems to have actually abandoned the immersion roadmap due to a lack of preparation and public protests. Lee and his staff have to admit that they recklessly pushed for immersion education.

It is regrettable that they have only sparked controversy over the improvised policy proposal, ignoring the fact that less than half of 15,000 high school English teachers across the country are able to teach a class in English. In short, policymakers have failed to meet the necessary and sufficient conditions for language immersion. They ought to make thorough preparations and reflect different opinions from all walks of life before setting important policies, or they may face strong opposition no matter how well intentioned they are.

Students and parents are under lots of stress over the mess of English education. More and more students are forced to turn to private tutors and cram schools to get better instruction. What a waste of time and money! It is imperative to reform English education. The question is, how?