Korean English proficiency 'moderate' despite big spending
South Korea ranks 27th in English proficiency./ Korea Times file
By Yeo Ye-rim
South Koreans speak English at a “moderate” level of proficiency despite lavish spending on learning the language, an international education company said, based on its study of 70 countries.
Korea ranked 27th out of the 70 countries in terms of students’ English proficiency, Education First (EF) said in an annual report, falling behind Singapore (12th), Malaysia (14th) and India (20th). Korea slipped three notches from the previous report while maintaining its position as the biggest spender on English education.
“South Koreans spent around $18.4 billion on private education in 2013, with one-third of that sum dedicated to English language learning,” EF said. “Despite this investment, South Korea’s adult English proficiency is not improving.”
Education experts here said people’s “test score-oriented approach” to English study could be blamed for the sluggish proficiency improvement.
“People study English to win higher scores in tests at school or elsewhere rather than to have better communication in English,” an expert said. “This is a major reason why people’s proficiency makes little progress despite lavish spending on English learning.”