’Communication skills key to globalization’
By Yun Suh-young The level of English proficiency among Korean students has improved greatly over the years, but their communication skills are still not good enough to compete on the global stage, according to an American professor who has taught at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) for the past 11 years. “In the late ’80s and early ’90s, there were concerns in Korea that if you learned another language when you were really young, it would interfere with properly learning to speak Korean and learning Korean culture,” said Joe Dewberry, director of the International Center at KAIST’s Business School. “But the financial crisis in 1997 was a turning point. People were open to becoming global and were much more willing to let their kids learn languages when they were young.” But in order to become a proficient English speaker, much more than “willingness” is required. One has to become a good “communicator” rather than a good listener, the professor said. “Communication is like playing tennis. You learn it by playing,” he said. “With English,