English Education Under Japanese Rule (IV)

By Kim Eun-gyong

Contributing Writer

This is the 15th in a series of articles about the history of English education in Korea ― ED.

Koreans' indignation over a decade of Japan's harsh rule exploded into a nationwide movement of independence in 1919. Jolted by the explosive nationalistic movement, the Japanese government realized that its repressive rule had not been effective. In order to assuage Koreans' intense anti-Japanese feelings and criticisms against the previous discriminatory, exploitative educational policy, the government took a new conciliatory approach and adopted educational reform as its top priority. The government's shift in educational policy brought about a noteworthy improvement in English language education.

First, English language education experienced quantitative expansion: an increased number of Koreans became recipients of English language education. The government increased the number of higher common schools and required foreign language instruction in the schools, most of which offered English as the choice of foreign language.

In addition to an increase in the number of school years, the government extended the instructional hours of foreign/English language, from the previous 6.6 percent to 15.6 percent of the total instructional hours. Students at normal schools were also required to take English, and vocational-school students were introduced to English instruction for the first time.

All government-run and private professional schools offered English as a regular subject. In the prep course of Liberal Arts at the Gyeongseong Imperial University, the first and only university in the colony, the instructional hours of English took up more than a quarter of the total.

Secondly, the quality of English language education improved. A program of English language and literature was established within Gyeongseong Imperial University, and classical English literature was taught. English language education in private professional schools made significant progress: Yeonhi and Ewha Professional Schools were allowed to offer English teacher training, and their English curricula were strengthened.

The government's alleviation of restrictions on private education helped mission schools to reinforce their English curricula and extracurricular activities. The government's requirement of entrance exams for higher educational institutions and inclusion of English as a test subject heightened the importance of English instruction in secondary schools.

However, the progress made in the field of English language education was limited, and the restraints were mainly imposed by the colonial government's educational policy, often detrimental to Koreans. Throughout its rule, the government maintained the spread of the Japanese language as its educational policy of primacy, and this policy remained unwavering after Koreans' explosive nationalistic movement in 1919.

The status of Japanese language education was further solidified in the decade following the movement: in the curricula of all school levels, Japanese was given the highest number of instructional hours. Thus, education of other languages including English and Korean received secondary, perfunctory attention.

The new inclusion of or increase in the instructional hours of the English language was largely the government's tactic to alleviate Koreans' dissatisfaction over the discriminatory educational policies and practices and complaints against the previous insufficient English language education.

Moreover, the quantitative expansion of English language education was highly confined and inadequate. In 1921, for instance, the number of Korean students who attended secondary schools, i.e., higher common, vocational, and normal schools, was 5.8 per 10,000 Koreans while the number of Japanese students was 184.7 per 10,000 Japanese.

Ten years later, the number of Koreans increased to 15.4 while that of Japanese grew to 372.4. Koreans' opportunities to receive English language education as well as secondary education in general, therefore, were extremely limited compared with those for children of the Japanese settlers.

Furthermore, the government instituted an English program but severely limited Koreans' admissions to the program: the total number of the Korean graduates of the program did not exceed dozens during more than twenty years of the school's existence.

While the adoption of university entrance exams and inclusion of English as test subject in the exams elevated the status and importance of English language instruction in secondary schools, it also contributed to creating peculiar situations where instructors with limited English communicative skills were considered well-qualified as long as they were successful in assisting their students in preparation for the entrance exams.

Moreover, as the government permitted study abroad and began government-sponsored study-abroad programs in the early 1920s, the majority of Koreans who opted to or were selected to study overseas attended higher normal schools in Japan. The students educated in Japan far outnumbered those who studied in the United States or Europe. Among the Koreans in Japanese schools, the number of English majors was the highest.

As they became teachers at government or public schools upon their return to the colony, their Japanese-influenced pedagogy exerted important, long lasting influence on English language education in Korea. The grammar-translation methods were given the most attention in class, and thus students were more likely to develop passive language skills rather than active skills such as oral output.

Furthermore, the advancement of English language education, as true of all other educational fields and practices, remained restricted by the colonial government's centralized educational system.

The government continued to maintain its stringent control over individual schools and dictate the curricula of all schools. Under this centralized system, the field of English language education was easily manipulated: English language education was provided not on the basis of individuals' needs or demands but according to the government's arbitrary policies to accommodate national benefits or for its convenience.

In brief, immediately following Koreans' nationalistic movement in 1919, the colonial government was impelled to strengthen English language education for Koreans, and in the next two decades, the field made progress in its quality and quantity.

However, the quantitative expansion was largely a byproduct of the government's attempts to alleviate Koreans' complaints against its discriminatory educational practices.

The qualitative improvement (e.g., the government's allowance of Koreans' English teacher training in Japan and inclusion of English as a part of higher-education entrance exams) had double-edged effects and also left a long-lasting negative impact on English language education in Korea.

Kim Eun-gyong is an associate professor of applied linguistics and Associate Dean of the Center for International Affairs, Information and Communications University (ICU) in Daejeon. She can be reached at egkimrivera@icu.ac.kr.