2018, Vol.19, No.3

Modern English Education 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.55

pISSN : 1598-0782 / eISSN : 2586-6141
https://journal.kci.go.kr/meeso

South Korea’s English language policies have addressed the acquisition of English as a foreign or additional language. This kind of language planning, known as acquisition planning, concerns how the language users will acquire the language (Cooper, 1989). Understanding language plan- ning issues provides insights into language ideologies related to English, the discursive construc- tion of English, and the assumptions about language education, namely how those in authority perceive English and manage the language behaviors of students and teachers. Specifically, this paper examines the Seventh National Curriculum, the Teaching English in English (TEE) policy, and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s implementation of TEE. A discourse analysis of these policy documents uncovers the ideologies underlying this kind of acquisition planning. The analysis is also complemented by participant observations and interviews with Korean English teachers at an English-training facility to gain their perspectives on TEE and the certification process. The findings shed light on the discourses of globalization and neoliberalism that fuel the study and teaching of English, serving both the state and the public’s perceived needs. Teachers also reveal their support of the TEE policy but suspect the policy and certificate serve to support economic and political agendas rather than improved English education.

The main purpose of this study is to explore how bilingual students are going to demonstrate their distinction by attending international schools, and in order to distinguish themselves, what process they are going through. This study’s theoretical framework is Distinction, globalization, and neoliberalism. This study analyzes interview data to demonstrate the processes of distinction of participants, using I. C. Jang’s (2015) three terminology: opposition, shift, and addition. The participants’ discourses illustrate that through attending international schools they pursue English communicative skills which they view as opposition of English test scores, and their choice of international schools instead of Korean public education systems causes some participants to shift their language from Korean to English. In addition, the discourses reveal that some participants expect the additional values of attending international schools in the aspect of not only more developed linguistic skills but also more cultural-oriented extra-activities. Finally, this study dis- cusses the phenomena found in the data and some social problems which may be caused by the distinction process, referring to language ideologies in Korea society.

This study examines how the English education system in the midst a disorganized social situation was stabilized as a formal curriculum from 1945 to 1963. This research categorized the collected newspaper articles into two phases of English education: The U.S. military government period and the first Korean national curriculum period. While noting that the periods are important to understand how the early English curriculum had evolved in Korea, this study suggests that these periods function as stepping stones to investigate the transitional nature of the English curriculum in Korea. English education during the U.S. military government period featured a variety of English activities and lectures intended to foster communication skills in English to develop an amicable relationship with the United States. In this period, the textbooks imported from the U.S. were regarded difficult for Korean secondary students to use. This U.S. military government facilitated establishing the education system in South Korea, but it lacked education experts and appropriate textbooks for Korean students. However, the Korean government tried to educate teachers and revise the textbooks. In this period, Korean educators attempted to establish an education system independent from the U.S. aid, which affected the subsequent second national curriculum in the 1960s.