The following is my responding clarifications to an interesting discussion (including comments) on Blinger’s blog about my article on the state of education in Korea. The post is in response a comment by Scott, who suggests that I may be being a bit over-critical of the Korean educational system, and that I may not have considered the language ability of students, or considered my own ignorance of Korea language and society.
Scott,
Let me begin by stating that I am completely and entirely out of my element participating in any sort of discussion about linguistics and ESL. I am just posting a few points of clarification to assist with the discussion being carried on in this thread.
Regarding the "language problem", although language difficulty was unquestionably present, it played a very minor role in the class.
The class was not a class to study English. It was a class on the subject matter to be taught in English. It was a pilot program targeted at specific students who intended to work at trading companies or government jobs.
The students were all junior and senior students. The class was an elective class with several prerequisite courses. Students participated in the class only upon the approval of the department head after much consideration of their language ability. The vast majority of students were qualified to participate in the class from a language perspective. English proficiency in the field was necessary for participation in the class.
Language was not a factor. It was the mentality of the students. As I mentioned in my posting, it is the same in any area of education that I have been exposed to in Korea. Students are generally not allowed to ask questions of a professor, as the students responsibility is to simply write and regurgitate what the Professor lectures at them. Critical thinking is generally discouraged in the institutional eductation setting. A "good student" is one who does not question or challenge the professor, who clearly knows more than the student. I have been a university student, professor, guest lecturer, seminar presenter, and discussion panel member in Korea, and it is the same in all of these areas.
As for my Korean, I have been in Korea for 15 years. I speak, read, write, and hear Korean fluently. I am a lawyer that conducts a great deal of my business in Korean. (This is not to boast, but to answer your question). I can discuss trade-related issues in Korean as it is part of my job description.
As for me being a critic of Korea, I do not criticize Koreans’ English attainment, as I do not believe that every Korean must learn English. If they want to great. If not, so be it. Koreans to not have to learn English, but they should learn, not simply be forced by the such institutions and the college entrance exam, and Confuscian professorial egoism to simply memorize and repeat. In my view, knowledge of facts is not learning unless it is accompanied by understanding and the ability to apply the knowledge to external situations beyond the boundaries of the memorized information. In short, it is not the attainment of English ability of which I am critical, but rather the educational system itself that stifles not only English language learning, but all learning and intellectual growth. I find it curious that Korea has some of the world’s greatest labratory scientists that can develop better and more efficient ways of doing something, but very few theoretical or physical scientists that have made their mark by making completely new scientific discoveries, which requires outside-of-the-box critical and theoretical reasoning.
I am critical of the educational system because I see that vast potentional of these minds that kept chained in the footsteps of those that have gone before them and essentially prevented from exploring more than the one viewpoint that is forced upon them by the Powers That Be. Korea would truly be a force to be reconed with in all aspects of society and civilization if the education system could be changed to teach real learning and understanding.
As I heard or read somewhere the other day, I am a model expat because I am accutely aware of Korea’s faults, but I still love this country and I want Koreans to succeed in the international arena.
Questions, comments, critcisms, send me an email.
-Jeff H.