Do you believe that a Standard Korean English is emerging, or will emerge? If not, why not? If so, how does this affect your teaching practice, if at all?
Yes I believe that a Standard Korean English is emerging or will emerge for some reasons. One is, global competition. For them to be able to compete with other countries Academically(e.g. US, UK,Ireland, Africa, Asian countries and others), they should have learn on how to communicate with people outside of their country thru the correct usage of the International Language which is the English language. Another reason is, in terms of Economic issues. We all know that Korea is one of the progressive country when talk about the High Technology(their exported fancy cars,handyphones/telephones,home appliances, high tech machines used in any kinds of businesses/offices ) so, for them to introduce their products to other countries, they have to learn on how to speak English to be understood by their prospect buyers/customers.
Yes I believe that a Standard Korean English is emerging or will emerge for some reasons. One is, global competition. For them to be able to compete with other countries Academically(e.g. US, UK,Ireland, Africa, Asian countries and others), they should have learn on how to communicate with people outside of their country thru the correct usage of the International Language which is the English language. Another reason is, Economic Stability. We all know that Korea is one of the progressive country when we talk about the High Technology(their exported fancy cars,handyphones/telephones,home appliances, high tech machines used in any kinds of businesses/offices )and Farming(fruits and vegetables, rice production, multi-cropping and etc.) so, for them to introduce their products to other countries, they have to learn on how to speak English to be understood by their prospect foreign buyers/customers.
Yes I think that a Standar Korean English is emerging, but it follows North American English. In fact almost all the secondary school textbooks are written in American English and test questions of SUNEUNG(Korean University Enterance Exam) are also designed in American. Therefore, American English has natually dominated Korean English Education. In my personal opinion, that situation originates from historical relationship with USA after Korean Civil War. Anyway teachers and learners have focused on Americna English and prefered native speakers with American accent. Sometimes they seem to have an exclusive idea to other Englishes and they are often very embarrassed, meeting people with differnet accent. I think that it can be a big problem for global English and we Korean have to be more open minded and exposed to various situations. Moreover, school education system also need to try accept varities of English.
Yes, I also believe that a Standard Korean English is emerging. As of today, South korea is crazy about the learn English. especially the early childhood English education. Usually, In Korea's most parents willing to spend a lot of money as long as their children can speak English fluently. So South Korea's family used lots of money to private education. Nowadays, English kindergarten is easy to see on the street. In consequence, general kindergarten is tend to decrease. Even for pregnant women learn English for their baby as a prenatal care. They believed that listening to English music, watching English television have a good effect on their unborn baby. And also Our government invested a lot of money on English education by placing native English teachers in each school and supporting to improve non-native English teacher's English language skills. and They try to create an environment in order to students are able to access easily in English by establishing English Town and establishing English library. Now, English is connected closely our lives such a thing. and also English language is essential, not selection anymore. therefore our attitude is also must change. We need to accept English according to our situation voluntarily,not unconditional acceptance.
I think standard English is will emerge. Teachers have to teach reading, writing, listening and speaking all. Most of students want to learn brand-new English. The value of English is changing from reading and writing to listening and speaking. But teachers have to make equal English skills. So teachers have to practice about balance of English.
I believe that standard Korean English is emerging at this very moment.
English has been an international language for decades, and Korean people started learning focused on grammar and reading comprehension in the beginning. However things are changing nowadays. Young Korean students are learning not only grammar but also how to speak it. As the people become fluent in some language, it can be deformed and customized depend on the culture where it is spoken. Every country has its own unique culture and English cannot name all the words and express feelings. For instance, every Korean people would know 'cyworld', which is similar to 'myspace' in America. 'Cyworld' not only has a meaning of 'cyber world', but the word 'cy' also has a meaning of 'between' in Korean. When it comes to teaching practice, instructors should differentiate standard English from Korean English and teach the students the language that can be understood worldwide.
No, I don't believe that standard Korean Enlgish will be emerging for the future. I agree with the fact that level of Korean education considerably high. however, English should be spoken. Although kids are learning English at school including grammers, listening, and reading and writing, majority of that learners are not able to speak Enlglish. That is well known fact. There are test called TOEIC. I have seen many people who got high score for the test but I don't think those people are fluent on speaking English. All things considered, Standard Korean Enlgish will not be emerging for the future.
Some of my close Korean friends are businessmen and use English to communicate with their prospective international customers on a daily basis. They are very successful at what they do so I can only guess that their customers are satisfied with the level of competency. I should also point out that these men do not have a university education. They learned how to speak English by joining talking clubs, travelling and putting to use whatever they managed to learn during their years in primary school. Their English is spoken with a distinct Korean accent, however, the grammar and structure they use while doing business is fairly good. When they are communicating with a local ethnic group (me and my friends) they tend to use a lot of konglish. This is done mainly for amusement and not out of necessity. Perhaps true konglish is only spoken to those foreigners living in Korea who already have a working knowledge of the local language. In my experience, most ESLers have been taught proper grammar from an early age and have the ability to communicate effectively and correctly with people of other English speaking counties. I can see Korean English developing, but I don’t believe it will become standard. At least I hope not.
Yes, I believe that. Koreans are speaking English more to other non-native English speakers. Therefore, the language is changing and evolving. It can affect English language teaching. Language is most of all a tool that we use to get what we want and express our feelings and desires. This can be done in a variety of forms. To become an effective language teacher, we should be aware of the adoption and development of language changes by the people who use it.
I think that a Standard Korean English isn't emerging yet. As Korean have the passion of English education, the focus of learning English is one of the biggest issue of the Korean education. Therefore, Korean parents want to make their children to speak English fluently, however, the Korean government have made mistakes to frame the English education policy. In addition, we have been discussing if we should change EFL with ESL for a long time. Now, Korea is finding a way to wear English to fit our body. Maybe some day, not too far, we won't think that Konglish is wrong, just we use it naturally, at that time, a Standard Korean English will emerge.
I really wish that a Standard Korean English is appreciated all over the world. I also believe that korea has ample hope of improvement. If that is the case, we have to develop ourselves how to teach korean students, and we should learn multifarious contents instead of squeezing out the same idea continually. That's why we should accept other cultures and understand and release from the culture gap. After that we can communicate with people around the world. The most important subject for the korean teacher is to make korean students open their minds to different aspects of the world and to accept the other people's culture.
To tell the conclusion first, it will not emerge. I think there has never been "the standard" in the history of English. In that point a view, Standard Korean English will not exist. English has been changed to reflect differentiated classes, and race as a Lingua Franka. It is quite similar concept of David Graddor's book "The future of English" which I totally agree. He said English will be English"ES". In addition, we are able to easily find that English itself have developed not by keeping "standard", but by absorbing other language such as Latin, France. Therefore, even if all Korean will speak in English as much as we would find some common features among Korean's English speaker, it would be just one of "Englishes'. As a result, teachers have to make EFL students have acceptance about culture, various English expression so that they feel free at the nativeism., about their own intonation.
do not believe a standard Korean English will emerge, because most of the Koreans are exposed to are of American Hollywood movies or the internet. With the advances in communication technologies, such as broadband internet, it will get easier for Koreans to expose the English. It can be assume that with the westernization of the korean society, with the influence of the american culture. The society of korea is adapting to the standards of american culture, such as its language, way of living, music and along with many others aspects. Therefore it will be very unlikely that a Standard Korean English would emerge.
I am sure that a Standard Korean English is emerging.English became lingua franca.English is spoken 750 million people all over the world. And there will be about 3 billion English speakers by the year 2040.So English is not English but Englishes like Africa English,South Asian English,Chinish English so on. Then World Englishes have their one special lexical, grammatical and phonological identies, which is a nature result. Therefore Korean has the right to use Standard Korean English. This great phenomenon would affecf our English teaching methodes. We should turn from confirming to native standerd sush as British Enghish. We ought ot employee non-native speakeres as English teacher, focus on communicate skill.
How do we make a better environment for learning English in schools?
First of all, we need to hire more Korean English teachers who speak English as well as native speakers do. Normally Korean English teachers in schools are good at grammar, and most of them push their students to memorize all English grammar rules and words in a short time. By doing this, students feel bored and get stressed which causes them to lose their interest in English.
Second, we need to have smaller classes with less than 15 students per class. Otherwise the class is too big to be handled by one teacher, and the students have less time to talk with their teachers which is an essential component in learning a language.
I don"t agree that a Standard Korean English will emerge in short time period of future. We learn English in school or institutions, and we have the chances to speak English only in a built context not in real everyday life. Students don't have enough exposure time to use what they learn in the class. So there is a gap between learning and applicaion. Koreans have good ability in reading, writing, listening, but in speaking we don't have competency or fluency. But only if Korea adopt English as a formal(commom)language, things will be changed. And then a Standard Korean English will emerge naturally.
I also don't think that a Standard Korean English will emerge in near future. We don't have many opportunities to use English in our daily life. I think English is just hot potato for many koreans. What I mean is that English proficiency is good for the country and is related to personal happiness as everybody says that. But in reality, we do not need it to buy some food or to get some document from the city hall...That is the one of the reasons Koreans are difficult to have a good command of English. If English is made an official language in korea -as Singapore,Malaysia and other countries- a Standard Korean English will be emerged. To be honest, I am skeptical of the possibility to carry out English as the second language in korea.
I don't believe that a Korean English will emerge. There are some countries which have their specific and provincial English e.g. India, Philippines, Singapore and so on. Considering the historical conditions of those countries, they were much influenced for many years by Britain or America. So they got easily accustomed to using English as much as their native languages. However, we Korean didn't have that kind of historical condition. Even though we had a temporary government by America after Korean War, the influence was not so long as other countries. Despite we spend much time to study English, it is not for changing our whole language features but for achieving the way of interacting with other people.
Do you believe that a standard Korea English is emerging, or will emerge? If not, why not? If so, how does this affect your teaching practice, if at all?
I believe, it is changing and adjusting. I want to give example. When I look back in 1990 at my school, we had about twenty computers so all students had to share computers. Two students would one computer for their uses. But nowadays almost all students have their own personal computer like a laptop. As far as I know, some schools are already on transition to have Standard Korea English. For now, these are just like a sample, but if those schools' practice is effective enough to see in end result, it is only a matter of time that Standard Korea English method will be used on almost all schools.
My opinion is a standard Korean English is emerging and will emerge too. For example, in 2007 Korean Church have changed their Bible translation to fit for modern Korean believers. And 2009 Korean Standard Hymn Books changed too. For union peoples want to get a Standard forms. It is same as every community and Education. Students don't want to confused by an inconsistent policy, they need Standard. For these reasons, I believe Korean English is emerging and will(in the future, new student may want to a new Standard)emerge too.
Do you believe that a standard Korean English is emerging, or emerge? If not, why not? If so how dose this affect your teaching practice if at all?
I think that a standard Korean English is not emerging yet. It will emerge through changes. First of all, Korean cannot use English, although they study English for a long time. Koreans have been educated from elementary school for over 10 years. The most important thing is how to focus on the Korean goal of education. For example, in Finland they did not have English native speakers but they can use English well. They have studied since third grade once a week for two hours. English education is operated by their compatriots. They value useful and real English ability rather than perfect pronunciation. This thing is as opposed to the reality of Korea.
Second of all, there is no proper teaching method in Korea. When English was introduced, it does not coincide with the teaching method which is the actual circumstance in Korea. These days lots of English academies exist from English preschool to English village. However these academies mimic external form from across the seas. In spite of lots of investment in English, the Korean speaking ability is ranked 105 among the 108 countries.
Third of all, lacking competent teachers is a problem. English teachers who are Koreans and English native speakers are overflowing in Korea. However a lot of unqualified teachers take charge of teaching without systematic curriculums. It is also related to the requirement of parents. Korean parents tend to prefer native speakers, of course students can contact with the opportunity to cultivate their understanding through them. However native speaker’s lessons are not the most important. It is different to teach a mother tongue and a foreign language and we don’t know teachers are verified. If I apply my idea into a class, I will concentrate more on how to translate from Korean to English and to practice expressions. It will be effective rather than hanging on how to speak like natives. The best ideal teaching is that native speakers and Korean teachers stand with a class. They each have advantages.
As more Korean are using English, more Standard Korean English is emerging. If we consider British English, American English, Australian English, Canadian English, they have varieties of English. There are many directs in each English. Nowadays, non-native English speakers are increasing. Sometimes, we can't speak or express own color or emotion into English. So I think we cannot help admitting Konglish. We can use only about tradition, national culture and history which cannot explain with English. Finally, teaching method focus on varieties of English.
Frankly speaking, I hoped the emergence of a Standard Korean English would not be the issue in Korea. There are many kinds of Englishes all over the world: American, British, Singapore, Indian and so on. Those Englishes are spoken as mother tongue or official language in the countries. That is the reason why their unique Englishes should be acknowledged as a kind of English. Meanwhile, English is just a foreign language here in Korea. I strongly disagree to put too much emphasis on English because it is just like French, Chinese and Japanese. Many people claim that nation competitiveness comes from English education due to globalization. I wonder how many people need English to survive in the world. I guess just a few, probably elite groups. Most people will use English only for travelling. In Kachru's three divisions of English-influenced countries :circle, periphery, expanding periphery, Korea falls into the last category due to the too much emphasis on English education by the governments since the intervention of America during Korean War. I wished the governments would have turned their eyes on Korean language and history education.
In consideration of depressing current situation which English plays more important role than Korean, I believe we need to strive for establishing our own English identity instead of sticking to North American English: That is, Koreanized English. Therefore, Konglish should be respected another kind of English. ‘Eye shopping' should be added as synonym of 'window shopping'. There is a Korean saying, 'if you can't avoid it, you just enjoy it.' If we can not avoid the current situation, we should try to modify English. However, the discussion of this issue is still very depressing to me.
I think a standard Korean English is emerging now little by little but I never imagined this even few years ago. I thought there is only few English of English culture specially western countries such as America, England, Canada, Austrailia, Newziland and so on. Of course, I had heard other countries' - I mean except the west - English like Philippines at that time but their English sounded like a kind of dialect not a standard English. I thought they produced English simillar to speaking their own language for example accents, pronounciation and intonation. Now days people respect all different English. I think so too. For example even in TOEIC listening test we can hear various kinds of English. Like this someday a standard Korean English can be heard easily I think. So I can tell and teach students about it but I don't want to recomand students to learn and use only standard K.E. Actually a decision of which English they're going to use depends on totally themselves. Admitting and respecting various English will be the most important thing I think.
Yes I believe that a Standard Korean English is emerging or will emerge for some reasons. One is, global competition. For them to be able to compete with other countries Academically(e.g. US, UK,Ireland, Africa, Asian countries and others), they should have learn on how to communicate with people outside of their country thru the correct usage of the International Language which is the English language. Another reason is, in terms of Economic issues. We all know that Korea is one of the progressive country when talk about the High Technology(their exported fancy cars,handyphones/telephones,home appliances, high tech machines used in any kinds of businesses/offices ) so, for them to introduce their products to other countries, they have to learn on how to speak English to be understood by their prospect buyers/customers.
ReplyDeleteYes I believe that a Standard Korean English is emerging or will emerge for some reasons. One is, global competition. For them to be able to compete with other countries Academically(e.g. US, UK,Ireland, Africa, Asian countries and others), they should have learn on how to communicate with people outside of their country thru the correct usage of the International Language which is the English language. Another reason is, Economic Stability. We all know that Korea is one of the progressive country when we talk about the High Technology(their exported fancy cars,handyphones/telephones,home appliances, high tech machines used in any kinds of businesses/offices )and Farming(fruits and vegetables, rice production, multi-cropping and etc.) so, for them to introduce their products to other countries, they have to learn on how to speak English to be understood by their prospect foreign buyers/customers.
ReplyDeleteYes I think that a Standar Korean English is emerging, but it follows North American English. In fact almost all the secondary school textbooks are written in American English and test questions of SUNEUNG(Korean University Enterance Exam) are also designed in American. Therefore, American English has natually dominated Korean English Education. In my personal opinion, that situation originates from historical relationship with USA after Korean Civil War. Anyway teachers and learners have focused on Americna English and prefered native speakers with American accent. Sometimes they seem to have an exclusive idea to other Englishes and they are often very embarrassed, meeting people with differnet accent. I think that it can be a big problem for global English and we Korean have to be more open minded and exposed to various situations. Moreover, school education system also need to try accept varities of English.
ReplyDeleteYes, I also believe that a Standard Korean English is emerging.
ReplyDeleteAs of today, South korea is crazy about the learn English. especially the early childhood English education.
Usually, In Korea's most parents willing to spend a lot of money as long as their children can speak English fluently. So South Korea's family used lots of money to private education. Nowadays, English kindergarten is easy to see on the street.
In consequence, general kindergarten is tend to decrease.
Even for pregnant women learn English for their baby as a prenatal care.
They believed that listening to English music, watching English television have a good effect on their unborn baby.
And also Our government invested a lot of money on English education by placing native English teachers in each school and supporting to improve non-native English teacher's English language skills. and They try to create an environment in order to students are able to access easily in English by establishing English Town and establishing English library.
Now, English is connected closely our lives such a thing. and also English language is essential, not selection anymore. therefore our attitude is also must change.
We need to accept English according to our situation voluntarily,not unconditional acceptance.
I think standard English is will emerge. Teachers have to teach reading, writing, listening and speaking all.
ReplyDeleteMost of students want to learn brand-new English.
The value of English is changing from reading and writing to listening and speaking. But teachers have to make equal English skills. So teachers have to practice about balance of English.
I believe that standard Korean English is emerging at this very moment.
ReplyDeleteEnglish has been an international language for decades, and Korean people started learning focused on grammar and reading comprehension in the beginning. However things are changing nowadays. Young Korean students are learning not only grammar but also how to speak it. As the people become fluent in some language, it can be deformed and customized depend on the culture where it is spoken. Every country has its own unique culture and English cannot name all the words and express feelings. For instance, every Korean people would know 'cyworld', which is similar to 'myspace' in America. 'Cyworld' not only has a meaning of 'cyber world', but the word 'cy' also has a meaning of 'between' in Korean. When it comes to teaching practice, instructors should differentiate standard English from Korean English and teach the students the language that can be understood worldwide.
No, I don't believe that standard Korean Enlgish will be emerging for the future. I agree with the fact that level of Korean education considerably high. however, English should be spoken. Although kids are learning English at school including grammers, listening, and reading and writing, majority of that learners are not able to speak Enlglish. That is well known fact. There are test called TOEIC. I have seen many people who got high score for the test but I don't think those people are fluent on speaking English.
ReplyDeleteAll things considered, Standard Korean Enlgish will not be emerging for the future.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSome of my close Korean friends are businessmen and use English to communicate with their prospective international customers on a daily basis. They are very successful at what they do so I can only guess that their customers are satisfied with the level of competency. I should also point out that these men do not have a university education. They learned how to speak English by joining talking clubs, travelling and putting to use whatever they managed to learn during their years in primary school. Their English is spoken with a distinct Korean accent, however, the grammar and structure they use while doing business is fairly good. When they are communicating with a local ethnic group (me and my friends) they tend to use a lot of konglish. This is done mainly for amusement and not out of necessity. Perhaps true konglish is only spoken to those foreigners living in Korea who already have a working knowledge of the local language. In my experience, most ESLers have been taught proper grammar from an early age and have the ability to communicate effectively and correctly with people of other English speaking counties. I can see Korean English developing, but I don’t believe it will become standard. At least I hope not.
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe that.
ReplyDeleteKoreans are speaking English more to other non-native English speakers.
Therefore, the language is changing and evolving. It can affect English language teaching. Language is most of all a tool that we use to get what we want and express our feelings and desires. This can be done in a variety of forms. To become an effective language teacher, we should be aware of the adoption and development of language changes by the people who use it.
I think that a Standard Korean English isn't emerging yet.
ReplyDeleteAs Korean have the passion of English education, the focus of learning English is one of the biggest issue of the Korean education. Therefore, Korean parents want to make their children to speak English fluently, however, the Korean government have made mistakes to frame the English education policy.
In addition, we have been discussing if we should change EFL with ESL for a long time. Now, Korea is finding a way to wear English to fit our body.
Maybe some day, not too far, we won't think that Konglish is wrong, just we use it naturally, at that time, a Standard Korean English will emerge.
I really wish that a Standard Korean English is appreciated all over the world. I also believe that korea has ample hope of improvement.
ReplyDeleteIf that is the case, we have to develop ourselves how to teach korean students, and we should learn multifarious contents instead of squeezing out the same idea continually.
That's why we should accept other cultures and understand and release from the culture gap. After that we can communicate with people around the world.
The most important subject for the korean teacher is to make korean students open their minds to different aspects of the world and to accept the other people's culture.
To tell the conclusion first, it will not emerge. I think there has never been "the standard" in the history of English. In that point a view, Standard Korean English will not exist.
ReplyDeleteEnglish has been changed to reflect differentiated classes, and race as a Lingua Franka. It is quite similar concept of David Graddor's book "The future of English" which I totally agree. He said English will be English"ES". In addition, we are able to easily find that English itself have developed not by keeping "standard", but by absorbing other language such as Latin, France.
Therefore, even if all Korean will speak in English as much as we would find some common features among Korean's English speaker, it would be just one of "Englishes'.
As a result, teachers have to make EFL students have acceptance about culture, various English expression so that they feel free at the nativeism., about their own intonation.
do not believe a standard Korean English will emerge, because most of the Koreans are exposed to are of American Hollywood movies or the internet. With the advances in communication technologies, such as broadband internet, it will get easier for Koreans to expose the English. It can be assume that with the westernization of the korean society, with the influence of the american culture. The society of korea is adapting to the standards of american culture, such as its language, way of living, music and along with many others aspects. Therefore it will be very unlikely that a Standard Korean English would emerge.
ReplyDeleteI am sure that a Standard Korean English is emerging.English became lingua franca.English is spoken 750 million people all over the world. And there will be about 3 billion English speakers by the year 2040.So English is not English but Englishes like Africa English,South Asian English,Chinish English so on. Then World Englishes have their one special lexical, grammatical and phonological identies, which is a nature result. Therefore Korean has the right to use Standard Korean English. This great phenomenon would affecf our English teaching methodes. We should turn from confirming to native standerd sush as British Enghish. We ought ot employee non-native speakeres as English teacher, focus on communicate skill.
ReplyDeleteHow do we make a better environment for learning English in schools?
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, we need to hire more Korean English teachers who speak English as well as native speakers do. Normally Korean English teachers in schools are good at grammar, and most of them push their students to memorize all English grammar rules and words in a short time. By doing this, students feel bored and get stressed which causes them to lose their interest in English.
Second, we need to have smaller classes with less than 15 students per class. Otherwise the class is too big to be handled by one teacher, and the students have less time to talk with their teachers which is an essential component in learning a language.
I don"t agree that a Standard Korean English will emerge in short time period of future. We learn English in school or institutions, and we have the chances to speak English only in a built context not in real everyday life. Students don't have enough exposure time to use what they learn in the class. So there is a gap between learning and applicaion.
ReplyDeleteKoreans have good ability in reading, writing, listening, but in speaking we don't have competency or fluency.
But only if Korea adopt English as a formal(commom)language, things will be changed. And then a Standard Korean English will emerge naturally.
I also don't think that a Standard Korean English will emerge in near future.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have many opportunities to use English in our daily life.
I think English is just hot potato for many koreans.
What I mean is that English proficiency is good for the country and is related to personal happiness as everybody says that.
But in reality, we do not need it to buy some food or to get some document from the city hall...That is the one of the reasons Koreans are difficult to have a good command of English.
If English is made an official language in korea -as Singapore,Malaysia and other countries- a Standard Korean English will be emerged. To be honest, I am skeptical of the possibility to carry out English as the second language in korea.
I don't believe that a Korean English will emerge.
ReplyDeleteThere are some countries which have their specific and provincial English e.g. India, Philippines, Singapore and so on. Considering the historical conditions of those countries, they were much influenced for many years by Britain or America. So they got easily accustomed to using English as much as their native languages.
However, we Korean didn't have that kind of historical condition. Even though we had a temporary government by America after Korean War, the influence was not so long as other countries. Despite we spend much time to study English, it is not for changing our whole language features but for achieving the way of interacting with other people.
Do you believe that a standard Korea English is emerging, or will emerge? If not, why not? If so, how does this affect your teaching practice, if at all?
ReplyDeleteI believe, it is changing and adjusting. I want to give example.
When I look back in 1990 at my school, we had about twenty computers so all students had to share computers. Two students would one computer for their uses. But nowadays almost all students have their own personal computer like a laptop.
As far as I know, some schools are already on transition to have Standard Korea English. For now, these are just like a sample, but if those schools' practice is effective enough to see in end result, it is only a matter of time that Standard Korea English method will be used on almost all schools.
My opinion is a standard Korean English is emerging and will emerge too.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in 2007 Korean Church have changed their Bible translation to fit for modern Korean believers. And 2009 Korean Standard Hymn Books changed too.
For union peoples want to get a Standard forms. It is same as every community and Education. Students don't want to confused by an inconsistent policy, they need Standard. For these reasons, I believe Korean English is emerging and will(in the future, new student may want to a new Standard)emerge too.
Do you believe that a standard Korean English is emerging, or emerge? If not, why not? If so how dose this affect your teaching practice if at all?
ReplyDeleteI think that a standard Korean English is not emerging yet. It will emerge through changes.
First of all, Korean cannot use English, although they study English for a long time. Koreans have been educated from elementary school for over 10 years. The most important thing is how to focus on the Korean goal of education. For example, in Finland they did not have English native speakers but they can use English well. They have studied since third grade once a week for two hours. English education is operated by their compatriots. They value useful and real English ability rather than perfect pronunciation. This thing is as opposed to the reality of Korea.
Second of all, there is no proper teaching method in Korea. When English was introduced, it does not coincide with the teaching method which is the actual circumstance in Korea. These days lots of English academies exist from English preschool to English village. However these academies mimic external form from across the seas. In spite of lots of investment in English, the Korean speaking ability is ranked 105 among the 108 countries.
Third of all, lacking competent teachers is a problem. English teachers who are Koreans and English native speakers are overflowing in Korea. However a lot of unqualified teachers take charge of teaching without systematic curriculums. It is also related to the requirement of parents. Korean parents tend to prefer native speakers, of course students can contact with the opportunity to cultivate their understanding through them.
However native speaker’s lessons are not the most important. It is different to teach a mother tongue and a foreign language and we don’t know teachers are verified. If I apply my idea into a class, I will concentrate more on how to translate from Korean to English and to practice expressions. It will be effective rather than hanging on how to speak like natives. The best ideal teaching is that native speakers and Korean teachers stand with a class. They each have advantages.
As more Korean are using English, more Standard Korean English is emerging. If we consider British English, American English, Australian English, Canadian English, they have varieties of English. There are many directs in each English. Nowadays, non-native English speakers are increasing.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, we can't speak or express own color or emotion into English. So I think we cannot help admitting Konglish. We can use only about tradition, national culture and history which cannot explain with English.
Finally, teaching method focus on varieties of English.
Frankly speaking, I hoped the emergence of a Standard Korean English would not be the issue in Korea. There are many kinds of Englishes all over the world: American, British, Singapore, Indian and so on. Those Englishes are spoken as mother tongue or official language in the countries. That is the reason why their unique Englishes should be acknowledged as a kind of English. Meanwhile, English is just a foreign language here in Korea. I strongly disagree to put too much emphasis on English because it is just like French, Chinese and Japanese. Many people claim that nation competitiveness comes from English education due to globalization. I wonder how many people need English to survive in the world. I guess just a few, probably elite groups. Most people will use English only for travelling. In Kachru's three divisions of English-influenced countries :circle, periphery, expanding periphery, Korea falls into the last category due to the too much emphasis on English education by the governments since the intervention of America during Korean War. I wished the governments would have turned their eyes on Korean language and history education.
ReplyDeleteIn consideration of depressing current situation which English plays more important role than Korean, I believe we need to strive for establishing our own English identity instead of sticking to North American English: That is, Koreanized English. Therefore, Konglish should be respected another kind of English. ‘Eye shopping' should be added as synonym of 'window shopping'. There is a Korean saying, 'if you can't avoid it, you just enjoy it.' If we can not avoid the current situation, we should try to modify English. However, the discussion of this issue is still very depressing to me.
I think a standard Korean English is emerging now little by little but I never imagined this even few years ago. I thought there is only few English of English culture specially western countries such as America, England, Canada, Austrailia, Newziland and so on. Of course, I had heard other countries' - I mean except the west - English like Philippines at that time but their English sounded like a kind of dialect not a standard English. I thought they produced English simillar to speaking their own language for example accents, pronounciation and intonation. Now days people respect all different English. I think so too. For example even in TOEIC listening test we can hear various kinds of English. Like this someday a standard Korean English can be heard easily I think. So I can tell and teach students about it but I don't want to recomand students to learn and use only standard K.E. Actually a decision of which English they're going to use depends on totally themselves. Admitting and respecting various English will be the most important thing I think.
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