English Zone Blues

Korea's national English program is absolutely a point of contention with teachers here. Many agree with President Lee Myung bak that English is a tool the Korean people can use to gain a foothold in the international discussion. On the flip side, many teachers feel that asking students to learn a language they, or their parents, may feel indifferent to is arbitrary, inefficient, and unfortunate. I've asked scores of teachers how they feel on the issue, and so far their responses have been more or less down the middle. However, there is one issue all English teachers summarily resent: English Zones.

Koreans love the right gear in all pursuits, and the teaching of English is no different. If you're going to do something, you should be sure you're doing it with the best, flashiest accoutrements. Thus, education ministries across Korea are giving schools thousands of dollars to create what they call English Zones. These are basically room-sized diagrams of situations that would require English - the airport, a restaurant, a supermarket, a hotel. Once hired by schools, private companies will come in, make two rooms into one, and completely redesign these once-humble classrooms into gaudy, wholly artificial play sets that are supposed to promote English. I've always felt they just promote role-playing, but maybe that's the idea. Anyway, the English teachers (read: Korean English teachers) of Ulsan are up in arms because their ministry has asked them, and them alone to organize the entire construction of their school's English Zone.

These are people (mostly women) who went to college for education. They don't know anything about organizing a faux supermarket, and nor should they. My poor co-teacher, Sun Jung, has been stressed for months over the project. She routinely meets with contractors and building companies and basically gets talked at. Now, she's a total pro. I have no doubt she can pull this off. But still, it should never have been her responsibility in the first place. But, these English Zones are a really interesting microcosm for the whole English program here.

There's no precedent in Korea for how to organize a national curriculum of this nature. So how do things go forward? People make decisions based on educated guesses and/or assumptions. But here's the problem: individual teachers have no avenue to lodge a complaint/criticism if they feel something is not working. Korea's hierarchical ways reign supereme in all aspects of society, and the education world is no different. And now these English Zones have created a community of anxious, overworked teachers who feel consumed by a project they neither understand, or necessarily agree with. Furthermore, nothing will change unless, by chance, the suits basking in the ministries just happen to feel that a change must be necessary. Until then, Korean English teachers will dutifully teach as they're told to, even if they know better.

Though I don't want it to seem as if I'm complaining. I know my tone is critical, but I know even less about the zones than Sun Jung does. Maybe studies have been done that prove their efficacy. I don't know. I also don't want it to seem as if I'm knocking Korea's hierarchical ways. Confucianism, which is essentially the moral and social code of Korea, is built on fixed hierarchical relationships. These relationships will never disappear in Korean society. Everyone seems to accept that, so I can as well. It just gets back to that idea I harp on all the time: not better or worse, just different.